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…

I booked the rooms via their website. Very easy to navigate website! The rooms were more expensive nearer the staying dates and I was really glad that I booked the hotel more than a month before our travel dates. The amount was almost doubled when I checked the rates a few days before our travel dates (I paid less than $500 for 3 nights but it was showing at more than $1K)!

When we reached the Hong Kong Airport, we followed the signs to the Airport Express (after walking to and fro as some who we met on the way told us that it’s easier to take Bus A21 to our hotel).  We bought the Tourist ticket from the station customer service and the travel pass consist of 2 trips of Airport Express and 3 consecutive days of unlimited MTR rides (plus some good discount coupons for Disneyland and Ocean Park!).

Ok, basically to get to Novotel Nathan Road Kowloon, you can chose the following method :

1. Take the Airport Express Train to Kowloon Station and take free shutle bus (K1) to the hotel, by stopping at Eaton Hotel Hong Kong and walk about 2-5 mins depending on speed.
2. Take bus no. A21 from the airport bus terminal to Jordan area, alight at bus stop no. 10 on Nathan Road, walk along Nathan Road one block and turn into Saigon Street. 

If you want to chose Option 2, remember to buy the Octopus card from inside the Airport terminal before walking to the bus bay.  If not you can chose to purchase a one-off ticket from the counter at the bus bay.

For Option 1, just buy the card from the self service machines or from the customer service counter at the station if you want to buy the tourist special card like the picture shown above.

Something interesting in the train was the indicator on the distance and it’s very clear to everyone which is the next station. Cool!

Inside the Airport Express train, there are no designated seat as compared to Japan…

Once you reach the station, there will be clear English signs to lead you to take the free shuttle bus, or rather van.  It’s a mini van to be exact. There’s also clear route information inside the van.

And TV display! You can’t miss your drop off location! And there’s an area for tourists to place their luggages.

As it’s the fifth stop, I did personally felt that the van went round and round…it will be faster to take a cab

We nearly got lost because I thought that it’s easy to navigate to the hotel and hence did not do too much research beforehand.  Wrong step for me, especially lugging with luggages and a child.  So here’s the detail direction if you intend to take airport express and K1 bus to Novotel Nathan Road.

Source : Google Maps

And we finally reached the hotel entrance.  The first counter is the concierge.

For check-in, you will need to take an escalator up to the other level. And what greets you will be a big open lobby which has the front desk, a bar (Tasca Bar),  imac-s, a tourist counter and a kids’ corner!

Dawn @ the kids corner, under my watchful eyes!

We were “escorted” up to the premier floor to do our check-in. While Dear was settling all the paperwork, I was busy exploring their lounge and taking photos

A quiet and private place to have breakfast and cocktails :

A small conference room for use:

2 imacs for Premier guests to use :

And guess what? They have this stuck to their imacs to ask guests to review them!

The premier floor guests can enjoy complimentary breakfast, afternoon tea and cocktails at the lounge, free use of internet in the room, free local calls, and if you want to have a full breakfast, you can dine at the Square @ Level 1 too.

We had most of our breakfast at the premier floor, mainly because we liked quiet place and also the convenience.  They served a decent spread which was enough for a good breakfast for us.  The coffee was great too! The only not-so-good was that the spread was the same every day.

We didn’t get to enjoy their afternoon tea because we were out most of the days in the afternoon.  But I managed to get some photos taken on our first day there when Dawn was having a nap in the room.

Yes, the canned drinks were free to take and it was a god-sent on one of the very hot evening where we were so tired and de-hydrated after a day out.

I didn’t manage to take pictures of their cocktail session because most of the sessions were packed with hotel guests.  There were a variety of wine, beer and liquor to chose from and we managed to enjoy one short beer session…in our own room (because it’s too noisy in the lounge and it’s not a place where Dawn should go at that time).

This is our room with a free rollaway bed for Dawn.  Look at Dawn! She had already snored her way to the ZZZ land by the time I took these photos.

The TV with a table and a bench to put our bags.

A small “panty” area with a window view to the bathroom (*wink*)  Dawn discovered this window shortly after and we had to close the blinds because she kept peeping and laughing.  It’s amazing that such things amazed a kid so much! HAHA!

