Bliss-enchanted♥

yes i'm back. and reality sucks.

one last week left to go before school reopens. trying my best to embrace it, hoping that things will be good.

which also means more driving lessons. can some initial D character just possess my soul and make me drive smoothly and pass my tp when it comes?

okay enough of my whining.

a summary of my 2D1N trip to Batam now.

another deal again that cost roughly ~$70 including all the surcharge.

2D1N stay at M-One Hotel.

- Breakfast buffet

- Ferry and land transfer

- City tour

- Indonesian Buffet lunch

- 60min massage

took Pacific Ferry to Sekupang at Harbourfront Centre.

had to wake up at 5 to make it for the ferry since we took the train down instead of cabbing.

whole journey was about 40minutes before reaching Sekupang terminal.

met up with tourguide and our bus peeps before heading for our citytour trip.

in short, the citytour consist of :

Tua Pek Kong temple > Indonesian buffet lunch > Batik / First factory outlet > 60min massage > Chocolate, Kueh lapis, dried food shop > Batam Citysquare shopping mall > hotel check-in.

first stop was at the temple, prayed and took some photos before heading off for our lunch.

Batik / First factory outlet was pretty disappointing. relatively small shop that sells mainly rejects from branded names, except polo ralph lauren.

upgraded our massage to lavender aroma therapy massage for additional S$15. the massage style is pretty much similar to the one in Bintan. just that they use the oil instead of the cream. since they do not provide any shower service, the cream pretty much stays on your skin throughout the day which feels pretty oily and sticky. the good thing using oil is that it evaporates more easily after application unlike the cream.

the chocolate and kueh lapis didn't appeal to us. bought some prawn crackers from the dried food shop and random tidbits to last for the night from the shopping mall. the prices of the clothing found in the mall is pretty much the same as that in Singapore. probably the better buys would be shoes. since there is a number of stores that sells heels&shoes at less than S$20 for the ladies and S$20++ for the guys.

this is how M-One hotel looks like.

the room looks pretty posh since it's a relatively newly established hotel. but because it's a rather small hotel there's only like 5storeys and the only amenity is a restaurant that provided us with the breakfast buffet.

no swimming pool. many tv channels but very poor reception since they are still in the midst of repairing it.

the hotel is located near Harbour Bay terminal with a number of seafood restaurants nearby. but not close to any of the major shopping malls so we pretty much just settled our zi char dinner (forget to take a photo of the fish) nearby.

day 2 wasn't that long. woke up early in the morning for the breakfast buffet before heading back to room to catch another 3hours of sleep till nearly noon. checked out and headed back to Singapore.

so Batam is rather a small place to explore. like the tourguide said, the itinerary is pretty much the same for all the tours in Batam. 2D1N is good enough.

comparing Batam and Bintan, i would prefer the later. still prefer resorts, water activities and relaxing. but i guess it would probably be many years later before another trip to this two places again. there really isn't much there.

decided to have dinner at Jamie's Italian @ Vivocity.

fyi, if you are ever planning to have dinner there on a weekend, i suggest you walk-in and just leave your contact number first at least an hour before your expected dinner timing.

we went there at 530pm and was told to wait for another hour for seats. they have a very efficient system where the machine automatically sends a sms to your phone once there are seats available. for those who just arrive and started queuing at 6plus, they pretty much had to wait for another near 2hours.

JOOLS’ FAVOURITE SICILIAN TUNA FUSILLI

S$14 / $21

Albacore tuna slow-cooked with tomatoes, garlic, herbs & cinnamon with crunchy, herby breadcrumbs

BRIXHAM BAY CRAB RISOTTO

S$19.00 / $28.50

Creamy risotto made with incredible acquerello rice and topped with lemony crab, samphire & chilli

LAMB CHOP LOLLIPOPS

$29.90

Bone-in grilled lamb chops served with a creamy artichoke & mint sauce, roasted nuts, chilli & fresh mint

we ordered the appetizer size for the Tuna Fusilli and Crab Risotto, and shared the Lamb Chop main.
the two prices stated refers to appetizer/main prices.

though it says appetizer size but really, the amount differs depending on the dish.
the Tuna Fusilli appetizer was pretty little in quantity and the boy likes it pretty much.
but for the Crab Risotto, the appetizer size was already filling considering it's rice.
so i finally tried my long time craving risotto which is just hard creamy rice. taste wise, i didn't quite like it. maybe it's too creamy for my liking. once is probably enough unless there's a better one out there.
the main comes with 4slices of bone-in grilled lamb chops. this is probably the best.

now poor me has to eat air for the rest of the week.

Labels: FOODIES, TRAVEL