Bz Mommy

Our beautiful girl!

Dawn : Mummy, you have a pimple on your face.

Mummy : Ya lor, Because each time Dawn Dawn made mummy angry, mummy will have a pimple on the face.

A few days later…

Mummy : Dawn, how come your have a pimple (red spot) on your face?

Dawn : Because Mummy made me angry lo…

Mummy : ……..

The Harris Hotel @ Batam Centre has opened and we were off for a racee trip so that we can bring our parents and children over for a weekend trip. It’s convenient because it’s just next to the ferry terminal and the Mega Mall Shopping centre is just opposite the hotel.

The usual colourful design ….

The pool overlooks the sea!

Our room faced the city – the famous sight of “Welcome to Batam”.

Here’s the Mega Mall with a hypermart and a cinema inside.

Our room for the night…simple and new room.  Quite big as there’s ample space to put a rollaway. Quite a deal for a room at SGD$60 for the night.

We decided to do something different this trip as we had been to Batam for quite a few times already.  We just have to catch a cheap movie here! So we went to XXI at Mega Mall to catch Tin Tin 3D! And guess how much? About $7 per person for a 3D show! And it’s in English & no singing of National Anthem before the show :p

We had also decided not to buy any children clothes for Dawn & Eva as they have still a number of clothes and new ones for the coming CNY…so we spent the time buying what we need from Hypermart.

My friends do asked me what’s there to buy from Batam..well, you really need to compare and observe if you really want to have “some” savings.  For example, Sunsilk brand of shampoo, conditioner and serum are CHEAP there…it’s even cheaper than going to People’s Park to buy..and for ladies, pads sold in Batam is also cheaper (and the material & comfortable level is comparable to those sold in Singapore)..I think I mentioned Maybelline in my previous entry (which I kind of regret because when I went over there this time, the Maybelline shelves were almost EMPTY after the Sat-Sun crowd!).  Alot of Singaporeans will buy lots of instant noodles but we came to a conclusion that we still prefer the taste of instant noodles here in Singapore. Batteries, children toothbrushes, solempas, even philips light bulbs are cheap there.  If you are just there for a vacation and have a luggage space, then why not?

The hotel – taken from Mega Mall

We went back to the hotel to put our loots and decided to go to the seafood restaurant to have our dinner.  For so many trips to Batam, we had never tried the “cheap” seafood where almost everyone who went to Batam will rave about.

So we took a cab from the hotel and off we went! Golden Prawn 933!

In a “Kelong” like setting…eating by the sea (or water) :p

You get to chose your own seafood, such as live crabs, lobsters etc…The only thing is if you want prawns, they are not live!

We ordered Kang Kong – delicious!

Salted Egg Crab – worth the money! Delicious!

Oat Prawns – Oats are nice…Prawns are not so fresh but still ok la…personally like prawns which can be detached from the shell easily and not have to eat together with the shell…

Super nice to the pocket…and the cab driver waited for us to finish the dinner and brought us back to the hotel.  I actually wanted to ask him to help us buy satay or street cooked food on our way back as we passed by so many stalls which seems to be selling delicious food too! But we were too full then and decided we could be over eating …but kind of regretted after 3 hours later in the hotel room…

The next day lunch, we tried another place where they serve authentic Indonesia food.  This place is in Batam centre, at level 3 or 4, think the shop name is call Cohan.

Can never go without this….

Nasi Goreng..that satisfied my craving then and making it start again while writing this…

Grilled chicken…if only they also had marinated the inside…

VERY spicy Kang Kong – still prefer the one we had in Golden Prawn..

Fried Tempeh…talking about tempeh, I never was a fan of tempeh, or rather, I never set my teeth into tempeh after 1 try years ago.  It was during my last Batam trip, dear encouraged me to try and keep saying that the tempeh in Indonesia is very different from the ones in Singapore…and so I tried…and it’s TRUE! They do not have the awful smell or the taste, and it taste nice the more you chew on it!

Chicken Satay..tender meat but the ends were not cooked…

Fried Fish..

and Tofu…which those in Rio (Ayam Penyet) is better…

Rather cheap food and a satisfied lunch..

And that concludes our 2D1N stay at the new hotel with the very familiar Shopping Centre..

I really am looking forward for a longer vacation without the 2 kids to somewhere new..where both of us will feel fresh and learn new things..the trip to Tokyo is always in our memory and I wish it’s soon for another one…

Nov again! How time flies!  And every Nov, we seems to be at somewhere on someday, just the 2 of us, celebrating our decision and being together

And last year we had a good afternoon tea with baby Eva still in the tummy…this year, we took leave from work (and home :p) to have a lunch buffet in the line!

My 1st time there and only realised that that online booking actually offers good discount to the lunch buffet, too bad it doesn’t apply to bookings done on the day itself

The light reflected on the floor tiles before the entrance….

