Bintan, Indonesia Trip (Day 1)

24th November 2022, Thursday

Finally, traveling is more ease now but there are still many regulations while traveling to different countries. So, I booked an all-in package ($1,100) with Club Med Bintan for a 4 days short weekend gateway. This was my first trip to visit Bintan. Left house super early to go to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal, took 1 and half hour to go from punggol. Bus 35 is also took a long wait to arrive, the frequency was like 20 mins per interval. I got confused and climbed over to the opposite side which was the wrong direction. Luckily, i realised and made the way back to the opposite direction. The bus finally came and off to the terminal. Reached the terminal around 8:45 am and went to the Bintan Resort Ferries counter to collect my ferry ticket. Then i went to find a breakfast place in the terminal. Unfortunately, there was only one small coffeeshop for breakfast. Ended up buying a hot milo ($3), 2 eggs ($2.60) and 2 plain toast ($2.50), expensive breakfast. The gate only open at 10:15 am, so there was a lot of time for me to pass.  There were also many people going to Bintan and Batam today. Later on, i passed by the Bintan Resorts Ferries counter, the queue was super long with people queueing to collect their ferries tickets. 

Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal

I went through the customs and went in to wait at the gate. There was a mini duty-free shop and a mini eating place inside. Nothing much to do but to sit around and wait for the ferry. So waited until almost 10:30 to 10:45 am before the gate was opened for boarding. At last, the gate opened and everyone scrambled to board the ferry. There were a lot of families going Bintan today and everyone was choosing the seats. I found a 2-seats on the right side of the ferry and there was some empty spacing which i could put my backpack without blocking anyone. But so unlucky, a kid was seated behind me and tended to kick my seat. Since the ferry ride's duration was 50 mins, the parents had to keep the kids entertained with some chips...

Doulos Phos The Ship Hotel

When the ferry was about the reach the dock, the ship hotel can be seen from outside. Everyone all rushed to get ready to alight the ferry. But at least the people still tried to align in an orderly manner. The Indonesia customs officers collected everyone's health declaration form and everyone walked towards to the customs counters for clearance. There was a little gal, seems to be very bad mood...kept whamming since she boarded the ferry to the time she alighted the ferry with her parents. But could see she was very active and getting naughty. After i passed the customs counters, there was another boy who was crying and just sat on the floor instead of going through the scanning gate. But of cos, when the father moved ahead, he just got up and followed crying. After that, I went to the Club Med office in the terminal. It was a very tiny office which just a small counter and 2 staffs trying to register all the guests. It was quite confusing because of the people standing outside with their luggage and making the place so crowded. So if you are going there for registration, you can just walk towards the counter and see where is the queue. If you are travelling with big group, it may be good that one representative to do the registration for everyone while the rest of the people can wait outside. 

I went for my registration and i was greeted by Miko (Welcome and Services Manager) warmly.  Pity them, they had to find through a paper name list of guests arrived today printed in tiny fonts. The registration was quite manual, so it took a while for each group. And i was given my door tag and club med map. However, there was a group of 18 people doing the registration first. So she had to scan all their passports first before she could scan mine. So i had to wait patiently for my passport to get scanned by her. After that, i exited the terminal and boarded club med bus while waiting for the rest of the people to get boarded. Once everyone boarded, the bus left to go to the resort which was 15 mins away. The club med welcome staff first greeted us and welcomed us. Next, he told us to always lock the balcony door in our room as the monkeys there already know how to open the door themselves and make their way into the room. It could be troublesome for them as the monkeys always make a mess in the room. After the announcement, there wasn't much to do on the bus until the bus arrived at the resort. 

My room's door tag

Cafe at the Ferry Terminal

The bus waited for some time at the guard house and when the bus drove into the resort's main entrance, the welcome team were welcoming us. And each one of the staffs was holding a piece of paper printed with our names to receive us. Each group was handled by a staff individually, so it was like 1 to 1 handling. The staffs would bring their own group to seat around the main lobby and started introducing the resort and providing information like what facilities do they have and what was included in the package. There was a $300 sgd security deposit which the staff charged to my credit card. The security deposit will be refunded back later when you check out from the resort on the last day. Some of the groups had their rooms ready, so they were able to proceed to their rooms. However, mine was not ready yet, so the staff told me to go the main restaurant for lunch first and proceed to the reception again at 3 pm to check on the room. 

