I went Batam over the weekend

[TiedInsurer]

Omg the Grab service there is stellar. They have traffic jams like nobody's business. But somehow if the app says your driver will be there in 5minutes, then he will be there in 5 minutes or less. Finding a driver also only takes like 10 seconds. No long waits waiting for a driver to accept your order. And best of all.... 15 minute ride only costed like SGD3. Haha. After my first grab ride there, i started taking grab everywhere. Destination is 15minutes walk? Take grab lol. If you try to take grab to a destination 1km away in SG, you'll likely still be waiting for your driver 15 minutes later.

In SG, the time between ordering a grab, and having a grab actually showing up, often takes between 20 to 30 minutes. You can be stuck on the kerbside for a very long time if you order only when you are already at the kerb, but you can't order in advance because you'll be fined in the rare instances when the driver somehow arrives within 5 minutes. In Batam, no such worries. Just go to kerbside. Place order. Driver found in under 10 seconds, and driver arrive in under 5 minutes. Every single time. Side note: Their wait time before fine kicks in is also a more generous 10minutes, compared to our "claimed 3 minute but actually is 1 minute". But there really isn't any reason to keep the driver waiting if the driver tends to be there so fast.

Why can't we have that in SG?

 

[mcylo]

Sg grab driver hang high high to sell

 

[sPacEmAn_sPiFf]

Got bring cauliflower back ?

 

[trupurple]

Last I went they won't pickup at ferry terminals, shopping etc as I heard they would get beaten up by the taxi driver.
Must pickup at a non tourist spot

 

[glarerder]

Inb4 there so good ts go migrate there lor

 

[TiedInsurer]

Last I went they won't pickup at ferry terminals, shopping etc as I heard they would get beaten up by the taxi driver.
Must pickup at a non tourist spot

Cannot take Grab at ferry terminal. The taxi people there are like gangsters. But outside ferry terminal is fair game. I was taking grab from Mega Mall just across the street from the ferry terminal, to my hotel at Nagoya Hills, to the Harborfront for seafood dinner.

It's not really a problem, and it's not that hard to avoid the taxi mafia.

 

[Joe Maya]

What's the best and most convenient hotel over there?

 

[TiedInsurer]

Got bring cauliflower back ?

No leh. Never see cauliflower there. I thought is only thailand?

 

[yobyella]

Omg the Grab service there is stellar. They have traffic jams like nobody's business. But somehow if the app says your driver will be there in 5minutes, then he will be there in 5 minutes or less. Finding a driver also only takes like 10 seconds. No long waits waiting for a driver to accept your order. And best of all.... 15 minute ride only costed like SGD3. Haha. After my first grab ride there, i started taking grab everywhere. Destination is 15minutes walk? Take grab lol. If you try to take grab to a destination 1km away in SG, you'll likely still be waiting for your driver 15 minutes later.

In SG, the time between ordering a grab, and having a grab actually showing up, often takes between 20 to 30 minutes. You can be stuck on the kerbside for a very long time if you order only when you are already at the kerb, but you can't order in advance because you'll be fined in the rare instances when the driver somehow arrives within 5 minutes. In Batam, no such worries. Just go to kerbside. Place order. Driver found in under 10 seconds, and driver arrive in under 5 minutes. Every single time. Side note: Their wait time before fine kicks in is also a more generous 10minutes, compared to our "claimed 3 minute but actually is 1 minute". But there really isn't any reason to keep the driver waiting if the driver tends to be there so fast.

Why can't we have that in SG?

U went all the way to batam to test grab service ya.

 

[inf|uencer]

I rented a motorbike and rode in batam

 

[TiedInsurer]

What's the best and most convenient hotel over there?

Depends on what you like. If you want beaches, no crowds, peace and quiet, stay in the Nongsa area. If you want seafood and massage and shopping, stay in the Nagoya Hills area.

For "best and convenient", that tends to have a correlation to price. So just stay wherever you are happy to pay.

 

[Lchlch]

Cannot take Grab at ferry terminal. The taxi people there are like gangsters. But outside ferry terminal is fair game. I was taking grab from Mega Mall just across the street from the ferry terminal, to my hotel at Nagoya Hills, to the Harborfront for seafood dinner.

It's not really a problem, and it's not that hard to avoid the taxi mafia.

wow, so scary like that...if i am not aware...

 

[kan-kon]

but competition and celery there are much worse than here..

and maybe becos sg have much less phv than batam

 

[TiedInsurer]

U went all the way to batam to test grab service ya.

No la. I was actually expecting the same shitty service. But got pleasant surprise.

 

[TiedInsurer]

but competition and celery there are much worse than here..

and maybe becos sg have much less phv than batam

I'm not sure that they have much less PHV. I actually got the same grab driver three different times, in 12 trips. It's the same few hardworking individuals plying my area. They also start to recognise me on subsequent trips haha.

But yes, i think celery there quite cui. I did some math, and i think their hourly earning as grab driver cannot be more then SGD 10/hr. This is an extremely optimistic assumption that they get 3 fares of 15minutes each in an hour. And this SGD 10 is before costs.

 

[Soule]

Depends on what you like. If you want beaches, no crowds, peace and quiet, stay in the Nongsa area. If you want seafood and massage and shopping, stay in the Nagoya Hills area.

For "best and convenient", that tends to have a correlation to price. So just stay wherever you are happy to pay.

how to find seafood at nagoya hills? must go to the beach area?

 

[TiedInsurer]

wow, so scary like that...if i am not aware...

The taxi drivers will make sure you are aware. The first time i went, i stepped outside the ferry terminal. Immediately get swarmed by the taxi mafia trying to overcharge me. Then i pulled out my phone to reply whatsapp, and they demanded to see my phone because they thought i was ordering a grab lol. They got very aggressive and made sure i knew that grab is "illegal".

 

[エステ好きな野郎]

what is there to do at batam even...

 

[WWH123]

Surprised TS survived. The taxi cartels would have beaten the driver and passenger to a pulp in the past.

 

[Sango123]

Wow their taxi drivers at terminal so hiong

I think they have a lot less people taking PHV or taxi, thus it is easier to get