One thing I like this hotel is the way they utilised space.  Under the pantry top, there’s a pull out drawer to reveal the cups and the complimentary coffee and tea bags. And…condoms..this is the first time I see this in a hotel’s mini-bar item!  In additional, there’s an universal adaptor free for use! How thoughtful!

Here’s the closet which has the safe, iron etc.

And the door to the closet is also the door to the bathroom! Brilliant!

A well-lit bathroom.  Told Dear that I must have such well-lit bathroom for our house!

Look at how they display the towels…you will not forget that you are staying in Novotel.

A sign about their water, but they also provide complimentary bottled water.

And a well-stocked bathroom…and they are one hotel that never fail to stock up even if our opened bottles were still at the shower area but still enough for the next day use.

They also pride themselves with their pillow ala-carte menu…We didn’t try because the pillows on the bed were already very comfortable for us.

We had a good stay in the hotel.  But it was a pity that the hotel’s restaurant did not serve good dim-sum for their breakfast.  It’s kind of strange that being in Hong Kong where it’s famous for Dim Sum, the hotel’s standard is way below those instant-packed (frozen) dim sum that I can find in our local supermarket.

Oh, one thing to also take note if you want to stay in this hotel – there is no lock for the bathroom door (as at July 2011) in the room.

Some borrowed from my sis and lots of information from the internet.  Ready to revisit this place after a good 10 over years!

We stayed in Harris Resort this time, booked their SPA package that cost about $300.  It comes with a 1 night stay, 3 hours SPA that comes with body scrub, body massage and a milk bath, breakfast and set lunch or pizza. We booked our own ferry to Batam Centre as we wanted to do some shopping first before checking in to the resort.  The taxi fare had increased their price within 8 months! It was 90,000 rupiah from Batam centre to Holiday Inn in Oct last year and now it’s 100,000 rupiah from Batam Centre to Harris. (Harris and Holiday Inn are next to each other)

Harris welcomed us with drinks and cookies, and a map of Batam & Harris Resort. With the Batam map, I have a better picture of the shopping centres now!

The very big Harris signboard:

We actually wanted to try their Japanese suite but they were all taken up.  Had booked the room in their trendy wing but we were given the Carbana room instead.  Personally didn’t quite like the idea of the Carbana room because it’s a house by itself and it seems to be quite ulu when we walked there. And having bad experience with the mosquitoes in Nongsa before, such houses are no-no to me. Luckily, Harris provided the insecticide and the electric mosquito repellent in the room and thus we were not bitten (but we killed quite a few big mosquitoes in the room!).

The room has a very high ceiling and it was quite cosy…

The little pantry…

The shower and toilet area..

Harris has a funky theme and thus the colours they use are bright and sunny.  Love the orange because it gives a cheerful tone for the holiday.

And the slippers are so cute! And quite comfortable too!

The balcony that faces the sea….it will be nice if you are an outdoor person.  For me, I will yike at every crawling and flying insects and thus it wasn’t for me. Plus this sea front isn’t that great to be at :-0

We went for our spa @ H spa…had to climb flight of stairs first before relaxing in the SPA

Just what we need!

We were given the couple room, which came with a private shower and a bath tub.  They have outdoor area too which are covered with blinds. But we preferred the aircon room instead of spa-ing under the hot sun.

This is our milk bath. Yes, it was taken after we had our bath and hence there were 2 holes in the water

We decided to stay in for dinner instead of our initial plan to travel out to Nagoya Hill.  To spend another 200,000 rupiah on the taxi fares will not be worth for all the cheap shopping there.

We redeemed our free pan pizza in their H Cafe and also order their Nasi Goreng.  Verdict : the Nasi Goreng in Holiday Inn was much better than Harris :-p

The pizza was quite nice, thin crust and 8 pieces!

Regretted for not bringing my HD that was stored with dramas.  Didn’t know Harris provide a DVD player that comes with a USB input. Haiz!

I didn’t quite like my stay in Harris because it was too noisy!  There were a few church groups having their retreat there and it had turned the resort to a market place! The youngsters were running around the hotel like their own playground, the morning breakfast were full with people snatching for food, their noise level were like they had not met each other for years.

But I do like their powerful mini fridge because the milk which I expressed and stored were all freezed when we checked-out the next day.

We departed early from the resort to Batam centre to finish our shopping.

