If you think a trip to Bintan is cheap, you definitely have not been to Batam. It is the complete opposite of Bintan. Everything is cheap from foods, massage to shopping. We booked three days two nights free and easy to Batam inclusive of half day city tour. I chose KTM Resort http://www.ktmresort.com due to its spa by the sea which attracted me immensely. Pictures may be deceiving, the ambiance is still acceptable, but not fantastic.
We stayed at beach front villa, the view is not too bad. However, please don't expect too much from the room. It is like staying at chalet but wooden version. By the way, you can see Singapore from KTM Resort.
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| Singapore! |
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| Swimming pool filled with sea water |
**22nd July 2010**
Half day city tour is basically shopping at their local Polo Ralph shop, kuih lapis cafe, seafood restaurant for tourist with some performances by locals. Do give some tips to them for their effort, they don't earn a lot.
Our lunch is just opposite of the performance area. Their local seafood zi char is just average, I mean for tourists what do you expect right?
Rest of the day is shopping at Nagoya Batam. Singaporeans practically went there to grab all groceries or toiletries from their supermarket. The sanitary pads are extremely cheap, as well as Indo instant mee (the taste is different from the one imported into Singapore). My friends usually brought back tons of them which could fill up a pick up lorry.
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| They have A & W in Nagoya! |
I must say Batam has very delicious kuih lapis even for the one our tour guide recommended. The best one is ATI which comes with a dark green box which a friend of mine bought (her Indonesian friend bought it actually). I took so many pieces of it till I have lost count.
Thanks for reading, I present you sunset view from my beachfront villa.
