Fantastic Weekend

so yes, i'm back from my short getaway to Batam. was a good trip, spent time w tj just exploring a new place, enjoying and relaxing... nothing much to do in batam except chill, walk around, find things to buy, walk arnd trying to find our seafood restaurant... saying NO countless times to taxi drivers who wanna send us somewhere... all in all, relaxing and satisfying, and i return recharged though dreading coming back to reality. pictures will tell a better story i think.

ok first stop, we check into our hotel: holiday inn resort batam, a one bedroom suite which overlooks the pool. check out the living room.


after tt we proceed to our massage session at the Tea Tree Spa. quite satisfying i feel, enjoyed it thoroughly, i highly recommend spa sessions for everyone. v shiok! pics of the spa and the therapy room


i liked this spa place better than the asmara one i went in bintan, though the decor in bintan is better, it's very ex (SGD90 per pax, compared to the SGD113 we paid per pax for the spa package deal which includes the massage, room plus breakfast) so yes, batam is the poor cousin of bintan.

so yes, after tt we proceed to the city centre of batam, batam centre then nagoya to walk around. batam is pretty backward still i feel, and there's pretty much nothing to buy in the stores, and prices are also quoted in SGD at some places, meaning they're tourist traps. batam is also the first place we went without knowing much about the place, without really searching the internet for places to go to, and well they pretty much dun provide maps too, so it was just asking around, walking aimlessly... but tt adds to the fun of it too, we discovered many delightful old-school places, not to mention a supermart where we stocked up on the essential goodies like keropok! and not forgetting the most impt part! food!

Es Teler 77 (they also have branches in S'pore, @ Cineleisure i think)


Love the nostalgic glass bottles that the drinks come in. Tehbotol (bottled tea) and coke


Satay from a roadside stall. satay in indonesia is served with the gravy poured on it. only SGD3 for 20 sticks + ketupat!


Roadside stalls selling food and fruits



Next stop, our seafood dinner! Seafood is cheap in Batam, chilli crab, sambal prawns, calamari and fried kailan, for only SGD 18! and it's fresh and not msg-laden.



after tt there's nothing to do in batam, so we went back to our hotel to watch tv and chill over cheap beer. a can of tiger beer only costs abt SGD1.

next morning, we went for buffet breakfast, then went to the jacuzzi in the spa. since we signed up for the massage session yesterday, we could use the jacuzzi, it's sheltered and heated. so v shiok, we just relaxed and took photos. and since the spa was very empty, hardly any guests, so we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves.



This is some balinese statue at the poolside, we happily used it as a towel rack, very funny. i took more photos of the hotel and lovely pool but i haven't uploaded it yet.



finally, some yummy pokka milk drinks tt we can't find in s'pore. the melon milk is v good!


yupyupz. all in all, i enjoyed the trip. great company (thanks dear), it wasn't tt expensive, only SGD118 per pax nett for massage plus room plus buffet breakfast... and the hotel was quiet, not many guests so it felt like we were the only ones there... it was a tad out of the way (we had to take 30-min cab ride to the city centre, cost us SGD12 each way)... but yah, nice to just relax and chill and do nothing but recharge...