Batam? An place that many people would probably be confused on its belonging country. It’s so near to Singapore, and thus so common among Singaporeans, that some people could have thought by mistake, that it’s an island belonging to Singapore. However, the fact is, Batam is one of the 3000 Riau islands, part of Indonesia.
Being just a 20-minute ferry journey from Singapore, no wonder Batam is a popular weekend city-escape destination among Singaporeans. Even the Phua Chu Kang comedy also mentions about Batam - “Best in Singapore, JB, and some say Batam”. So, as expected, most of the Batam accommodations advertised online are tagged with Sing dollar S$.
Men’s Heaven?
From the impressions that I’ve been told by people, Batam seems to be especially known for brothels, serving the demands coming from Singapore, as well as westerners working in Batam (Batam is concentrated with oil, gas and electronics industries).
So I went there for adult entertaintment?? Hahaha.. No la.. just to clarify, I went for a work related matter, and so my trip was almost (cos I didn’t claim for full cost of car rental, it’s a leisure for myself hehe) fully paid for. Batam is a place where S$ is circulating le, you think those escort girls will quote in Ringgit Malaysia or Rupiah standard meh LOL
Went Batam from JB by Ferry
For once, AirAsia used to be flying to Batam. However, this route is dropped from AirAsia network; I think not much demand from Malaysia residents. Anyway, starting May 2009, Firefly will be flying to Batam from Subang.
So right now, the only option is to take ferry from The ZON Ferry Terminal in Johor Bahru. The 100-minute ferry journey will bring you to Batam Centre Ferry Terminal. The 2-way ferry fare was RM112. The ZON seaport tax was RM8, while Batam Centre seaport tax was 120,000Rp (about RM36).
So, the ferry transportation cost wasn’t cheap though, total up to about RM156.
Stayed in Indah Puri Resort
Thanks to George, he given me contacts to book for an apartment in Indah Puri Resort, as well as car rental. I’ve got a 3-bedroom apartment for S$150 per night. At first, I requested for a sea-facing unit. However, upon arrival at the club house, I was told that my booking was canceled, as I was late (4pm) to arrive at Indah Puri without any prior payment made. Receptionist told me that there are only very few sea-facing units available for daily rental. So, ended up without the sea breeze.
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However, George and some of my friends were there on the same day for vacation, and so I actually met up with them, who were staying in George’s sister’s apartment, also located in Indah Puri. His sister’s apartment is perfectly greeted with lots of sea breezes.
Honda Odyssey for 400,000 Rp
As for transportation, I rented a Honda Odyssey from Ananda Rent Car at 400,000Rp (about RM121) for 24 hours. For a 7-seater with 2.4-litre engine with powerful torque, cheap isn’t it? It was a pleasant drive, especially during the South-ward hilly journey to Melur Beach.
Melur Beach
If I didn’t visit Melur Beach, I think I would have came back to Malaysia with my bulky camera taken not more than 10 shots! Didn’t really visit around; places I went to were not interesting enough to stimulate my photogtaphy mood.
As seen from the map above, Melur Beach is quite far from Batam town. I was staying at the North tip of Batam, and the South-ward journey to Melur Beach was a plesant 50-minute drive (1 way). Geographically speaking, to reach Melur Beach from Batam, we actually drove through a few islands. Firstly, Setoko Island, followed by Rempang Island, and then Galang Island. These islands are connected with Barelang Bridge. Melur Beach is located at the West coast of Galang Island.
 The shore was calm, and sea water was very clear, no sign of pollution. |
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 However, we spotted 3 small jelly fishes, don’t know whether they were poisonous. |
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 Undoubtedly, a scenic place for cam-whoring. |
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 Turquoise in colour. |
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Driving with GPS
When I first got the car key from car rental agent, one of my colleagues asked “Have you been here before?”
Why? Cos I appeared like I was damn familiar with Batam like that… but in actual fact, it was my first visit :p Not knowing that I was actually equipped with GPS, he was a bit surprised that I rented a car. Then I pointed at my phone and said “I am dependent on this guide to bring us to our apartment!” hahaha
For your information, I was using Garmin map of Indonesia developed by navigasi.net community. I was completely shocked with the rate of growth at navigasi.net. When I visited Jakarta in Oct 2008, the navigasi.net GPS map for Indonesia was only about 35MB in size. However, 5 months later, the map has grown to about 110MB, when I visited Batam. This is freaking fast! Thousands of thanks for navigasi.net.
The condition of paved roads in Batam town areas were actually quite bad. We have stumbled upon countless big potholes, and I was surprised to see condition like this in town areas, especially in a place where tourism is placing a significant role.
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