Thursday, 6 November 2014

2D1N Fun Family Trip To Batam | Gideon Hotel | Universal Massage | BCS Mall | Mega Mall

Not too long ago we made an impromptu decision to head to Batam island for a short trip. Who doesn't like surprise trips! Do you?



Departing from Singapore Cruise Centre at Harbourfront to Batam
Singapore Cruise Centre at Harbourfront
Sindo Ferry at Singapore Cruise Center Harbourfront
Sindo Ferry Counter at Singapore Cruise Center
We took a train and alighted at Harbourfront station, then we headed straight up to the ferry terminal to purchase our 9am tickets. The tickets at Sindo Ferry were not expensive.  If you are a Safra or NTUC card member, it cost $38 for a return ferry ticket. There were also other ferry providers such as Batam Fast and Wavemaster.


Sindo ferry docking at Singapore Cruise Center and awaiting for passengers to board
Sindo Ferry docking for passengers
50 minutes of ferry ride brought us to Batam island and the hotel transport was waiting for us. There were taxis too but being cautious we decided to pay for the hotel transport which is a flat fee of IDR70,000 (S$7)


Family riding on a motorcycle in Batam Indonesia
Family on a motorcycle
Along the way we saw a very common sight. Lots of motorcycles on the road. The very strange thing we observed was, the adults on the bikes were wearing safety helmets but the children were not. Just my 2 cents of opinion, don't they care about their children safety too?


Gideon Hotel at Batam Indonesia
Gideon Hotel
After about 10 mins, we reached Gideon Hotel which we were going to stay for a night. It was a cozy hotel situated in town and near to lots of amenities. 
Just opposite the hotel there was Batam City Square mall (BCS), a shopping centre that reminded me of Far East Plaza. A2 food court was just beside BCS mall, selling lots of local delicacies and seafood. Along the main road there were a few massage centres and in front of the hotel not too far was a wet market, dry provision shops and shops that sells variety of things. 

With so many fun places to explore you may think that 2 days 1 night was not enough? Trust me it was more than enough.


Gideon hotel room in Batam
Hotel room

Gideon hotel bathroom area and amenities
Nice and clean bathroom
After checking in, we went to our room. It was a nice, clean room with the standard amenities provided. The only thing the room doesn't have was a fridge.


Batam wet market
Wet market in the morning

Varities of shops along the street near Gideon Hotel
Shops along the street
After settling our luggage, we went straight out to explore the wet market and the small shops since the shopping mall was not open yet.



BCS Mall opposite Gideon hotel in Batam
BCS Mall opposite hotel
Friendly cultural competition in the BCS mall
Cultural competition in BCS Mall 
After first round of shopping, we headed back to our hotel room to put down our shopping bags and proceeded to BCS mall. The mall was huge with many shops to browse into.


Family lunch at Kangen Cafe in BCS Mall Batam
Kangen Cafe in BCS Mall
Nice family lunch at the BCS mall
Yummy lunch at the mall
Nice food for a family lunch
Food menu 
As it was lunch time we picked a local looking eating place called Kangen Cafe and settled for lunch. We ordered a seafood fried rice, baby kailan, black pepper chicken and a mango juice to share. We paid IDR87200 (S$9.30). The taste was not too bad, although the black pepper chicken was quite spicy for the man, but it was alright for me. I would give it a rating of 3.5 out of 5.


Family fun at Batam City Square Mall
Variety of shops in Batam City Square mall
Fun shopping at Batam City Square supermarket
Supermarket at BCS mall
After lunch, we started to explore the shops. There were many varieties of shop selling fashion, shoes, toys and many more. Supermarket was a must go as we were stocking up some toiletries. The prices were really good value compared to Singapore Watsons.



Families having a tea break at Gadeno Pizza & Steak Batam
Tea time at Gadeno Pizza & Steak


Delicious triple chocolate cheesecake at Gadeno Pizza & Steak restaurant
Triple Chocolate Cheesecake 

Nice and warm hazelnut latte at Batam City Square restaurant
Hazelnut latte 
Hours of shopping made our feet tired and it was time to rest for a tea break. We went to Gadeno Pizza and Steak place to have dessert. Ordered a triple chocolate cheesecake, hazelnut latte and lychee soda. All we paid was IDR92000 (S$9.70). Cake and drink was nice but the environment was polluted with smokers. This really makes us appreciate that all our shopping malls are smoke-free. 


Family and friends at the spacious cinema at Batam City Square mall
Spacious cinema at Batam City Square mall

After tea break we went to purchase our movie tickets. It was a must do for us as the price was really cheap at IDR35000 (S$3.50) each.



Friends and families having a fun time watching movie at Batam City Square mall
Huge cinema in BCS mall
Back to hotel to put our shopping loot again. After resting for 15 mins, we headed back to the mall for our show. The cinema was really big compared to our Singapore cinema and the seats were spacious. You don't even need to adjust your feet for any latecomers crossing past your seat. It was that spacious and comfortable. By the way  'John Wick' wasn't really a great show.



