Hi guys! I'm back with a post on my super impromptu one day Batam trip. So as you all know, we have 4 days straight of holidays this week, due to Hari Raya and National day. So my mum and I felt really bored staying in Singapore for 4 long days, so we decided to go on a day trip to Batam, and we dragged Ben along too! It is the first time I'm visiting Batam, and probably the last time I'll head there, unless we're going to some resort. Personally, I didn't like the feeling of not being able to communicate with the locals, and that all the prices at the malls are jacked up so high, I don't even know how to start bargaining. It was really boring at the malls too, nothing much to shop or buy. I guess the only saving grace was the A&W waffles and Rootbeer float. But putting all the negative points aside, it was really quite an experience for me.
Alright, so here are some pictures that I snapped throughout the trip!
View from Harbourfront Centre
The name of our ferry was Ocean Raider
After about 1 hour of massive drowsy and sea sick feeling, we finally reached Batam Centre ferry point. We headed to the Megamall just opposite the ferry point, and of course the first thing that we did was to have A&W!
Picture of the mall from the ferry point
I just had to take a picture with this long curly fries
What we ordered:
9 pieces of fried spicy chicken, 4 mugs of rootbeer float, 2 curly fries, 1 strawberry waffle and 1 chocolate waffle. The bill came out to be 229,000 Rupiah! But don't be alarmed, the exchange rate is 1SGD to 7822Rupiah. You can do your sums now. It's not exactly cheap, but for an experience that I can never have in Singapore, it's all worth it. The waffles and rootbeer were as yummy as how I last had it in Singapore, which was at least 10 years ago. The fried chicken however paled in comparison with Singapore's KFC. The seasoning was way too salty for our liking.
Halfway through our meal, Ben saw a mosquito swimming in his rootbeer, I immediately checked my mug, and to my horror, a big housefly was swimming in mine. It's really rare to see houseflies drowning in water, and that housefly actually flew into my rootbeer float and drowned. Really gross, but funny at the same time.
SPOT THE HOUSEFLY!
And that's me feeling happy after brunch
Mandatory picture with the A&W mascot
We walked around the mall after brunch and look what they have at Timezone arcade!
It's really really pretty!
We walked around somemore, and decided that there was nothing else to see, thus we decided to go for more food. We settled for this restaurant that had a nice view of the sea.
What we ordered:
Chicken Satay on hotplate and mee goreng (indo-mee)
We were feeling kinda disappointed in the food, and the things in that mall, so we cabbed to Nagoya Hill mall, which is supposedly the biggest mall. Our taxi ride costs 60,000 Rupiah there, and 70,000 rupiah back. When we reached Nagoya Hill mall, we were once again disappointed. No doubt it is big, but there's still nothing to buy. So we turned to more food, in hope of curing our disappointment, but then we got even more disappointed.
We headed to this place selling seafood, just right outside the mall, at the food street.
What we ordered:
Stir fried vegetables, battered squid, and steamed fish
The dishes weren't particularly good, but it wasn't that bad either. It's just the standard of our normal tze char stall, but slightly cheaper.
I was so glad to see Ayam Penyet Ria, and I just had to try it!
What we ordered:
Ayam Soto, Gado gado, and Ayam penyet
The ayam soto and gado gado was okay, but the ayam penyet was really disappointing. The piece of chicken was so small, with hardly any meat on it. I wonder if the Ayam Penyet Ria in Singapore serves chicken of this size too. But I have to say that the chilli was really awesome! I'm so going to the outlet in Singapore to try the ayam penyet soon.
Alright, that's about all we did in Batam yesterday. I probably won't head to Batam again until 20 years later.
I'll be back with a post on my dinner at Saveur with my babes really soon!
Love,
Su Shan
