Re: Batam Info Thread
 

Wild wild? Where's the oddity? I know more couples who do that for pleasure rather than for money...

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Good observation.

I smell some R & R knowledge here. U must be or hav been a sea man? :)

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Hi bro, mind sharing what Indon Tax is on a liter of liquor? Thanks.

Yes, I agree. I chked out Hana on the last trip. New, clean rooms. Sufficiently large, but Smaller than Formosa (Formosa probably has the largest rooms - [29 sqm, can play hide and seek" .. hee..] in the same price range. Prices vary from IDR 270-350. Good location. 1min walk to New Berry(if you walk really slowly ... hahaha). 5-10 mins walk to Hapi, MM, Newton, Memory, GoldBird, Formosa. Good deal.
Also noticed a couple of new hotels worth checking out: New Hotel Nagoya just down the road opposite InStar. Hans Inn, just next to the old Hapi location. Almost connected to City Walk and across from Beauty 2. IDR380.

Just to share a friend's experience. He tried to book Da Vienna last week through Agoda. Apparently it was not listed yet, so he booked Venesia Hotel (same sounding rite?). Well, when he got to Da Vienna, he got turned around as Venesia is at Batam Center. Not where you want to be if your main activities are around Nagoya. Anyway, helped him contact Agoda, and they were very helpful to assist him to cancel the reservation with no panelty.
THUMBS UP FOR AGODA !! This kind of customer service needs to be acknowledged !! So turned out that I managed to get him into Da Vienna at IDR 450 afterall. Happy Ending ... ??? !!! Hee ...

Re: Batam Info Thread
 

Yes bro I agree AGODA service is very good. Many times I cancelled my room without penalty. However, most of the time their pricing is higher for higher end hotel. If Bros are booking those priced less than 50$ hotel then not really a issue for the differ in pricing.

Re: Batam Info Thread
 

Food are like women (even hotel rooms and other things),everyone has a different taste bud even for the same girl (talking about only WG here). One man's meat can still be another man's posion,hehehe...goes with age,characteristic of each man/woman etc etc...hehehe...and how far they wish to go seek.

Lucky you say Malays dont know how to steam fish to your taste and not Muslim,cos if you say that,i would have strongly disagree with you. Tho i dont take sea food,i happen to chance upon a chef who use to work for the Royal families in Brunei many years ago,he's a Chinese Muslim who marries an Indo girl. He says the same thing as you. His exact words was ,most Malays couldnt handle the steaming of a fish well enough. Remember the TV cooking show "Yan Can Cook" many years ago,they both learn their cooking skill from the same master chef. Your words on the steaming fish reminds me of him who cook some of the best Malay food which i tried in Sillypore,hehehe....fried rice w/o sea food inside an egg omelette was one of my favourite.

He's a freelance chef that travels a lot with his wife tho,should be of a retiring age by now.

I missed the wan tan noodle in my last trip...will be heading to the same Instar Coffee shop in my June trip to eat their wan tan noodle AGAIN,hehehe...not forgetting the "horfun" too,hehehe...:D They are so close to where i will be staying.

I notice quite a handful of hand-made noodle stores in Batam which i could rarely see in Sillypore. Hand made noodles do not become soggy from absorbing too much water from the soup that use to cook it which made them very much more tastier (crispy chewy taste) than the machine made ones. So much for moving towards "productivity" in Sillypore in the food industry over the past years that might one day kills off the MOST good tasting local delicacy.

Hmm...another super long weekends,which means it is a super peak season in Batam,its also a month end which makes it a yet another Super Ultra Peak season,hehehe...no wonder most hotel room are fully booked. Month end is nearing...about time i start planning my June 2015 Trip to Batam,hehehe....

Hmm...in my coming 3D2N Batam trip...i ask myself...

1. How should i handle my 3 meals a day...breakfast,lunch,dinner x 2 nites/day (no supper)..

2. Which joint should i put to test this time,hehehe...

3. What did i miss in my last trip,time to catch back up...

4. An Shun Travel,i found them during my last trip...time to learn more.

5. Should i join my friends or play my own Batam RPG,hehehe...

6. What do i need to buy from Lucky Plaza...(earn my free ferry tickets to Batam)

7. Time to pick a new massage place to try,other than Altalanta Spa.

8. I believe i should be looking into warehouse category of shopping to get cheap and good stuffs.

Re: Batam Info Thread
 

I love this menu.:D

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The girls has the exact same expression in btm booking joint :D

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Until he get the refund back from Agoda, don't be so quick to praise them. Agoda is using the prepaid mode, the amount is deduct from the credit card when the booking is made. Verbally, they can make all sort of promises but until he really get the full sum back, keep your fingers cross.

Re: Batam Info Thread
 

Went to Dae Jang Gem on Saturday night with a bunch of friends and our partners...

It's located in Rosdale Estate, right opposite Palm Springs KFC.. Type in Dae Jang Gem in Google map and the location will pop up..

First impression was good; place was quite big and there were quite a few tables occupied by Koreans, which is a good sign..

