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?

Singapore Cruise Centre at 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 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 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

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.

Hotel room

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.

Wet market in the morning

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 hotel

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.

Kangen Cafe in BCS Mall

Yummy lunch at the mall

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.

Variety of shops in Batam City Square mall

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.

Tea time at Gadeno Pizza & Steak

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake 

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. 

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.

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.

Open air a2 foodcourt

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.

Universal Massage & Reflexology Centre

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.

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.

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.

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!  

Beautiful sunset

A beautiful sunset as we sailed back to Singapore.