Families and friends having dinner at the a2 foodcourt in Batam
Open air a2 foodcourt
Fresh seafood found at a2 foodcourt batam
Fresh seafood at the foodcourt
It was dinner time after show ended. We headed to a2 foodcourt which was just beside the mall. We ordered char kuey tiao, gong gong, stingray and kailan and 2 grassjelly drink which cost us a total of Rp138000 (S$14). It was pretty crowded even at about 8.30pm, partly due to having a big screen for soccer fans to watch soccer. Reminded me of Lau Pa Sat, with big TV screens. 

It was a fun day well spent and we headed back to our room to rest.


Nice massage at Universal Massage & Reflexology Centre in Batam
Universal Massage & Reflexology Centre

Cheap and good massage at Universal Massage Center in Batam
Price list for the various massage
 The next morning after our buffet breakfast, we rested our stomach and went to Universal Massage for a 2hrs massage for each of us. Our masseurs were very good. Their strength were fantastic. We did the Thai and Bali Mix Massage and after 2 hours, we were rejuvenated. The massage was really good value, we only paid S$12 for 2 hours duration. Highly recommend this place.



Delicious Lamoist layer cake for the family
Yummy Lamoist layer cake
We went back to the mall to get our Kueh Lapis from 'La moist'. It was highly recommended on tripadvisor so we bought the popular chocolate and the original butter flavour. It was yummy. The cake was moist and not too rich that makes you unable to stop after 1 piece. The chocolate flavour was addictive.

After checking out we took the hotel van to Mega Mall to shop a little more before heading back to Singapore. We went straight to the supermarket and finished stocking up our toiletries.



Yummy A&W fast food for the family
A&W Mascot

Shopping happily satisfied. Before crossing over to the ferry terminal, we had our lunch at our favourite place 'A&W'. It was a must eat as we couldn't get it in Singapore.



Purchases from shopping at Batam
Our satisfied purchases from shopping at Batam 
Overall it was a good short trip. Did all the things we wanted to do without rushing for time. Will we go back again? Definitely YES!  


A beautiful sunset to end our fun Batam trip
Beautiful sunset
A beautiful sunset as we sailed back to Singapore.




Thursday, 30 October 2014

3 Family Fun Activities | Singapore Labrador Nature Reserve | Labrador Park

Last weekend we had a wonderful family fun time exploring the nature of Labrador Nature Reserve. 

Entrance to a fun exploring activity at the Berlayer Creek
Entrance to Berlayer Creek

Labrador Park station next to Berlayer Creek
Labrador Park station 
Situated south of Singapore, you may be glad to know there is a Labrador Park mrt station just outside the entrance of Berlayer Creek. It was a relaxing 20mins stroll along the broad walk to the park.



A nice family walk at the Berlayer Creek
Broad walk at the Berlayer Creek

Low tide at the mangrove
Mangrove at the creek

A quiet lookout point along the Berlayer Creek in Singapore
Lookout point along the broad walk

Heart shape leave found along the creek
Heart shaped leave 


First family activity was to explore the Berlayer Creek. As it was low tide at about 5pm, there wasn't much water creatures to be seen, but it was nice to see the different shape of leaves on the trees. And this particular leaf caught our attention. Yup, it was a lovely heart shaped leave.






A re-created Dragon's Teeth Gate
Re-created Dragon's Teeth Gate





Walking along the promenade, many families were seen having a nice stroll just liked us. Not too long later, we came upon the re-created Dragon's Teeth Gate. It was formerly a gateway into the Keppel Harbour which was formed by two rocks. 

In the early days, it was a busy maritime gateway for the Asian and European sailors and traders to sail into Singapore.






Children having fun at the smaller playground
Small children's playground
Continuing towards the park, we saw a small playground for children to have fun. Although not big, it was sufficient for younger children to handle comparing to the bigger playground where bigger kids were playing.


Friends and families having a fantastic bonding time at Singapore Labrador Park
Family and friends bonding time

The park was also home to fishing enthusiasts as well as photographers. Family and friends were having fun bonding,while enjoying cans of beer and barbecue food.


Fun playground and maze for the children
Bigger playground and a maze 
As we approached our second activity, which was the bigger playground, the excited children ran towards it, leaving us behind. As the children were having fun at the playground which included a wooden maze, I decided to continue exploring other parts of the park.


Fun exploring Singapore war history
Coastal path 






That was how I came across the Coastal Path which was the third activity. It was well hidden by the trees of the nature park and well paved steps were created for easy exploring.



















An interesting relic of war in Singapore
Relic of Singapore war time

War history trail at Singapore Labrador Nature Reserve
War trail history at Labrador Park

Reaching the top of the hill, I saw a war history trail that brought me back to the relic of our war time. Although I had taken history classes during my school days, sad to say, I don't remember a single history lesson right now. Guess my history class was wasted hahaha. 

To enjoy learning during the history trail, please remember to bring mosquito patch or insect spray repellent to avoid being bitten by bugs, which happened to me! Come to think of it, I was behaving like a monkey!


Finishing the trail, I went back to join the kids. As the sun started to set, the kids knew it was time to leave the place. They were having so much fun and were so reluctant to leave the park. 

We had a fantastic family day out which ended with a beautiful sunset.


Beautiful sunset at Labrador Nature Reserve
Beautiful Sunset at the park





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