Bar at Main Building

So i went to level 2 and went to the main restaurant for my lunch. There was many different cuisine and each counter was manned by a "chef" to prepare the dish of the day for you. There were some food which you could take on your own like buffet style. Anyway everything was included, so you can eat to your fill with the food and drinks. There were a lot of nice looking food, like gourmet standard. I tried a sea brass dish, soba, ebi curry rice and some fruits. The serving was quite nice for 1 pax but you can take as many servings as you like. The food wasn't that fantastic but was not too bad too. But i found their milo is damn sweet. After the lunch, i wandered downstairs to the poolside bar to have a look as it was still early. Then I returned to the reception and saw Miko from the registration counter at the terminal. So i checked with her if my room is ready for me. Funny thing was, the housekeeping staff was telling her that they had already informed that the room was ready since 11 am. Some more, i arrived in the resort past 12 pm but i was not given my room at tat time and i had to carry my heavy backpack around for extra 1 hour plus (Jialat). 

Anyway i was so glad that i can proceed to my room and dump my heavy bag in the room. The room was quite spacious and there was even a sofa beside the window. After resting for a while, i decided to go to the pool for a swim but i realised i actually forgot my swimming goggles. Gosh...but i just went ahead and ended up soaking in the water...hahha...only swam a little once a while...There was two pools..one pool was 1.2m and all the way to 1.6m while the other pool located below is with 1.0m and all the way to 1.7m on the other end. So i just stayed in the 1.2m side. One thing i wasn't quite happy was that there was no staff to enforce the kids to shower before going into the pool after coming from the beach. If the parents did not enforce, the pools will end up having sands inside. There was an opening space where swimmers can see out to the palm trees and beach. I tried to swim towards it but realised it was deep when i no longer can touch the ground. Then i quickly paddled myself back to 1.2m side...so scary (no confidence of swimming without my goggles). 

Rooms

 

After soaking in the pool for almost an hour, i headed back to my room for a shower and rested until it was near to dinner time. Went out to explore around the resort and tried walking the road behind the block where my room was. There were a lot of monkeys swinging around on the tall palm trees and they even climbed around the resort rooms. They could literally climb up and down from the sides and sliding down from the top to the bottom. Even saw one monkey climbing around with a pair of shorts on its mouth and other monkeys tried to snatch it from it too. There was also squirrels running around on the trees too. So i just walked back to the beach area as fast as i could (too many monkeys and getting scary).  The spa was at the end of blk D resort rooms too (but you need to make reservations at the main building's lobby and it was not included in the package).

Later I passed by the bar at the beach, saw there was bbq going on. The guests were having bbq wings and satays. Then i headed to the bar at the pool and the first world cup match of the day had already started screening on the screen. So i ordered a cocktail and sat there to watch the match. At 6 pm, the bar staffs brought out some mini snacks. So i tried the snacks as the dinner at the main restaurant will only be available from 6:30 pm onwards.

Cocktail with snacks

I found the cocktail was super sweet until i don't order any cocktails for the rest of my stay...hahaha...After this snacks, i went up to the main restaurant for dinner. The concept was the same with lunch but the dishes were different. There were some big groups where they had their designated tables for their meals. So i just tried whatever dish i feel like eating..didn't find the prata and seafood nice but the soup was not too bad. After dinner, i went back downstairs to the pool side bar to watch the football match again while waiting for the evening's performance to start in the theatre. When it was near to 8pm, most of the staffs will head to the theatre entrance and form a line on the left and right side. Whenever there were people walking towards the theatre, the staffs will start clapping like welcoming the people. Today's performance is called "Colours", a dance performance by some of the Club Med staffs. The performance is about a girl who was finding colours of happiness and sharing the happiness to everyone. There was also circus performance incorporated in the performance. It was a nice performance and the staffs did made great effort in putting the best show for the guests. At the end of the performance, all the performers were introduced one by one and they were staffs we would see during the day like the yoga instructor, or the staffs working at the reception. The host was asking everyone not to go back to the rooms after the performance as there will be a party starting at the pool side...

