batam island, indonesia, day trip

4.24pm

well good afternoon to all of you. how have you guys been doing? i trust that things are ok with you. anyways, i was doing a little bit of travelling lately and also some catching up with my close friends (from australia and qatar) who were recently in town. but thats another story.

my cousin and i planned a day trip to the island of batam, indonesia. indonesia has tons of islands surrounding it and batam was one of the nearest. besides batam, there's also bintan, where lots of singaporeans go for a short quick weekend break away from all the hustle and bustle of busy singapore.  

so our girls trip started off by waking up at 5.30am and then catching the bus down to harbourfront/vivocity mall, to catch the 8.30am ferry. we had to check in an hour before departure. i recommend the penguin ferries coz they are more trusted and reliable. the journey took ard an hour with some beautiful scenery of the open sea. 

ferry departed on time. oh but before that, just to let you know, we bought online a day trip pass, which was S$54 each person. for this we will get return ferry transfer to and fro from batam to singapore, a seafood lunch, a 135minutes spa treatment, land transfers to take us everywhere (like visits to the batam layer cake bakery, chocolate shop, the largest buddhist temple in SEA, a few factory outlets..etc) and some spending vouchers (of course with its terms and conditions). thankfully, we only had 4 travellers including ourselves on this day trip to batam island. therefore, it was quite fast moving from one place to another. so dear day trippers, you should look out for this deal as its very worth it. but if your group is big on the day you chose, then too bad. im certain there will be lots of waiting around for people to finish their shopping! its your luck really!

our guide was this nice girl who hailed from jakarta but moved to batam to work as a tour guide. she spoke in english and mandarin. not super talkative or pushy like some other operators are. i really hate those! ugh. anyhow, long story short, we got ushered into a 8 seater van, where we were taken to our first pitstop which was the chocolate shop. no big deal to me. singapore has better chocolates in my opinion. so did some quick browsing and off we went to the next stop which was the buddhist temple. there i took some photos and did some prayers. 

after 20 minutes, we got back into the van and headed to polo ralph lauren factory outlet. its not big. just maybe 2 shoplots joined together. did more browsing around but i didnt buy anything coz i knew i was already going to be flying to hong kong, a few days after this trip to batam. its called will power. i had to hold back. but honestly, there wasnt anything that really interest me in the shop. 

next destination was to a dry market, where they sold mostly dried food stuff or sauces. i did grab me a couple of packets of peanuts that was from bali. i love those peanuts! if you ever go to indonesia, do try the balinese peanuts and tell me what you think. in my opinion, its pretty good. my cousin grabbed lots of "emping" as her family likes it especially her husband. now for those of you who dont know what "emping" means, let me enlighten you. its basically indonesian chips, bite sized snack/cracker. made of melinjo or belinjo (gnetum gnemon) nut, after frying, it has a slightly bitterish taste to it. they come in several flavors which are of course the original, salty, caramelized or spicy. 

after that we headed to the batam layer cake bakery. no we didnt get to see any baking or how they do it. indonesia is famous for its layer cake. what is it exactly you ask? its basically cake done in super thin layers, one on top of the other. (thats why its called layer cake). made from spices, to give it the sweet aromatic smell. It is a very rich cake with very high contents of eggs and butter. Therefore, it is usually served in very small pieces. my cousin and the other travellers bought some back. i didnt coz i was given some previously and frankly, im not a big fan of this cake. 

then it was time for lunch nearby at a seafood restaurant by a pond. we had a 7 course meal..imagine that. just the 4 of us so we obviously couldnt finish everything! there was too much! they served us crabs, "gong gong" (steamed conch), stir fried veggie, soup etc. 
after our filling lunch, we moved on for our spa treatment! now that was what i was waiting for the whole day! i want that body massage!

the spa was at a hotel. it was clean and my masseuse was pretty good. started off with a relaxing full body massage, then a full body scrub and followed by a full body mask. to end off my spa, my masseuse filled my jacuzzi/hot tub with some kind of milk bath and warm water. relaxed in there for a few minutes and off to shower. aaah..bliss! what a way to end my day in batam! 