Had to walk a LONG way from Orchard MRT to the hotel  I think no more 2nd time walking to Shang anymore..

The food…I long heard from alot of friends that the line is a must try…but sad to say, I was not very fascinated by the buffet spread

Sashimi – can’t go wrong unless it’s not fresh.. The cut was thick!

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They serve Salmon belly too…but it’s not good as the salmon sashimi somehow…

The chicken, the potatoes, and the sausages…

The Indian station – Hubby was happy when he saw the Naan but he was so disappointed after a bite…and I told him it’s the worst naan that we have eaten…ever! It’s worst than the naan that we brought from The Soup Spoon! Gosh!

The Sushi…s0-s0

The seafood – the 1st crab claw that I ate was really sweet, but not so for the rest..the prawns were OK.

Ok, I was not expecting much for the rest of the food after all the previous food that we have tasted..but I went WOW with the Laksa…it was not watery, in fact the gravy was thick and delicious AND HOT without the chilli! Shiok! And it has the quail eggs!

Prawn noodles! Ok la – compared to some places which served really very tasteless prawn soup…

Wanton noodles – no need to try, don’t waste your stomach space :p

They serve Kopi Terik or Teh Terik…

Drunken prawns…tried this after we had our desserts as it ran out for a while..

My happy Lao Gong..not because of the food, but because of my presence!

Desserts time…

Nothing much to mention except for the mont blac (bottom left on picture) and the tiramisu…the mango pudding was quite good too…

Oh, the jelly has a childhood taste…those jelly which I bought from the drink stall during my primary school days from my pocket money and do not dare to tell my mom I ate jelly for lunch :p

If we had the 40% discount, the buffet would be worth it, but for the full price which we had paid, it’s really not worth the food & the reputation that it had established..Seems to have felt that the food were not of standards because of the huge discount that it gave to those who made a prior online booking and shortchange those who had paid full price.. Question is, why should they be penalizing those who did not make prior booking as firstly the place is not full, business still has to go one even it’s 1 guest, shouldn’t they welcome more one-the-day booking since it increase their patronage for the day…

No more the line buffet for us, unless we have the discounted fare…

We discovered a good place to go during weekends with the kids..it’s Changi Airport! Finally have some break from Marina Square or Vivo City

The parking in Changi Airport is no longer as expensive like before..it’s affordable for the 1st 3 hours (cheaper than Vivo’s parking!)

There are alot of shops, eateries, and even a NTUC @ T3.  There’s also a playgound, Singkids & a Slide that is free for play!

We brought Dawn there over the weekend because of Strawberry Shortcake, and she discover the fun Slide!

At B2 where it’s the end of the slide, there are TV screens and cameras to see your child who is queuing at B1 for his/her turn.

Look @ Dawn & Daddy! (the little girl wearing red jacket with Daddy holding her)

Clearing view now ….

And here she comes! Paiseh, reflection :p

And so Dawn went for a few rounds of the slide while waiting for the Strawberry Shortcake ticket.

There’s a Meet & Greet Session every start of the month organised by Changi Airport and this month, it’s Strawberry Shortcake! Still remember Dawn’s 4th year old birthday? She just love the pink girl lo..

Here’s the terms & conditions for the session…

Daddy & Dawn were the 1st in the line…and people started to form the queue behind them..

And this is the pass, which guarantee for 2 photo shoot + printout!

Before the photoshoot, the emcee did some dancing exercise to warm up the kids..because we went for coffee after we got the pass, Dawn was not able to go into the watching area (which is so small crowded with parents -.-).  And so 伟大 daddy sat Dawn on his shoulders through out the dance. Spot the girl in red!

There they are! Strawberry Shortcake & Blueberry!

Waiting for her turn for the photo shoot..see how smiley she was!

After the photo, this was our conversation :

Mummy : You like Blueberry more?

Dawn : NO! Like Strawberry more!

Mummy : Then how come you are hugging Blueberry and not Strawberry?

Dawn : Oh

Guess she was so excited that she forgot what she wants to do!

I asked her to pose with her pass before we have to return it to exchange for the photos, and she posed!

Cute right!

By the way, the 2 photo-prints taken by their photographer comes with NO CHARGE!  This is the 1st meet and greet which gives free print and 2 photo-taking! Way to go Changi Airport!

I couldn’t remember much about my childhood, who really do?

But I do remember that my dad brought me to the Boon Lay Shopping Centre and let me play with the car rides. There were cars and scooters to chose from and I remembered I had always went for the cars.  Super loved it then!

My daughter seem to follow my “interest” now.  She saw the car rides in Vivo City and she kept reminding Daddy to bring her there.

The rides were so expensive now! For a mere 5 (or 10) mins, it’s $10! Gosh, that’s easy money!

Look at her satisfied smile…

This brought back alot of memories to me…If only I still can squeeze into the car? Haha!