Mini salmon don & Soup

Acrobat part

So everyone left the theatre and headed to the pool side. Immediately the party started and the emcee brought up the atmosphere. Everyone and the staffs started to dance in front of the stage (it wasn't a big space so i just stood at the back to avoid the crowd), everyone started to have a great and fun time. The theme of the party was a tribute to the Queens, so the songs were quite 80's. There were 2 mini stages and there will be two of the staffs doing imitation of the Queens (i think). I only knew some of the songs and i was even surprised that the emcee was able to sing the chorus part in Chinese when they played "小苹果" as i think he wasn't Chinese-speaking. Anyway everyone went so high when this song was played as it was known by everyone. I left the party earlier as it was getting past 11 and i getting tired. So i walked back to my room and showered so i can rest for the day. 

Party Time!!

Sun Moon Lake 日月潭, Taiwan Trip (Day 8)

24th November 2014, Monday

Tickets Package

Today, we were going to Sun Moon Lake. Had people saying it is nice place to go, so wanted to go see for myself and i also want to show my friend the tribal village of Taiwan. As it will be a long ride to the lake, we forced ourselves to wake up around 6 am to get ready. We went down to the hotel canteen to peek at the breakfast...hmmm...simple dishes, doesn't look so bad...but we skipped it anyway. So i went to confirm with the hotel staff on the direction to take tour bus (from Nantou Bus Company) to Sun Moon Lake. It was super near to our hotel, a few mins walk down the street. Once there, i bought the sun moon lake tickets package, which included the return bus tickets, the cable car (both way), the ferry ticket, the around the lake bus. It costs NT$680 each and the bus was to be leaving at 8.30 am. So we just waited there, as it was only 7 plus, my friend went to walk around by herself.....we didn't even have breakfast yet...

Ah Ma Herbal Tea Egg (Must Try!)

As the buses will just stop along the road, so the buses will come and passengers board and then leave. There wasn't much waiting time there, and you need to listen to the staff to shout for your places and they will tell you to start queuing at which spot. Finally, our bus came and it was full. We left Taichung exactly at 8.30 am and it was a 1 and half hour ride. We reached Sun Moon Lake Visitors Information Center at 10.00 am. Some of the passengers went for the around the lake tour bus, some went for the ferry. We just took our time to walk on the streets....hahahaa...We didn't go for the ferry or the cable car too (which was a mistake)...We went to walk a walking trail called Hanbei Trail. It was pretty much nobody walking that tail, but as we walked, we were about to enjoy the overview of the mountains and water....We passed by Chiang Kai-Shek's leisure fishing boat and his own use jetty, sun moon lake spillway, saw a distant view of LongFeng Temple. The last stop would be  Apricot Platform, where the grand teacher, Confucius had used to give lessons to his students. The whole trail was about 1 km distance, until we came out to the other side of the lake. There, we saw Ah Ma Herbal Tea Egg (only in Sun Moon Lake). It's abit different from our normal herbal tea egg, here they had boiled with mushroom or LingZhi (looked mushroom-like).....and this smelled better....

Main Gate of Longfeng Temple

And it only cost NT$10, so i bought 2 and let my friend try one. Anyway, we were both hungry and after the long walk....think dying already...hahaha..My friend likes it...said want to buy again....hehee...But we continued our way first to Longfeng Temple, which was like very very far away. And still need to walk a very steep road up to the entrance, by the time we reached the entrance, soooo tired already....There was a phoenix statue on the left side and a dragon statue on the right side and this temple was also the matchmarker god (the god who is in charge of pulling red threads for singles....so if you want to find a husband or wife, pray to this god..heheee) temple. A lady just slept in front of the matchmaker shrine, like very nice to sleep...hahahaa....We just walked around the temple and catch our breath...After this, we walked back down the same road and bought ah ma herbal tea eggs again...there were about 2 or 3 stalls selling Ah Ma herbal tea eggs, so we didn't really know which one was the real one, but it tasted nice to whichever stall we bought from....this time my friend ate 2 eggs and we got a red tea milk too....

