Indonesian Adventures

Over the weekend I went on a brief trip to the island of Batam in Indonesia, just a quick half hour or so speed ferry ride from Singapore.

That is, quick if we had gone directly to Batam. Y'see, we booked our accommodations on Batam, but we booked our ferry to Bintan, the more popular island next door. Long story short, we had another half hour ferry ride and about an hour and a half of taxis ahead of us before arriving at our final destination. It was the long way around, but... "Making memories!" and all that.

Batam was not emblematic of the Indonesia we expected. It is known for shipbuilding and welding. Not beaches, not resorts, not tourism. We were there entirely by accident. But we made the best of it. Although we could see the Marina Bay Sands Resort Casino in Singapore from our window, a few of us stayed in Batam and resisted heading home early.

So just what did we get up to, then?

The first day comprised of massages (I will not go into details, suffice to say), exploring the nearly abandoned mall close to us, and eating copious amounts of baked goods. And vodka from the duty free. Day two saw a bit more adventure, a we went to a much busier mall (read: four storey bazaar) and dinner on Food Street. This was followed by $1 crepes with ice cream and bananas, a bit of shopping, and then more duty free vodka, cassava chips, and finally karaoke. Now I'm home and ready to celebrate National Day before heading to class on Thursday. Majulah Singapura!

all photos by me, more on Flickr