With a quiet week in the run up to Christmas, the temptation to escape Singapore got too much. So we decided to just take Boxing Day off to travel to Batam. As I'd not been for over 3 years, and it was Pati & her family's first trip to Batam, we decided to go by conducted tour.
So very early on Boxing Day morning, we made our way to Harbourfront Centre. Ffion had stayed up all night and Pati's son Andy looked equally half dead. The ferry, not surprisingly, was full. However, it was comfortable enough, and an hour later, we were at Batam.
First stop of the day was at a mountain-top resort owned by a Singaporean. The view was pretty good, and the bungalows looked idyllic. It would be lovely to stay there one day! Main reason for visiting that area was to see the tall Kwan Yin statue.
What I enjoyed most was looking at the building architecture. Houses are so incredibly cheap in Batam. I think the guide said something like S$10,000? And this is landed property! Every family owned at least one motorcycle. And they fit the entire family on it! It's not uncommon to see one child sitting in front of the driver and 3 others behind! Five on a motor bike. Talk about bonding!
The buildings must be what Singapore was like in the 1960s & early 70s. There were many shanty towns scattered all over. The carts in the town area were fascinating too. Beautiful fresh fruits, firecrackers... Sights we no longer see in Singapore.
Lunch was a seafood feast in an idyllic setting. They had live seafood at the entrance of the restaurant, including a couple of sharks! No sharksfin soup was included though. I enjoyed the deep fried prawns and calamari. Also the sweet & sour fish. Yum yum!
After lunch, we were led across to see a live show. Two guys started with some traditional dancing, then proceeded to eat flaming coals, glass and tear off a coconut husk with bare teeth! What a way to make a living! But with local income averaging S$300 per month, the mandatory tourist tips makes it a very lucrative livelihood!
The part of the day the kids (and Michael) enjoyed the most was Go-Karting.I was barely able to catch a photo of Michael as he shot past. Andy was too fast to capture on film!
Next to the track was a "Little Indonesia" park, where they had replicas of the various types of houses in Indonesia.
As with all these conducted tours, we were brought to factory outlet stores (Polo), dried food stores, and other tourist traps. Pati got conned into an expensive imitation handbag that started shedding from its handle before we even got back to Singapore!
After that, it was shopping time! Proper shopping in shopping centres, that is. First Batam City Shopping Centre, then finally Hypermart next to the Harbour. We ate and shopped till we were going to explode (tummies & feet)! The last shopping centre was quite interesting though... Considering the average salary was S$300, prices of fast food was pretty much on par with Singapore! And the place was packed with locals as well as Singaporeans.
The supermarket was an experience in itself. There was a whole chest of freezers with multiple types of french fries for self packing. And another for other types of processed food for deep frying. Just help yourself to as much as you need, but questionable hygiene!
We were certainly very relieved to finally be on our way back to Singapore after the very big day. It was EXHAUSTING! But fun! Not something I'd repeat in a hurry, but I'm sure I'll do it in a couple of years time again. Note to self: do not take last ferry home, just an hour at Hypermart is enough... And bring enough Rupiahs & Singapore currency in small notes for shopping. No time to change money on arrival if going on tour!
All in all, a great day out for just $50/head, lunch included. Bargain!