Shueishe's Wharf

After eating, we walked back to the Shueishe's Wharf (there are actually 3 piers in the whole of sun moon lake) to catch our ferry because walking was not possible to cover the whole lake. So i went to exchange for the ferry tickets and got a stamp on our hands....As there were different ferry companies, so they will see the stamp on your hand to identify their passengers. Queued for the wrong ferry as i wasn't aware of it until the staff of the different ferry company came and checked and told us, we were waiting at the wrong place..... :P....Luckily our ferry came and we boarded. It was the biggest ferry of their company...and still there was a lot of people on board. There was a guide who gave some introduction on Sun Moon Lake as why was it being named as sun moon lake and some attractions that we passed by. It was in Mandarin, so i had to translate to my friend. The guide said one side of the lake looks like a cresent moon and one side of the lake looks like a sun (forget which side), so it was named as Sun Moon Lake...and he asked us whether we are able to see it, the people all answered no. Then he replied, all his years of growing there, he was also not able to see it...hohohooo....

玄光寺

Before reaching the 2nd pier, the guide told us at this pier, we can see 2 long queues, 1 was for Ah Ma Herbal Tea Egg (which i later learned that it costs NT$30 here), and another long queue was for toilet. And the guide told us not to queue on the wrong side if want to buy the herbal tea egg....hohoho...We alighted at the 2nd pier when Xuanguang Temple was located (Shouldn't alight at this pier, as it wasn't for the cable car)...There were more people here than on Shueushe's Wharf, faintz...Anyhow, we went up to Xuanguang Temple, which we need to climb stairs up too....tiring....
This small temple was built to honor a great Buddhist monk called Xuan Zhang, who had traveled from China to India to bring back Buddhist scriptures. Then outside the temple, you will see a queue, people lining up to take a photo with a big stone with "玄光寺" written on it. We didn't bother to line up for it and we walked down to another walking trail, which will lead us up to Xuanzang Temple. There was another stone display with words on the other side of the temple, people were also trying to take a photo with it. As we walked by, there was a figure craved out from the stone behind it....but nobody was even looking at the back of the stone. And when i was standing there, there was this stupid uncle just shooing me very loudly and rudely to go away so they can take photo of the stone....~_~....

Xuanzuan Temple

We ignored him (can't be bothered with him too) and began our Qinglong walking trail. It was a 0.8km trail but the road wasn't straight. It was uphill and downhill and stairs and more stairs....It was really very tiring to complete the trail and i think the difficulty of this trail was medium. Can't image on those hard trails... will faintz....I was so happy to reach to the top to see Xuanzhan Temple...need to catch my breath...There were 2 white giant elephants statues at the foot of the temple, on the center, there was a whole map indicating the places that Xuan Zhang had went during his great journey. Still need to climb a short stairs up to the entrance...haiz...but from there, we could see the whole of sun moon lake and the mountains...it was quite a nice view there....at near the entrance, there was these 2 machines, where you can put in a NT$10 coin and make a wish..and this little monk will go in to the small temple inside to get your divine lot..i think SG also has it before....I tried to get mine but my lot dropped when the monk was moving out...no luck in seeing my lot...haiz...Then we went to explore the temple. It was 3-storey high, on the 2nd floor, was the introduction on the different folds on the robes (5, 7, 15, 25 folds) which was being worn for different occasions and some of the Buddhist equipment. Luckily, all had English description, so i don't really have to do the translation. And on the 3rd floor, lies the tooth relic of Xuan Zhang. There was security alarms to protect it, so can't really walk near to it. Have to see the relic from the 2 TVs on the side of the walls. Photography was not allowed on the 2nd and 3rd floor, so wasn't able to take any photos there.