Prices are reasonable; 50k for soups (kimchi chige/twenjang/soondubu) and 80k for meats (samgyapsal/bulgogi/kalbi jim/jeyuk bokeum/ojingo bokeum/etc).

We ordered ALOT... Better dishes were:

- jeyuk bokkeum (stir fried spicy pork)
- ojingo bokkeum (stir fried spicy squid)
- kimchi chige (spicy & tangy, albeit a rather small portion)
- soondubu chige (spicy tofu soup, nice and packs a decent punch)
- kimchi jeon (kimchi & seafood pancake)
- Kalbi Jim (Braised oxtail stew)

Dishes not so good:
- bulgogi (taste was decent, but beef was tough; typical Indo local beef)
- Kimpap (Korean style sushi roll; quite bland & tasteless)

Other dishes ordered included samgyapsal (bbq pork belly), very common-fare Korean comfort food.. U can choose to bbq it yourself or have it bbq-ed in the kitchen.. Comes served with sangchu (lettuce) and the usual condiments.. Taste is average as the quality of pork used is not great..

Overall damage was 1.5juta for 11pax, inclusive of beverages. We probably ordered abt 15-16 dishes in total.

Price rating - 8/10
Taste rating - 6/10
Overall rating - 6.8/10

Still much better than that restaurant in Harmoni Hotel though...! Hahaha...

Re: Batam Info Thread
 

I guess this vegetarian restaurant no need to spell out the address,anyone would know how to get there (not by foot of course...lol). It wont be near Harbour Bay tho,but it has receive quite good reviews from vegetarian fans of the Buddhist community. Inexpensive price range from around 50k or less per dish,hehehe....what i like is,it isnt popular among tourist even when it is at a tourist spot,but it is more popular among vegetarians....lol. Another convenient vegetarian place i KIV-ed.

On the next ferry to Batam. Anyone want to meet up? Should be overnight trip fit me.. my Indo number +62 821-8588-0370

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An interesting read from a personal perspective this weekend when i was searching for something on Batam :


This story originally appeared in The New Paper on Sunday, Sept 30.

Published on Oct 2, 2012 6:12 PM

Cheats. Show-offs. Lechers.

These are just some of the words Madam Ida Rumondang Sinaga used to describe Singaporean men when The New Paper on Sunday visited her last weekend.

Speaking in Bahasa Indonesia from her home at Lucky Estate in Lubuk Baja, the feisty shopkeeper says: "My friends and I are wary of Singaporean men. I know somebody who used to date one.

"He promised to marry her when she got pregnant, but he later told her that he had to go back to Singapore first to settle some matters. That was the last she heard of him."

It's safe to say that Madam Sinaga, who is in her 30s, has a strong dislike for Singaporean men who visit Batam regularly.

"They come here, flash their money and act like they are rich, trying to attract local women.

"Only after some time do these poor women find out that these men are actually penniless in Singapore."

She says she has heard other stories from local women who were cheated by Singaporean men.

"These kind of men really annoy me as they only want a good time," adds Madam Sinaga.

"But some of us Batam women know better than to fall for their tricks."

For all the bile she spews, it is perhaps ironic that Madam Sinaga is herself married to a Singaporean.

She is quick to defend him, however, adding that he is nothing like the Singaporean men she despises.

"My husband is different. He is a good man," she maintains, smiling.

She first met him in 2005 when she was working at a coffee shop in Batam.

"A friend introduced us and at first, I was not interested after what I had heard about men from Singapore.

"But he seemed nice and sincere, so I decided to give him a chance."

Her husband, Mr Ng Meng Chong, 55, then started to visit her frequently.

Love eventually blossomed between the pair, and they tied the knot in 2008.

They now have a four-year-old son, Laurent.

Madam Sinaga says she is one of the lucky few as Mr Ng is "a loving father and husband".

She continues: "Ever since we first met, he has never gone out at night to the pubs and massage parlours here.

"Well, now that we are married, he can try. But I'd better not find out or he will have to bear the consequences!" she adds with a laugh.

Mr Ng was previously married to a Singaporean woman, and that marriage ended in divorce in 2003.

They have a son, who is now 18.

Mr Ng is still based in Singapore - he runs a hawker stall in Toa Payoh - but he makes it a point to visit his new family on Batam every weekend.

Mr Ng explains: "I will stay with Ida for a few days before returning to Singapore to take care of my elder son, who lives with me.

"My son met Ida when she visited Singapore (a few years ago) and they got along well. He calls her 'aunty'."

Madam Sinaga wants her son to move to Singapore soon.

Her reason: She would like Laurent to go to school in Singapore, as she feels that the standard of education is better.

"Laurent can have a better future if he goes to school in Singapore to learn English," she says.

"But I'd rather remain in Batam.

"There are buildings everywhere (in Singapore) with no open spaces. I don't feel free in Singapore. Anyway, I have a business to run in Batam and Indonesia is, after all, my home."

Re: Batam Info Thread
 

suddenly feeling the urge to go Batam again tomoro...lol

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Bros, i m going 1nite stay to Batam next week or the following week,...so anyone wanna join pls PM me. Cheers!