Batam Day 3

Day 3 Batam (4/8/06)

We had our breakfast at 9.30 am and some of us went swimming after that. We then packed our stuff and checked out of our rooms at 12.30 pm.

Jim and I at the balcony of Jieli and Ryan's room

Harris Resort

At the lobby

We booked our return ferry tickets and went to the Japanese Korean restaurant for our lunch.

Delicious appetizers and lunch spread

The food there was quite good despite the fact that we were the only customers in the restaurant. A minibus then brought us to the ferry terminal and we bought some foodstuff there. The ferry terminal is very empty and there wasn't much things to buy as well.

Empty Waterfront Ferry Terminal

We waited for around 1 hour before the customs was open.

Leaving Batam

On the ferry back to Singapore

To wrap up the trip, Batam is quite a laidback island and it is ideal for people who just want to chill out in the resort or hotel. There isn't much of a shopping scene there but it's good for people who want to get cheap Polo Ralph Lauren clothes and Levis jeans. The food there is cheap as well but it's hard to find good food among the rows of shophouses, outlets and roadside stalls. People who are interested in watersports will be disappointed to find that the seasports activities are not vibrant and the prices are not considered cheap also.

Bintan or Bali should be better in comparison with Batam.

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Busy Day

Went for a ktv session with Ks at Kbox Cineleisure for 3 hours and we headed to Chinatown for some shopping.

Next, i met up with my sec sch friends at PS for dinner and we headed to Pastamania for dinner.

Dinner

We then headed to Mind Cafe at Selegie Rd opposite Paradis Centre. We ordered a package of six that comprises of 2 hours of games, 6 drinks, 2 snackers and 1 tidbit. We then started off with a warm-up game that requires us to identify many different shapes and colours on the cards while grabbing a totem placed in the center of the game. Quite an exciting game but beware of other people's fingernails when grabbing the totem.

Board Gaming

We proceeded with Cluedo next and were taught by Shilei on how to play the game. It's rather confusing at first but we gradually learnt the tactics and Kp and i managed to win the game.

Jenga Truth or Dare was next and we all managed to stack it up until quite high. The questions and dares written on the wooden blocks were rather lame and we went for another game after Jieli toppled the stack.

We played I'm The Boss next and were taught by the staff how to play the game. It's quite a fun game when we try to sabotage the others by sending a character packing, recruiting opponents' characters and possessing an opponent's deal using power cards. It was a fun gathering and we stayed there for a total of 3 hours. The cost per pax is $11.50 inclusive of an extension of one hour.

I headed to the newly renovated Newton Food Centre next to meet up with my jc friends for supper and there were a lot of people eating there. Most people including me were late except Jim and Edwin and we chatted all the way until 3 am. I'm quite disappointed with the food at Newton Food Centre. The hokkien mee which we ordered was way too salty (there were even a number of food awards given to the stall), the sugar cane juice was way overpriced ($2), the stingray was barely enough and the seafood was 'ok' only.

I'm not going to Newton Food Centre again. There are not enough parking lots anyway.

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Body Aches and Dinner

Had lessons in the morning and went for ippt in the evening at Bedok Camp with Ks, Jy, Zy and Kr. They started the ippt later than the stipulated timing and there wasn't a lot of people taking compared to Maju Camp.

We cleared the 4 stations and i was aiming for a pass as i didn't train for ippt since reservist which was 2 months ago. After running, panting, perspiring and aching, i finally managed to pass the ippt with an incentive of $100. Ks, Jy and Zy got silver while Kr and i got a pass. I will be able to clear my 2nd year ippt after my birthday later this month.

We also saw one of our sgts Weijie when he was clearing his RT and we all headed to our ex-PS Sgt Colin's newly opened restaurant at Siglap after our exercise. It was located among the private houses and rather difficult to find. Luckily, Zy knew the directions and we reached there within 15 mins.

Dining

The price is very reasonable for its ambience and the quality of the food. My chicken chop was very thick and juicy. We spent quite some time chatting and catching up with each others' lives.