after the spa, we got back into the van and whisked off to a batik shop. its a technique of manual wax resist dyeing process, thats applied to whole cloth, or cloth made using this technique. (for more info, kindly google the word batik). and then, alas it was time to head back to the ferry terminal for our trip back to singapore. what a day it had been. my cousin and i had a nice day out. and that was that! (oh just so you know, we went to a couple more factory outlets along the way). 

ok ttfn


5.29pm

ferry terminal at harbourfront/vivocity mall

morning ferry ride across singapore

buddhist temple 

dry market

batam layer cake bakery

cheese flavored layer cake

prune flavored layer cake

original layer cake with spices

steamed "gong gong" (conch)

the batik shop

lobby of the hotel where we did our spa

my own private room for my spa treatment

the jacuzzi/hot tub to soak in after the massage

front of the hotel

my ride to and fro from batam to singapore

airconditioned ferry and clean too!

almost sunset in batam

hari raya aka eid al-fitr

1.44pm

to all the muslims around the world, wishing you a very happy eid al-fitr. in malaysia and singapore, we usually say - selamat hari raya (or wishing you a happy eid al-fitr). in a nutshell, eid al-fitr is an important religious holiday celebrated by muslims worldwide that marks the end of rahmadan (muslims have to fast from dusk till dawn), the islamic holy month of fasting. 

now in malaysia, since the majority of the population are muslims, 2 days public holiday are given to the nation as most would take this opportunity to go back to their hometowns for this big celebration. not only do the muslims take long leave at this time, other races too would grab this opportunity to take a couple of extra days off to go for holidays abroad or just go out of town for a break. however, for singapore only one day public holiday given because its population is predominantly chinese. 

when i was back in malaysia for a short break during the rahmadan period, there were lots of hawker stalls set up by the malays selling all sorts of delicious cooked food, snacks and drinks. let me show you some shots i took whilst walking around and checking what was being sold. 

there's grilled chicken, stacks of it. marinated with lots of herbs and spices. 

the ever popular satay. satay is actually skewered chicken/beef (generally) that's grilled over charcoal fire. marinated with turmeric and the condiments that usually accompany this dish would be cut cucumbers, onions and ketupat (rice cakes). the sauce/dipping would be the spicy peanut gravy. trust me, its delicious! 

then there's murtabak, some sort of a panfried pancake/bread which is sold mostly at Indian Muslim restaurants or stalls and on the inside of the pancake/bread, some minced mutton/chicken/beef will be added along with some garlic, onions and eggs and then it is eaten with spicy curry gravy and pickled onions.

 local fruits also being sold at these hawker stalls. in the picture above, its mangoesteen that you see. this fruit is generally grown in asia, is sweet and tangy, juicy, somewhat fibrous, with fluid-filled vesicles with an inedible, deep reddish-purple colored rind when ripe. not really my favorite fruit though. 

ah, lovely and decadent local "kuih" (bite sized snacks/desserts which can be sweet or savoury). these kuihs that you see in the photo can be steamed, deep fried or at times, baked. they sell pretty cheaply too! i was spoilt for choices, really! 

different varieties of cookies and biscuits are also sold here. cheap cheap! very cheap! hahahaha 

last but not least, is a popular snack known as  "putu piring", which is made of ground rice flour. a layer of rice flour will be steamed first then comes a spoonful of palm sugar which is placed in the centre of it and then only it will be covered with a second layer of rice flour. once its cooked, it is removed and placed on top of small cut banana leaf. they are topped with slightly grated fresh coconut.  The lump of palm sugar will melt during the steaming process and when you take your first bite oh my god, its heavenly, as the sugar just oozes out from the rice cake! so sinful yet so yummy.

well ive come to the end of my food blog for raya! hope you guys had a good celebration and wherever you go, stay safe! lastly please spare a thought and prayer to those families who have lost their loved ones in the horrible air crashes thats happened over the last couple of weeks. and not forgetting those living in war torn countries like israel, palestine, afghanistan etc. very sad times especially in this 20th century! its time to stop being greedy for money and power. innocent lives lost in these conflicts which is no laughing matter! may god give all of us strength and let us push on but for the right reasons. 

ttfn

3.11pm