What to do in Batam

Whilst researching on what to do in Batam, I came across various blogs and travel forums with recommendations of what to do in Batam.

Here is a short summary for anyone who (like me) have not been to Batam before, summarised from various blogs and websites.

Note that shopping malls in Batam are not huge and they don't (according to me, anyway) contain many exciting shops. The 2 biggest malls are Nagoya Hill Shopping Centre (biggest mall in Batam, near many hotels and popular resorts) and Batam Mega Mall (opposite Batam Centre Ferry Terminal)

Things to do in Batam
- Eat A&W. This fastfood chain has closed down a while ago in Singapore. I especially like their root beer floats, curly fries and oh-so-yummy buttery waffles with ice-cream. Their fried chicken is pretty good too! A&W is still very popular in Indonesia and can be found at both Nagoya Hill and Mega Mall

My 3 favourite items from A&W are... root beer float...

Waffles with ice-cream and chocolate sauce..

And curly fries!

- Eat seafood. Seafood in Batam is apparently very cheap, if you don't fall into a tourist trap. Golden Prawn Seafood Restaurant (5 mins by taxi from Batam Center Ferry Terminal) and Harbour Bay Seafood Restaurant (15mins by taxi from Nagoya Hill) are popular places for seafood in Batam. I didn't try them this time around though

- Enjoy a massage. I tried massages at Tempat Senang and Isabella (At Nagoya Hills) and I found both really good. A 3 hour spa session at Tempat Senang is about 75SGD and a 3 hour session at Isabella costs about less than half of that. However, whilst I had a really good masseur at Isabella, The Husband didn't enjoy his at all

- Enjoy a cream bath. "Cream bath" is a traditional Indonesian hair treatment. The cream is applied over your entire hair and scalp with a gentle head massage. This is followed by either wrapping your head with a warm towel or placing the top of your head in a steamer, all to encourage blood circulation whilst allowing the cream to "soften" your hair. During this time, your neck, shoulders and upper arms are treated to a tension releasing and stress reducing massage. Christopher and Johnny Andrean are popular places for cream bath in Batam and both can be found at Nagoya Hills and Batam Mega Mall

- Buy JCo donuts. These popular donuts are a lot cheaper than Singapore and many Singaporeans pick up some on their way home after a trip in Batam

A cup of drink at JCo comes with a sugar coated donut. 

The donuts are good!

- Buy something from the supermarkets. I love visiting supermarkets in any place I visit to buy some of their local snacks. Batam's supermarkets are good for kerupuk (crackers) and Indomie Mi Goreng (Indomie is a brand of instant noodles by Indofood. Mi Goreng just means fried noodles)

There are many kinds of kerupuk.. my favourite are these slightly 

bitter ones called Emping Kerupuk

- Buy Mandi Lulur. This is a kind of traditional Indonesian scrub - supposedly used as a pre-wedding ritual for Javanese brides. You can get them for about 2SGD a bottle from supermarkets or pharmacists at both Nagoya Hill and Batam Mega Mall. I bought a bottle home and will update again after I try it out

- Eat Indonesian food. I didn't have very fantastic ones outside of Tempat Senang, but I supposed there should be some really yummy ones out there. The food at Tempat Senang was great, albeit really quite pricey.

The mi goreng (fried noodles) is good - there is a very unique taste about these noodles. 

I wonder if it's the taste of MSG... Hmph..

- Try an avocado drink. I think they blend it with sugar and add chocolate sauce.. Not exactly super yummy.. but pretty unique, this drink is available everywhere in Batam.

Of course, you can also do what I spent most of my time in Batam doing - relax and watch time tick by..

What I did in Batam

Here are pictures of what I did in Batam..

Had lots of massages..

Played pool..

Watched the clouds go by..

Lazed by the pool..

Took long walks..

Ate lots of Indonesian food..

 Mee Goreng - very delicious.. with lots of MSG, I suppose..

Nasi goreng - fried rice

Fried beehoon

A HUGE tray of nasi campur - with a lot of stuff I like, esp the gado gado

The beef rendang wasn't as good.. but everything else was delicious!

Sipped coffee whilst reading..

And took long naps..

I've always dreamed about sleeping in a four-poster bed..

Relaxing Stay at Tempat Senang

The Husband and I just returned from a 3 days 2 night stay at Batam.

Now, I've never really been on a leisure trip to Batam. My last trip (also my first visit) was as a volunteer to help build a house for a family as part of the Habitat for Humanity program.

Batam is a small island belonging to Indonesia, about an hour by ferry from Singapore. Although very near Singapore, this island never struck me as a place to visit for leisure. Say Batam and I think of a place where dirty old men go in search of cheap sex. Not exactly the kind of place I would like to visit.

But I have been feeling down of late and seeing that I have a few days off, The Husband suggested we go somewhere nearby for a short break. After considering various options, I decided to give Tempat Senang, a boutique resort in the middle of nowhere in Batam a try.

 View of Tempat Senang from the golf club next door

Tempat Senang is situated pretty much in the middle of nowehere, 30 minutes by car from the largest shopping mall in Batam, Nagoya Hills. It is located next to a golf course and apart from that, I don't think there is very much else nearby.

The golf course was very pretty.. and very quiet.. 

maybe because it was a Tuesday when we were there..

The resort is built in a Balinese style - with stone paths and pools separating the various houses. The resort has 7 rooms - each with a different theme. We stayed in the Indonesia room, which I really liked.

View of the plunge pool

Everything about the resort is very Balinese

The room we stayed in - I love the lights!

The other rooms looked pretty good too!

We took their weekday promotion package for a 3 days 2 nights stay. At 580SGD, the package included a 3 hour spa for each of us, daily breakfast, transfers from the ferry terminal and a nice, spacious room. This place is rather expensive by Batam standards, and I didn't think the resort was that luxurious to have commanded a 5-star hotel price.. It was a beautiful place and had a really homely feel about it.. but I complained to The Husband about how pricey it was.

I loved the pathways all around the resort..

And the fishes..

And many plants and flowers..

The place is even more charming at night

But.... but......


It was a really nice place to relax in, away from all the city noises. We spent our 3 days watching a few DVDs... lying by the small plunge pool reading a book under the sun.. watching the clouds (and insects) drift by.. enjoying massages and herbal compresses.. playing pool.. listening to all kinds of insect noises... eating a lot.. and sleeping a lot.

I enjoyed my massage session at the spa a lot

I left Batam feeling refreshed.

So maybe... just maybe... I will return again someday.

 View of the sky whilst I lazed by the pool

Tempat Senang

Indah Puri Sekupang
Batam, Indonesia
http://www.tempatsenang.com/