Group Photo of NS Men

My body is aching badly! I need to exercise more!

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Batam Day 2

Day 2 Batam (3/8/06)

We woke up at 9 am and had our breakfast buffet at 9.30 am.

Breakfast @ Harris Cafe

We went back to our hotel rooms to discuss our activities for the day and Jieli and her bf, Ryan, arrived at Batam shortly. The both of them were here for a 2 day 1 night stay and were staying at Harris Resort too.

The 7 of us played some card games while the hotel staff were preparing their hotel room. While the both of them were unpacking their luggage, the 5 of us headed down to the beach to take a look.

Deserted beach!

Another view of the beach

We walked over to the sea sports centre to take a look of the activities offered.

Sea Sports Centre

Kept monkeys

We decided to go on an hour of speedboat ride around the island. It costs $120 for an hour in the speedboat. Rather expensive but we went for it anyway.

Jim & I

I'm driving the speedboat!

Terence is driving the speedboat!

Speedboating!

The driver or tour guide let each of us drive the speedboat and we were happily speeding and turning the speedboat around the seas while avoiding ships, kelongs, fish catchment areas, etc. It was quite fun and easy to control the speedboat with just the steering and throttle.

Kept parrot at the sea sports centre

I guess we were the first customers at the sea sports centre and there wasn't much people except for the staff there. We headed back to the hotel to rest and relax for a short while before meeting up with Jieli and Ryan for our second session of Go-Kart.

We took the minibus there and i was the photographer for the first round of Go-kart as i did not drive at first.

Gearing up

Go-Kart Centre

I'm with the go-karts

After the race

We were still itching for a second round of racing and we all paid for another race. The race today was much more fun than yesterday's race as there were no wet patches on the road and i was drifting successfully compared to yesterday when we all keep skidding. I only realized that i can drift in the middle of the race as i started to get more daring and accelerated instead of braking at the bends. The positioning of the body played a part as well as the go kart is light and i have to lean right at left turning bends and vice versa.

At the last round of the race, i was overconfident and i skidded while negotiating a sharp bend. Clarence overtook me as a result and was the overall winner. Ha... Gotta beat him next time.

We walked back to the resort and cleaned up before heading to Megamall via cabs.

Taken in the elevator overlooking Batam Ferry Terminal

We had lunch at A&W (no longer existing in Singapore) and went shopping next. All 5 of us got a pair of Levis jeans each as it's quite cheap there. The prices range from S$40 onwards and i got myself a blue-black jeans that costs 299,000 Rupiah ($52.60). I didn't have much money left to buy other stuff and we spent the rest of the time window shopping.

We all then took cabs to Nagoya for seafood dinner. We walked around there for a while and brought Jieli and Ryan to a Polo Ralph Lauren retail shop. PRL clothes there are cheaper compared to other countries as there is a PRL factory in Batam.

We asked the hotel staff at Formosa Hotel for the whereabouts of good seafood and we were walking around the not so populated streets and many idle taxi drivers approached us for rides. Batam is not exactly a very safe place but if you are travelling in a large group, it should be relatively safe.

We found Windsor Food Court by chance and there were a lot of people dining at the open air food centre compared to other eateries with very few people inside.

The moment we stepped into the food centre, at least 2 females approached us and ushered us to a table with the stall's menu. Next, at least 8 females swarmed our tables when we sat down and asked us if we wanted any drinks. We told them to come back 5 mins later as we wanted to order our food first.

A picture of the beverage girls swarming another table

The first time I see so many people in Batam! Windsor Food Centre

We ordered steamed fish, scallops, sambal squids, prawns, vegetables, hot plate tofu, sweet & sour chicken, mixed vege soup, etc and had a very full meal for just around S$10 each. We can never get this sort of price in Singapore i think.

After our full meal

We took cabs back to Harris Resort and we all played card games with Jieli's direction as she had brought Absolut Vodka for the card games. We all drank finished the 300 ml of alcohol in less than an hour and of course no one was drunk. Clarence, Gs and Ryan faces turned reddish though. We turned in at around 2 am.