Divine Lot Machine

Then we went outside of the temple, there were 2 giant bells on each side. One will be sound in the morning which indicated the start of work and another will be sound at around 5.30 pm, which mark the end of work. Then we saw a group trying with the divine lot machine and the lady was able to get hers out. My friend said she will try...so we went and try....Aiyo...hers was still on the holding plate which the little monk was holding...no luck too.....i told her god's will....not meant for us to read.....After this, we walked back the same trail to go back the same pier for the ferry. So it was another 0.8km to xuanguang temple and stairs down the the pier. There were really a lot of people at the pier..all crowded there....Then the ferry came and this time we alighted at Ita Thao Pier, which was where the cable car station is. But it was already 3.30 pm, when we asked the staff in the visitors information center, we were told the tickets counter closed at 3.30 pm and the cable cars will stop at 4.00 pm. As i see there was still a distance away to the cable car station, so i thought just forget it....not point already....So we went walking on the streets to look for food....Managed to buy some souvenirs there and had nice yummy sausages. Had a rice stuffed in chicken wing snack too, came across a veggie bun where the auntie let people to take their own change. A lot of people were buying from her. It was yummy....

Sunset View

We walked until 4 plus, then we went back to the pier to take the ferry back to Shueishe's Wharf. There was a ferry there which we didn't managed to board, so we were just standing there, shooing away tiny flies which kept flying on top of our heads. From there, we still saw cable cars going up and down, we were thinking we should have went to the cable car station earlier on. It only came to a stop like around 5.00 pm. Then the ferry came and we all boarded it, luckily we sat on the outside because we managed to catch the sunset while we were on it.....it was very nice view...The guide was giving us an introduction on Ci En Pagoda which was built in memory of Chiang Kai-Shek's mother. And the guide also told us the cable car station was built using NT$10 millions and the government earned back in within a year time. After alighting, we walked back the Shueishe Visitors Information Center, where we checked on the return bus timing. There was already a queue for it, so my friend queued while i ran up to Mos Burger to buy drink for her. When i came back down, i don't see my friend anywhere. Apparently she just boarded the bus and was waving inside the bus to get my attention. The bus was also full at this time and there was 3 extra people standing. And the whole journey, one of the guy who was standing was leaning over my friend. My friend was soo pissed off...hehehee...The bus had to go to Puli, which was another bus terminal first before going back to Taichung. It was around an hour ride to Puli, when we arrived there, some people alighted and some stayed on and some new passengers boarded. The driver was like super pek chey, when talking to the bus terminal staff, he was like so angry that the 3 people who was standing didn't pay for their tickets. Later he went on the bus to check everyone's tickets. One of our tickets was showing Puli -> Sun Moon Lake, i thought the bus was going back to the lake again but those who had boarded with us from the lake didn't alight..so i thought it should be ok....

Mountain Pork Meat

When we reached our bus terminal, it was already 7 plus and we were both very tired. Saw a stall selling food, so we just bought our dinner from there and went back to our hotel to rest. The drumstick bento i bought wasn't nice...sad dinner...luckily bought a mountain pork earlier in the lake...wasn't too bad...at least still got something nice...My friend was complaining that the nearest we going to reach Taipei, the food wasn't so nice anymore...hahaha...After eating, it was shower and sleeping time...Zzzzz...


Hotel Stayed: VIP Hotel

Places Visited:
Sun Moon Lake

Batam Trip 2

Day 1 - 11th Jan 2013

Harbourfront 1

Went Batam Trip with my xiao gu, uncle and grandma from 11th Jan to 12th Jan 2013 (My xiao gu bought the voucher deal online - 2D1N). I met up with them at Harbourfront Ferry Terminal at 7am (soooo early....sleepy....) and went to collect out ferry tickets. When we got our immigration cards, the DOB and names were printed wrongly. So we had to wait for them to re-print the cards again. Then we went to have our breakfast at Toast Box, after that we went to take our ferry. We reached Batam (Harbour Bay Terminal) at around 9am, the terminal was super empty...then we got out to find our day tour guide. The guide's name is Louise, he eh...looks really sissy for a guy. My grandma still asked mi whether the guide is a guy or a lady...hohoho...Then the guide gave us our return ferry tickets and told us to board the bus first. The bus was a old model type, like those old old school buses, and the seats are super cramped and the walkway also super cramped. Luckily mi and my grandma are very quite thin, we can squeeze into 1 row. But my xiao gu and uncle had to sit on separate rows, cos too cramped for them. There was a couple, the husband was quite big sized, he had to squeeze into the seats with his wife...After everyone had boarded, we set off to the 1st attraction - Batam Chocolate House. The guide was speaking in 2 languages, Malay and Mandarin, cos he said his English cannot make it. Anyway there were Malays in our group too. There was a young Malay couple with a super cute baby sitting at the end of the bus...the baby really cute...We bought a few chocolate back, and my grandma got to talk to another elder from our bus...and was chatting happily...