Batam is a good place to shop for children stuff, especially clothes! They are cheap as compared to Singapore! Look at these clothes, they are less than $10 each.  Some were as cheap as $2.30!  For your information, the disney ones are really from Baby Disney and they were on 50-70% discount.

Our luggage with the loots!  Toothbrushes were cheap, the 2-in-a-bundle Pigeon wet tissues were cheaper by $2, the Energizer batteries were the best buy, cheaper by about $4 compared to Singapore. My Sunsilk shampoo is only about S$6, Maybelline foundation is S$9.50 (it is selling at $17.90 here), and a kiddo hula hoop for $2. And how can you forget the Mandi Lulur (body scrub) and their instant Mee Goreng?!

And how much do you think this slipper cost? The material is quite soft and it fits Dawn’s small feet.

It’s only $5!

Our time were planned well and we had time to look through the things and prices in the Hypermart. We had 30 minutes to repack our luggage and had donuts with coffee @ JCO.  Trust me, you must try their donuts there because it is definitely different from Singapore.  And cheaper of course!

We saw a new Harris hotel building just opposite Mega Mall @ Batam Centre.  I think it will be worth a visit since it’s so near to the mall and thus save on cab fares.  We will be back again!

And so we went Batam for a short 2D1N trip! It’s not something where others might chose, but I am contented to be spending couple time with dear and away from work.

We chose an early ferry time so that we can eat and shop before going to the hotel to rest.  Didn’t want to spend an extra cab fare from the hotel to the shopping area.

Our ferry tickets :

Our ferry timing is 10.20am SG time and we will reach Batam at 10.20am local time.

The entry gates to board the ferry :

Penguin 7!

After an hour ride (and lucky I was not feeling giddy from the bumpy ride), we finally reached Batam Center!

Once we cleared the custom, we went to the 2nd floor to change our return ferry ticket for the next day.  It is recommended to do so, so that you will be able to get the timing that you want and not so rushed the next day trying to get a ticket.

From the 2nd floor, there’s a linked bridge that leads to the other side where the Mega Mall is.  And there’s a hyermart inside!

We went A&W when we reached. That’s what most Singaporeans will do because there’s no more A&W here! And the A&W overseas seems to always taste better than when they were here in Singapore.

Oh I missed this bear!

Yummy Yummy!

And how can you miss the rootbeer float!

The restaurant was quite empty because it was still early for the locals to have their lunch.  Beside us, there was another group of Singaporeans.  I was alittle taken aback by their loud exclamation on how expensive the fries were and how much it is after conversion to Singapore Dollar :< I was telling Dear that even if you want to be so loud, do it back in the hotel room…it’s such a disgrace

We went to have our shopping spree after our lunch and though I was easily tired, I was happy with the amount of things we managed to buy.

At about 3pm local time, we took a cab from Mega Mall to Holiday Inn.  It cost us 90,000 rupiah.  It’s a standard rate and it’s cheaper then asking the travel agent to arrange for a later pickup time for us.

We were upgraded to a 2bedded room and so it was spacious for the 2 of us. If only my sis and bil can come with us.

The dinning room :

The living room with balcony:

The 2nd room :

The common bathroom :

The entrance to the master bedroom :

The master bedroom toilet

The master bedroom :

We decided to stay in the hotel to have our dinner as I was tired with the walking during our shopping. A pity that it’s not Saturday night as Dear missed the BBQ dinner. We had the pool grill instead as it was a Friday.

The pool grill comes with a selection of meat for grilling and a buffet of other items such as staples, vegetables, fruits and dessert.

Awful potato soup, I think the chef forgot to add seasoning…

Our grills :

After dinner, we went back to our room and had our own SPA and Facial party.  Because of my pregnancy, I can’t go for any SPA or massage so we decided to do our own in the comfort of our room

I helped dear to do some facial and we both put on a mask after that. Heh, very interesting thing to do as a couple

Here are my loots from the day shopping trip! Dear bought 2 working pants and it’s so much cheaper in Batam then in Singapore! They are of good quality too!

We bought a lot of dawn’s clothes and also Junior 2 new baby clothes.  I also managed to buy 2 maternity clothes and they are less than SGD$10 each! You can never find such prices in Singapore.  The children clothes there are also very cheap, a good quality pants for Dawn is only $5 and T-shirt and shorts are about $1 each. I wished we had changed more money and brought our Samsonite Luggage there instead. Haha!