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Holiday

Attended the first 2 days of lectures and i feel like i'm taking all physics modules. Yesterday was the start of the add drop period and we were all rushing to grab the few vacant slots left for those popular electives. Perseverance pays as i got some of the electives i wanted. Should be taking Mind Over Sress and Magic of Voice in the World of a Singer.

Went out with my jc friends for dinner at a Japanese restaurant in cuppage area. Watched Click at PS after that. The movie is not just a comedy but a drama as well. Newman (Adam Sandler) got a universal remote control that actually controls the universe literally. He gets to fast forward through arguments and work assignments, lower the volume of his dog barking, pause the scene and slap his boss, scroll back into his life and replay the scenes, etc. Such a nifty gadget but when the situation goes out of hand, there is no turning back. Emotional, quirky and laughable, the movie demonstrates the importance of family love and we will learn to appreciate the people around us more. 3.5/5

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Errors & Blunders

Got a new computer today at Sim Lim Square. Got a AMD core duo processor, 250 GB SATA hard disk, 1 gb kingston ram, a motherboard and a cpu casing for $770. However, after installing the cd/dvd drive, the cpu doesn't seems to power up.

The worst thing is that i seem to have lost the receipt. It's either the assembly fault or the faulty casing. Have to go back to the shop again on monday.

School is starting on Monday. Really feel like skipping the lectures but i know i will attend most of it.

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Batam Day 1

We arrived at Habourfront at 8.20 am and had breakfast before our ferry at 9.20 am.

Penguin Ferry (Nice cable car backdrop)


We sat on the ferry for about 1 hour before reaching Waterfront City, Batam.

There is free shuttle bus service to Harris Resort which is about 3 mins drive from the ferry terminal. We checked into the resort and dumped our luggage in the 2 rooms we had booked.

Side view from our rooms

Front view from our rooms

As you can see, there isn't much infrastructure in Waterfront City. The beach also looks deserted and we seem to be isolated from the rest of the world. We headed down to Harris Cafe for our free lunch at 11 am and we were the only customers in the cafe. There was only a couple who arrived when we were waiting for our food.

Next, we explored the resort and the facilities include bowling alley, squash court, table soccer, big swimming pool, arcade, gym and spa. Most of them were not utilised at all except for the swimming pool where there were a few couples. Waterfront City is severely underpopulated! Maybe it is because of the lunar 7th month.

Harris Resort

We decided to go for Go-Kart next and it was $20 for two 10 mins rides. The minibus took us to the nearby circuit track and we were ready to race after wearing the helmets.

Go-Karting

We got splashed with mud and water as some portions of the track was wet due to a prior rain. It also affected our driving as we skidded along bends due to poorer grip of the tyres. All of us became quite dirty after the race.

We went swimming in the big pool next as we were all in need of a bath. We played many 'stupid' games in the water and i even taught most of them the correct technique for diving.

After we changed into our clean clothes, we got into a cab and headed to Nagoya for shopping.

Along the way to Nagoya

Buildings along the way to Nagoya

We alighted at Center Point where we grabbed a bite at MacDonalds. We then browsed through some of the shops, walked along the streets and played some games at the arcade. There isn't a lot of shopping that we can do at Nagoya.

Dinner at a local eatery

Bedtime!

We played Blackjack and our bets for each deck is 1000 Rupiah ($0.20). Gs had extremely good luck and he was the overall winner winning 26000 Rupiah.

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Freed From Work

Today is my last day at InCall Systems and i've finished all of the 600 records after burning midnight oil on Sunday night (stayed up until 5 am and had 2 hrs of sleep) and yesterday night (stayed up until 3.20 am and had 4 hrs of sleep).

Luckily, my supervisor had a half day off today and i had much time to do the data entry instead of calling people. Finished the heavy workload after 3 hours of busy typing and i'm freed from work tonight!

Have to pack my stuff later for my Batam trip from this Wed to Fri. Cya!

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