Mi Le Fu

After the chocolate house, we went to Mi Le Fu Temple (Maha  Vihara Duta Maitreya). The temple was quite large and there were 3  levels. And there were alot of cute Mi Le Fu statues around the  temple...you see the Mi Le Fu holding microphone, music  instruments...etc....inside the temple, there were also quite a few  Budhha statues, even have Wen Shu Bodhisattva. But the temple  looks like newly built....There was a guy who keep talking to my  grandma, then after that, switched to talk to my uncle and he really  keep talking...like trying to get people to join their temple....We  were the last ones to go up the bus... :P....The Malay groups didn't  went down and the other family of 6..doesn't seems like to be  coming for sight-seeing....After this, we made our way down to a  Polo Ralph Lauren Outlet for some shopping. But when we looked at the prices, not so cheap leh...even after discount...anyway also nothing to buy after seeing the prices...hahahaa...My grandma ended up talking to the same elderly again there...and we got her up the bus when she started to tell her sad story again....After this, the guide brought us a house where layer cakes are made..but the bus can only stop along the main road and we had to walk in to the house. It is called Diana Layer Cakes. Basically he brought us there, then let us try on the layer cakes and u tell him how many boxes and what flavor you want, and the guide will take down all the orders and help us make orders.The cakes will be given after the cakes are delivery to him later in the afternoon. After tasting the layer cakes, we went down to Otak Otak Factory. It was a small shop which sells alot of different flavors of otak...ohh!!..the otaks are nice...i like their sotong otak...really got sotong inside...and the otak putih..it's a white colored otak (like fish cake), which you need to dip in a sauce..very nice to eat...We bought 25 sticks for SGD$9.....After the otak tasting, we made our way to have our lunch...all hungry....The lunch place is the same place which i went the 1st time i came to Batam...except the show is not included here..The guide made it optional for us...So when we arrived, the guide first brought us to walk through the shop to buy coffee powder....Then we went to the restaurant to have our lunch...My xiao gu and uncle got the super big coconuts...they said it was sour....kekeke...The food were the same as the previous time i came....But this time we were seated with the family of 6...Wah...when they sat down with all the goods bought from the provision shop there, they started to scope whatever food that was on the table....(Machiam a bunch of hungry ghosts just got released out..). We can't even turned the lazy daisy to our side to get the food......But we still managed to get food to eat...Then they were complaining on the coconuts tasting sour and no flesh inside..and the fish was abit stink....Bought slippers for my grandma too (She wore a pair of 'open-mouthed' shoes to Batam...faintz..).