We also bought the Mandi Lulur for my SIL and my sister.  Because of my pregnancy, I can’t use them yet.  But my sis said that it’s very good!

Bought some instant noodles, and the Sate Mi Goreng is nice! I have since finished all the Mi Goreng!

Holiday Inn is a nice and peaceful place to stay in.  We went for a short Jacuzzi dip and it somehow relieved my soar legs and back.

The balcony comes with deck chairs and it’s a good place to do some reading

I tried to find information on whether Holiday Inn provides shuttle bus to the shopping area but didn’t manage to find any before my trip.  I saw this running on the in-house TV and took a shot of it.

Soon after our breakfast and some reading in the morning the next day, our free transfer van came and pick us up to Batam Center.  We decide to do some more shopping in Mega Mall

And how can we forget the Ayam Penyat that we have to eat in Batam? It’s so nice and the chilli is heavenly!

And the Avocado shake!

Look at that! so creamy! Sinful!

Yummy Yummy!

We bought somemore clothes for Dawn and went to the hypermall to buy some diapers for Junior 2.  Diapers are cheaper in Batam then in Singapore.  We bought Pampers NB and they are made in Japan We also bought a MAG MAG cup (Pigeon) and it’s less than $10 for stage1-4 all in one box.

Before we bought our ferry back, we bought some JCO donuts.  We ate 2 there and it’s so soft and nice! You can never get this same taste and softness in Singapore JCO.

I love this trip and I think being happy with the little things, it’s a happy mechanism.

We stopped by this restaurant at Jonker street to try the chicken rice balls for our early dinner.  It has lots of  celebraties’ photographs on the wall, stating how famous this restaurant is.

Apparently this place is not the best in the town for the chicken rice balls.  We were disappointed with the taste. The taste of the chicken is different from those we can find in Singapore. I still love the Singapore chicken rice..kind of felt that chicken rice balls are over-rated in Malacca..however, I may be wrong because we did not go to the right shop.

Malacca’s roast pork is also very different from Singapore style..the skin layer is much cripsy than in Singapore..

After the dinner, we passed by this stall.  I seem to remember that there were alot of good comments found in the Internet about the chendol they sell.

But look at the queue!! We made a grave mistake because we thought that since it’s only about 5+ and there’s a long queue, we will turn back and buy the chendol again.

WRONG! We did turn back and the queue was shorter…but their chendol was sold out! How disappointing

This is the entrance of the Jonker street..

We were there early and the streets were not closed for traffic yet. The hawkers were also busy setting up their stall…

Some random shots @ Jonker Street

Dear and my dad was carrying Dawn most of the time..because it was quite crowded..Poor them

I saw this tutu and asked my mom whether it is nice here.  She immediately turned around and said that the tutu in Malacca is different from those in Singapore.  The gula in the filling is just different.

This is it..bigger and very nice!!!

Next we saw this stall which has whole lot of steaming hot dim sum. Can’t resist!!!!

Look at the combination! Colourful and simply attracting the passerby to stop and buy some to try.  And it’s not a wrong choice! The meat is juicy and sweet and Dear biting the dim sum is like biting to those 小笼包！

Oh, we found Baskin-Robbins @ Makota!! The ice cream is nice, I still remembered I tried their ice cream in Japan Tokyo Tower with Dear. Eating ice cream in cold weather is really shiok!

For the 2nd day dinner, we went to Seri Nyonya @ Equatorial Hotel.

Some nyonya deco in the restaurant. Very nice right? It totally set you into a nyonya feeling..

Even the peanuts they served before meals are placed in the baskets!

And guess what is this cup for? They are our drinking cups!

The dishes we ordered are superb! No other words to describe.  My parents were starving and thus 2 Pie Tees’ were missing by the time I managed to take the photo!

I love this dish the best.  It’s brinjal with sambal chili. I am not really a brinjal person, but something inside me just wanted to order this dish. And it’s so good! Shiok!

And the ice kachang for my dad…Tall and filled with crashed peanuts on top!

And dear has this chendol..

Slurp!

We had our breakfasts in the hotel because its included in the package.  Look at Dawn, she loves her plate of bread!

Um!! She said it’s HAMBURGER! And she smart lo, in order to taste all the bread which her papa took for her, and she knows that she can’t finish all, she happily just took a few bites on each bread to taste them! Leaving the halves for papa to finish them.

