It's an hour boat ride with Pacific Ferry to Sekupang Ferry Terminal. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~~~
I'm expecting myself to reminisce a good long post on my first ever one day incredible Batam City Tour! I'm pleased with the fruitful journey to ten places. I visited (1) Batam Chocolate House, (2) Polo Ralph Lauren Factory Outlet, (3) Dry Market, (4) Restaurant Sari Bumbu Buffet, (5) Local Product Kueh Lapis Home "Shop", (6) Emporium Boutique Collection, (7) Kampung Oleh-Oleh, (8) 1st Factory Outlet, (9) Nagoya Hill and (10) Plaza Top 100.
We had a cheerful tour guide whom we met upon our arrival. We relied on him and his driver in a minibus for easy travel to 10 amazing places within a day. It's so convenient and helpful to be guided to ensure the trip's worthwhile.
Are you ready for a virtual Batam Trip?! Here we go:
(1) Batam Chocolate House
Chocolates were our first buys. Boy bought the bali chocolates as the tour guide claimed that it's only available in Bali and Batam. Really meh?! I didn't care about what chocolates to get; I simply grabbed the nicest box I could find. I can eat the chocolates and keep the "book" box. Best of both worlds!
(2) Polo Ralph Lauren Factory Outlet
Next, I had my very first ralph lauren authentic buy at the second stop. We spent a "fortune" of Rp. 379,900 on my striking blue top quality slim fit tee. Heh! Feeling like a happy and rich millionare with the small currency.
(3) Dry Market
We moved on to a place for us to grab snacks and crackers for our family. The enthusiastic shopkeepers kept giving us lots of free samples to try before we decided which to bring home. The purple fried bananas were so addictive!
(4) Restaurant Sari Bumbu Buffet
We then had a relaxing Indonesian buffet lunch at a peaceful and classy place. I ate beef, ayam sambal matar, sweet and sour fish, mixed vegetables, fried egg, rice, spicy mee goreng, pulut hitam, watermelon and papaya! The food variety was alright. The taste was slightly on the heavy side but that's what made the food tasty.
(5) Local Product Kueh Lapis Home "Shop"
After lunch, we went to someone's house. Well, it's a home business by Indo-Chinese owners making and selling kueh lapis in their homes. Nothing tasted special. We didn't buy anything even though we were persuaded after 5 minutes of staring and sampling. I thought we could visit the house interior and all but nothing of that sort.
(6) Emporium Boutique Collection
The realistic tour guide quickly instructed the driver to send us to Emporium thereafter. We bought 3 "I x3 Batam" basic T-shirt for Rp. 100,000. There were many Grade AAA "branded" bags and wallets for sale but I didn't get any. I should have gotten a "Chanel" one! Just kidding, I would rather use a no brand bag than a "branded" one!
(7) Kampung Oleh-Oleh
We then left to visit a batik shop + souvenir shop. I got nothing to buy in there but small eyes boy still managed to spot a Rp. 6,400 hello kitty display thingy so we just got it!
(8) 1st Factory Outlet
We crossed a short road to 1st Factory Outlet. Not only were the clothes young and vibrant, they had superb quality too! However, the cutting of some clothes were not so slim so I only ended up with an orange osaka tee. Tsk. Boy got a yellow fred perry tee. We chose a burberry blue polo for my bro and I dug out a cooling material top for my mum too. We had Rp. 100,000 discount for buying 4 items so I was still satisfied. Singaporeans like me love discounts.
(9) Nagoya Hill
We hopped on to the minibus again and headed to Nagoya Hill for more shopping. While shopping halfway, I found a doraemon background outside a toilet! Ok, not a big thing.
We spent 4 minutes waiting for A&W curly fries... aww, Singaporeans' childhood popular fast food!
My 2 unique buys from Nagoya Hill :D :D :D :D :D Hehe, awesome right?!
(10) Plaza Top 100
Finally, we arrived at Plaza Top 100 for the last shopping destination. We grabbed texas chicken for a quick bite dinner. Teheheheehehe I had kids spaghetti meal. Sadly, there's no toy. Food was so cheap... below SGD $5 for a decent fast food meal! I was hesitant to buy those street food for fear of bad hygience. Kiasi me.
I also managed to spot a hip vest at Plaza Top 100 for around SGD $10. Tell me it's cool please.
My final buy: a Rp. 25,000 souvenir for my display cupboard. How apt - the bear's alike to the kind of face I could show after a long day of shopping!
We tipped the guide and the driver quite a bit for their services before returning to the ferry terminal to wait for our boat back to Singapore.................... Ahh....
Now you tell me, did I narrate an incredible one day trip?
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