After collecting our tickets, we waited for our ferry.
Upon reaching the Batam Ferry Terminal, our guide picked us up and took us to our coach. Our first visit, as part of the city tour, was to Maha Vihara Duta Maitreya temple. Very peaceful place.
It was a short visit and soon, we went back onto the bus.
The next quick stop was a cultural show before our lunch. Baby G was pretty fascinated, especially with the stunts that the performers did. Jumping through hoops of fire, tearing coconut husks with their bare teeth and even eating glass.
After the very short show, we had our lunch. The write up on the itinerary promised a sumptuous seafood lunch. Well, all I can say, it was definitely a seafood lunch. They had crabs, fish, 'gong gong', clams in soup, sotong (or squid). However, the taste left much to be desired.
I also made a discovery today. And that was Baby G actually liked to eat the 'gong gong' (Sea Conch). I half expected him to squirm at the sight of the meat as we pulled it out from its shell but he was game enough to give it a try and actually liked it. He wolfed down 3 of them.
After lunch, we went up the bus again for another visit to Batam's recreational facilities. Again, rather small and run-down. Looks like there isn't much maintenance happening around the area. We went down and looked around but didn't try any of the activities.
A few more places we visited but by then, quite tired and the weather was super hot. Took a short nap on the bus and missed a few other sights. Finally, arrived at some shopping area and bought some Hard Rock T-shirts. And finally, another stop for a longer break at the shopping centre. We had some afternoon snacks of KFC. Interestingly, they served the usual buckets and actually gave us ceramic plates to eat on. Much more friendler to the environment as opposed to using disposables.
Finally, after a super long wait for the rest to finish their full body massages, we arrived at Harris Hotel Batam Center. This is a relatively new hotel and so everything else looked new too. However, too bad they did not have the Dino Kids Club that they promoted on their website. Very disappointed. We had a very late dinner and by then, Baby G was super tired and didn't eat much. He was also not feeling well by then. We quickly went back to our rooms to rest.
The following morning, a really nice view greeted us. We could see the Mega Mall just on our left and a park right in front of us. There were lots of people taking their walks and jogging around the park. First thing that Baby G saw was his JCo. Donuts logo. See if you can spot it in the picture.
Lucky, Baby G was feeling much better in the morning. Although he didn't really get much rest the night before, with a few nightmares that woke him up, he seemed rather chirpy.
After a drink of warm milo and a morning bath, he seemed much better and started to fool around in the room.
After our breakfast & relaxation time, we walked over to the Mega Mall to check it out. Well, it is large, but somehow, it didn't have that kind of drawing power. After a few rounds of walking, we only bought 1 Transformer toy for Baby G and then off for lunch.
After our lunch, I opted to go for my A&W root beer float and in an authentic mug too. Yummy. Baby G started to feel lousy again and he took a nap at the A&W restaurant as I sipped my drink. Lucky there was free Wifi from the next store and I managed to occupy my time while the rest did more shopping & walking.
Soon, it was time to go home. Overall, it was meant to be a relaxing trip but because Baby G wasn't feeling well, we didn't really managed to truly enjoy the weekend getaway.
Looking forward to the next time that we can really 'get away' and Baby G is well enough to enjoy himself too.
Adios from Batam.
