firsttimebuyer
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Part One:
I recently went to Batam, and here is my review.
The first thing was that I noticed is that currently (the timing could change in the future) is that there is a gap of ferry departments somewhere between 8.30 am and 9.50 am. I took the ferry at 9.50 am. Most of the ferry services have offices and counters in the area that will start work at 7 am.
For the departure hall alone, you can start to enter immigration checkpoint around 30 mins before departure.
The ferry, which bought me the Batam Centre Ferry terminal, took about an hour.
The thing about the Batam Centre ferry terminal is that there is a taxi cartel operating there; so while there are PHVs under Grab and Gojek, it was impossible for them to enter into the pick up point. Many taxi touts approached me. But I read online that they charged double of what Grab offers, so I ignored them.
So I walked across the carpark (very poor walking accessibility) to HARRIS Hotel Batam Center. Distance was like than a 100 meters, yet walking across was fraught with danger, as cars and motor bikes were speeding across.
At the lobby of Harris Hotel Batam Center, I got a Grab and then went off to the Golden City Go Kart, Grab fee was 35,000 rupiah. When I reached there, it was deserted, except for 2 staff with a thousand-yard stare into the horizon and the place looked run down. I was quoted 150,000 rupiah for 10 mins of Go-Karting. I was a bit surprised, as online said 100,000 rupiah. The staff gave me a disposable shower cap, which at that time I didn’t realize what it was for. I only later realized that it was to protect my hair when wearing the helmet.
I had not done Go-Kart in a long time, so I was a little bit slow and apprehensive when driving the Go-Kart. But I quickly picked up pace, but it was over too soon.
I was not satisfied after 10 mins of G0-Karting, so I decided to explore another Go-Kart called Marina Go-Kart. This time, the Grab fee was 99,000 Rupiah.
The car journey took like over 40 mins, and the GPS map showed that the car was taking me from one end of the island to another. To my great surprise, the Grab driver dropped me off in the middle of nowhere. According to the GPS, I was dropped off at the correct area! I quickly walked along the road (with cars speeding past me) to a resort called HARRIS Resort Batam Waterfront and approached the security guard.
The security guard spoke broken English but he explained to me that due to covid, the Marina Go Kart had went bankrupt sometime ago. He said as I am not a guest, he could not let me inside the resort, but he arranged for one of the resort drivers to drive me to another place for lunch. He asked me where I wanted to go and I said : “Love Seafood Restaurant at Tanjung Piayu”. I was quoted 175,000 rupiah and although I talked it was marked-up (I later learnt that it wasn’t), I had no other transport alternative. So I agreed to the price.
While on board the car, the drive passed me this “menu” of prices that showed where I can go and how much it would cost me. The driver was very surprised that I was on a solo trip and he said that it was rare. He also suggested that Love Seafood Restaurant at Tanjung Piayu was overrated and he suggested Kopak Jaya. I quickly used my smartphone to search online and reviews were positive, so I gave the go-ahead.
I reached there and noticed that it was a very nice place. They had a small Tua Pek Kong temple, a small church, and a small hindu temple.
Since it was lunch time, I went to this restaurant called Kopak Jaya 007 Kelong Seafood Batam. The restaurant was built on the sea with the kelong style building. The place looked very clean and tidy. I felt like I was the only foreign tourist around. I asked for a menu. There was some language barrier in communicating with the staff, I wanted to try the black-pepper crab dish but it had no listed price. After some conversing with the staff, they said (or at least I think it was) that crab was charged at 300,000 rupiah per kilogram, and minimum order was half a kilogram. I ordered some rice as well.
I recently went to Batam, and here is my review.
The first thing was that I noticed is that currently (the timing could change in the future) is that there is a gap of ferry departments somewhere between 8.30 am and 9.50 am. I took the ferry at 9.50 am. Most of the ferry services have offices and counters in the area that will start work at 7 am.
For the departure hall alone, you can start to enter immigration checkpoint around 30 mins before departure.
The ferry, which bought me the Batam Centre Ferry terminal, took about an hour.
The thing about the Batam Centre ferry terminal is that there is a taxi cartel operating there; so while there are PHVs under Grab and Gojek, it was impossible for them to enter into the pick up point. Many taxi touts approached me. But I read online that they charged double of what Grab offers, so I ignored them.
So I walked across the carpark (very poor walking accessibility) to HARRIS Hotel Batam Center. Distance was like than a 100 meters, yet walking across was fraught with danger, as cars and motor bikes were speeding across.
At the lobby of Harris Hotel Batam Center, I got a Grab and then went off to the Golden City Go Kart, Grab fee was 35,000 rupiah. When I reached there, it was deserted, except for 2 staff with a thousand-yard stare into the horizon and the place looked run down. I was quoted 150,000 rupiah for 10 mins of Go-Karting. I was a bit surprised, as online said 100,000 rupiah. The staff gave me a disposable shower cap, which at that time I didn’t realize what it was for. I only later realized that it was to protect my hair when wearing the helmet.
I had not done Go-Kart in a long time, so I was a little bit slow and apprehensive when driving the Go-Kart. But I quickly picked up pace, but it was over too soon.
I was not satisfied after 10 mins of G0-Karting, so I decided to explore another Go-Kart called Marina Go-Kart. This time, the Grab fee was 99,000 Rupiah.
The car journey took like over 40 mins, and the GPS map showed that the car was taking me from one end of the island to another. To my great surprise, the Grab driver dropped me off in the middle of nowhere. According to the GPS, I was dropped off at the correct area! I quickly walked along the road (with cars speeding past me) to a resort called HARRIS Resort Batam Waterfront and approached the security guard.
The security guard spoke broken English but he explained to me that due to covid, the Marina Go Kart had went bankrupt sometime ago. He said as I am not a guest, he could not let me inside the resort, but he arranged for one of the resort drivers to drive me to another place for lunch. He asked me where I wanted to go and I said : “Love Seafood Restaurant at Tanjung Piayu”. I was quoted 175,000 rupiah and although I talked it was marked-up (I later learnt that it wasn’t), I had no other transport alternative. So I agreed to the price.
While on board the car, the drive passed me this “menu” of prices that showed where I can go and how much it would cost me. The driver was very surprised that I was on a solo trip and he said that it was rare. He also suggested that Love Seafood Restaurant at Tanjung Piayu was overrated and he suggested Kopak Jaya. I quickly used my smartphone to search online and reviews were positive, so I gave the go-ahead.
I reached there and noticed that it was a very nice place. They had a small Tua Pek Kong temple, a small church, and a small hindu temple.
Since it was lunch time, I went to this restaurant called Kopak Jaya 007 Kelong Seafood Batam. The restaurant was built on the sea with the kelong style building. The place looked very clean and tidy. I felt like I was the only foreign tourist around. I asked for a menu. There was some language barrier in communicating with the staff, I wanted to try the black-pepper crab dish but it had no listed price. After some conversing with the staff, they said (or at least I think it was) that crab was charged at 300,000 rupiah per kilogram, and minimum order was half a kilogram. I ordered some rice as well.
