30/1/2016
And so we settled for Batam weekend getaway. Booked a budget hotel for one night's stay in the Nagoya area. Not quite bad. Doesn't even look like a budget hotel. And it's really close to Nagoya Hills Mall, about 5 min walk.
The day I made reservations for ferry timing, all the morning departures were fully booked. 12 noon was the earliest.
We reached Sindo ferry office at about 10.30 am to get our boarding passes before we depart for Batam at 12pm. Alhamdulillah departure & arrival were smooth.
Upon arrival, we chartered a taxi for a whole day affair. Our first stop was at Batam Miniature House near Jalan Bengkong Laut. Took some pix before we proceeded for a seafood lunch at the nearby Golden Prawn 933.
Golden Prawn 933 Seafood Restaurant
We checked in Hotel Godes after lunch. Requested our driver, Pak Erwin to pick us up at 4pm that evening to go to Barelang. Hotel Godes was rated 1* by Agoda but it looks nothing like a 1* hotel, alhamdulillah. We were happy with our choice of accommodation for it's got everything we need. They even provide iron and hairdryer in each room. $80 for 2 rooms for a night's stay was definitely a steal!
Pak Erwin picked us up at 4pm as promised. We needed to go early as it's gonna take us almost an hour to reach Barelang Bridge and another hour back to hotel, so that it would be in time for Maghrib as we got back.
Barelang Bridge, with its surrounding, especially if you get to catch the sunset, is simply beautiful. Nice for photo taking. Loving the breeze. Anginnye terlalu sepoi hehehe syok je lagik2 makan jagong yang baru dibakar dudok by the bridge nengok sunset.
Pak Erwin must have waited for us very long at Barelang but he's a very nice fellow. Obliging and polite, alhamdulillah. After we were done at Barelang, he sent us back to the hotel. Initial plan was to go straight to Nagoya Hills Mall and then we could just walk back to the hotel. But we decided to Maghrib at the hotel for fear we couldn't find any musollah in the mall.
Our first day in Batam ended with dinner and shopping at Nagoya Hills Mall.
31/1/2016
Our 2nd Day in Batam.
Started our day with breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Alhamdulillah. After breakfast we went over to Nagoya Hills Mall for a lil bit more of shopping. We had requested Pak Erwin to fetch us at 12.30, after zuhr prayer. Alhamdulillah we were allowed to check out abit later.
We went over to one of the markets in Nagoya. Terasa sangat nak makan telor ikan masin tapi hampa...da lama sangat nak makan..tapi takpela tak rezeki..
We proceeded to Batam Center ferry terminal right after that. And then it was time to say goodbye to Pak Erwin who had been very patient with us.
Had lunch at Ashari food stall and stayed quite long there all because there's wifi...suka la bebudak tu ade wifi lepak lama pat kedai makan tu. Checked in at about 3pm to catch the 4pm ferry
Quality time matters. And we had just that with some fun alhamdulillah.