Miniature Houses

 After lunch, the guide bought us to Yong Heng Food Trading  Shop. It was a provision food like that..brought 2 bottle of metos  for my grandma (She kept wanting to pay for it when she doesn't  have any rupies on her..haiz...). Then after this, the guide brought  us to the golden bench where the paint ball, miniature houses and  the go kart were...So the guide told us to go around on our own  when we reached there..Then we went to see the miniature  houses...and walked 1 round inside...i tried to take some photos  for my grandma to keep her happy. Then we went to Golden  Factory Outlet, it was beside the Go Kart circuit. So we just went  to walk walk and at the same time, had some aircon...There was  selling clothes too, Polo Ralph...i bought a cap for myself...  kekeke... :)....After here, the guide brought us the batik factory (the same place i bought souvenirs last time). I bought souvenirs at the same place again this time..hahaha...Then we crossed over the 1st Factory Outlet to shop again...Luckily this time, the massage place is not nearby here..so we don't have to wait here  doing nothing for those people going for massage. After spending some time here, the guide brought us to a shopping mall - Plaza Top 100. The massage place was also nearby here, so the guide brought those who are going massage to the massage place and those who are not, will spend their time in the shopping mall (which was what we did). So we went around shopping in the mall, bought a proper shoes for my grandma and went shopping for some maggi mee in the supermarket there...got their ABC chilli sauce too....Had some snacks at Texas Chicken and it was raining at the time...Later after this, we went to Batam City Square for shopping again...We just walked around the place and had our dinner there..Ayam penyet with our otaks...After that, we went to a sports shop where mi and my xiao gu bought a pair of shoes there...very cheap (less than SGD$20)...kekeke...Then...finally is back to the hotel.....so tiring....When we reached the hotel, the lobby was super big..But the staff told us that they were doing cleaning on their water tanks, so due to this, the shower water may come out yellow and stinky (for hot water)..So ok...then we went up to our room level...wah!! the lift lobby there was super big and there were at least 2 long corridors to walk to the rooms (and there were alot of oil paintings around the hotel too)....but when we entered our room...it was small and no bathtub (i was expecting a big room and maybe got bathtub...but don't have). But luckily the hot water in my room was not yellowish and doesn't have stinky smell (My xiao gu's room shower was having the stinky smell)...So after shower, we went down to main lobby and explore (their swimming pool and gym were at level 6, and got lions with wings statues as decoration), at the same time use their wifi....there was live singing too with piano..so we just sat there and listened...then we went back up to rest for the day...

Day 2 - 12th Dec 2012
Whole night cannot sleep...due to my grandma can't sleep..she was walking around the room and the room is not so big..she walked from the bed to the door and to the toliet, then from the toilet to her bed again..and she was doing her packing...packed finished and then took out her clothes and packed again. Then she suddenly told me she was hungry, cannot sleep..So i woke up to make her coffee and she ate her bread (which she brought from home yesterday morning). Then i on tv to let her watch too and she was telling me her 'stories' again (my grandma so cute)....Woke up at 8am anyway, and got ready to leave. And also trying to convince my grandma to go take shower. Then we went down to have our breakfast provided by the hotel. Not very fantastic...so-so...The guide will come to pick us to the ferry terminal at around 12pm, so we had some free time to spare. After breakfast, mi and my grandma went up to our room..i just wanted to nua in the room, my xiao gu went walking around the hotel...i ended up sleeping on the bed while my grandma packing her clothes again..hahaha....

By noon, we went down to check-out our rooms..and waited for the tour guide to come fetch us..Then after that, we boarded the bus. The bus this time was slightly bigger but not very clean..kind of itch when sitting on the seats...then the bus went along the way to fetch other passengers from other hotels too. Then we alighted on Harbour Bay Ferry Terminal and we got to stay there for 2 hours...there is nothing to shop there..there was a shopping mall beside it but it was empty..not many shops inside...But i still brought my grandma walk around the mall and my xiao gu and uncle stayed to look after our bags (Grandma complaining again...). So we passed the time there and went to take our ferry back to Singapore. When we reached Singapore, we went to Vivo City to have our dinner. We went to 黑社会 (Bosses Restaurant), we got a set meal which was having 6 dishes. The food is quite nice..not bad...kekeke...but my grandma started grumble again throughout the dinner and our way back..and it got worse...haiz...After that, my uncle brought me home. Luckily i got a Sunday for resting...


Places visited:
1. Batam Chocolate House
2.  Maha  Vihara Duta Maitreya
3.  Polo Ralph Lauren Outlet
4.  Diana Layer Cakes
5.  Otak Otak Factory
6. Golden Prawn 933
7.  Yong Heng Food Trading  Shop
8. Miniature Houses/Go Kart/Golden Factory Outlet
9. Batik factory/ 1st Factory Outlet
10. Plaza Top 100 Shopping Mall
11. Batam City Square
12. Harbour Bay Shopping Mall

Hotel Stayed:
Harmoni One Hotel