These summarized most of  the food that we had in Malcca.  Oh ya, if the coach stops by Yong Peng, remember to try the fish ball soup there. Bouncy fish balls!

We had been to Batam twice since she was barely 1 year, Bangkok once when she just crossed her 1 year birthday and the trips had different mode of transport, ie the ferry and the plane. This year we decided on Malacca, partly because of the things we want to get over there, and also a different experience for little Dawn – a 5 hours coach ride and a super long queue at the customs -.-

So here’s the very excited Dawn and despite waking up at 6am, she still so happy and fresh when we boarded the bus at 8am.

Dawn seldom want to sit on her own, she finds comfort on daddy’s or mummy’s lap often. And of ‘cos the iphone became her past time…

And of ‘cos sweet dreams.. the journey to Malacca :

And the journey back to Singapore :

The rocking coach seems to be a good sleeping place for Dawn..

These are our bags, and they are not all…there’s another big samsonite luggage and Dawn’s pram at the luggage compartment of the coach.

And this was the coach that brought us to and fro Singapore and Malacca. Both times when we stopped by Yong Peng, Dawn was sleeping and hence she missed out the nice fish balls and the tibits store! And the lovely Daddy stayed inside the coach with her while I went for my toilet break.   Oh, and the driver locked up the bus when he went for his break..so I was left standing outside with both my babies inside the coach

M’sia has alot of advertisement signboards on the side of the highway and I always think is such an amazing way to advertise .  You will never get to see such advertisement in Singapore..no space leh!  Imagine it on PIE? :p

We stayed in Hotel Equatorial and I must say it is a good choice, espically for families with young kids. It is convenient as it is just beside the new shopping mall.

Random shot in the hotel because I find the shot with 2 long stairs looks nice

Our room consist of a king size bed and an additional bed for Dawn.  Dawn were so happy to see the single bed and jumped on it and shouted “Dawn Dawn’s bed!” Very thankful that she didn’t jump on the king size bed and insist that she wants to sleep there..

The little bar area which I make milk for Dawn …

Our room is pool view and thus this is the pool view from the top! Nice pool!

Some other random shots of the skyline of Malacca…nice yah?

We went to Makota for our shopping and I can say that things found in Makota are much cheaper than things found in Makota Parade.  Makota is currently under renovation but business are as usual.

Parkson is inside Makota and cheap buy can be found inside there which will leave you feeling satisfied with the good buy

Opposite of Makota is the Makota Parade.  Padini is also a nice place to shop inside there.

This is the “wheel” that will give a bird’s eye view of the town.

Dawn were happy with the many Christmas Decorations in the shopping malls and hotel. And she took a few photos with them..

This is my favorite photo..I was shooting their back views and both of them turn back to look at me at the same time, and gave me the same kind of smile at the same time.  Candid right!

Priceless!

I will write another post on Malacca, and that will be the food we had there!

Most of the toilet bowls in Japan has this “control panel” at the side (1st photo).  Yes, even the public toilets.

It allows you to wash your butt after the big business or for the women to keep clean after pee.

So after the big business, one can press on the “Shower” button.  A tube will be extended out and WARM water will be sprayed out from it (2nd & 3rd photo).

For the women, the button to press is “Bidet”.

Done with washing? Press the “Stop”  button!

The knob on side is for adjusting the strength of the water.

For the toilet seat in Mercure Hotel, the seat temperature can be adjusted.  Inside of sitting on an ice cold toilet seat (which can give you a shock), it is a thoughtful gesture from the Hotel to have this.

In the public toilets, at least 1 or all of the cubicles in the ladies’ toilets will have a baby seat (as shown in this picture ↓).  This is especially useful for mothers who are alone with their baby and need to answer to nature’s call.  I didn’t see such seats in Singapore’s toilets at all.  I still can remember I did not dare to go shopping with Dawn alone when she didn’t know how to walk yet as I was afraid that I can’t go toilet when I need to.  The toilets are too small to push the pram inside and I don’t feel safe putting her outside while I shut the door to do my business.

Can we have these in Sinapore please?  If there is so much hype about trying to provide clean public toilets, please also look at what a first class toilet should be!

I was surprised when I saw queues form on the boarding platforms. Such orderly queues…

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What can I do for you Master?

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OPS!