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3 Days 2 Nights Trip at Harris Resort Batam

This short trip to Batam was made on 10th Sept 2010 (during the long weekend of Hari Raya Puasa), together with the same gang of friends that went to Malaysia (See “A Day in Kuala Lumpur 2” and “A Day in Malacca“). Our package at Harris Resort Batam is as below. It’s slightly more expensive than usual due to the holiday peak period.

It Is Good Deal @ Harris Funky Room (Old Wing Room)
Adult twin sharing: $127.00 per person
Child without bed: $36.00
Infant: $18.00

Package price includes:
– 2 way ferry tickets
– 2 way land transfers
– 2 nights stay with daily breakfasts
– FREE one time lunch or dinner for paying adults and children.
– FREE one time 30mins bicycle ride for two per room per stay.
– FREE one game of bowling for two per room per stay
– FREE access to sauna, cold plunge pool at H Spa & fitness.
– FREE access to Wi-Fi internet within hotel premises.
– FREE one time two-way shuttle services to Nagoya Hill for all paxs.
*Depart hotel 1100hrs & 1400hrs (Batam Time)
*Depart Nagoya Hill timing 1430hrs & 1730hrs (Batam Time)
*FCFS basis, guests MUST register at bell counter soonest or at least 02hrs before departing time.

Package excludes:
– Singapore terminal tax $20.00 per person pay at Harbourfront Centre
– Batam terminal tax $7.00 per person pay at Waterfront City Batam Terminal

The ferry ride was rather fast and we reached Waterfront City Batam Terminal in less than an hour but getting through the immigration took some time due to the bulk of travelers. Above shows a shop selling variety of products, just as you walk out of the immigration. We bought tons of food, snacks, beer, etc here!

Land transfer from Harris Resort Batam. It was only a few minutes drive from the ferry terminal.

We were given twin rooms despite requesting for double bed rooms during our reservation. I think those who took the first ferry out from Singapore manage to get the limited double bed rooms as there were lots of travelers checking in. We checked-in to our rooms and then took a walk around Harris Resort Batam (mostly pool area). Then, we went to the restaurant to have a small bite as we missed lunch and it almost nearing dinner time (4pm).

The pizza looks great but we didn’t eat it as the portion is rather big and we were going to have dinner pretty soon. Our dinner will be using the “FREE one time lunch or dinner for paying adults and children” which is included in the package. The free dinner was …. 🙁

Harris Resort Batam – Old Wing (we are staying here).

Harris Resort Batam – This is the new wing and it will cost a tad more than the old wing. We had a sneak peek at one of the rooms (during housekeeping) on the ground floor and it seems smaller than the old wing rooms.

We went to the bowling centre to play the “FREE one game of bowling for two per room per stay” in our package. You have to rent the bowling shoes but it doesn’t comes with any socks!

Nice swimming pool at Harris Resort Batam.

If you are early, you can grab one of these sheltered seats. How nice it would be to relax here (with beers)!

Lobby area of Harris Resort Batam. The lifts that we used daily! Hehe…

Beach area near Harris Resort Batam.

Small yacht berthing at nearby dock near Harris Resort Batam.

We took the free one-time return shuttle services from Harris Resort to Nagoya Hill for shopping. We had made the reservation for the shuttle service one day earlier.

We wanted to try the original Ayam Penyet Ria but it was closed. By the way, there is a Ayam Penyet Ria in Lucky Plaza (Singapore)!

Food street at Nagoya Hill. Lots of food for you to choose!

77 Es Teler – We tried one of the desserts which is very much like Ice Kacang. There is also a Es Teler in Singapore too! It’s at Far East Plaza Singapore.

Our bedroom at Harris Resort Batam, we wasn’t able to get the double bed room so we improvised on our own. Haha!

The rest of the area in our bedroom at Harris Resort Batam.

Bathroom at Harris Resort Batam. It’s clean but the hot water is pretty inconsistent, sometimes it’s hot and most of the time it’s cold! Wahaha!

The sun is setting soon. Taken at a seafood restaurant near to the Waterfront City Batam Terminal.

Dinner at a kelong-style seafood restaurant near to the Waterfront City Batam Terminal. I can’t seem to remember the name…

Fried chicken and Sambal Kang Kong.

Chilli crabs.

Hot Plate Tofu.

Black pepper crabs.

Daily breakfast at Harris Resort Batam was rather lacking but not entirely not consumable.

A pet monkey at a restaurant beside Harris Resort Batam.

The restaurant beside Harris Resort Batam, where we had our lunch, before leaving for our ferry back to Singapore. We had actually requested for early ferry departure in the morning but it was already full so have to settle for the afternoon one.

Fried Chicken Rice Special.

One of the ferry at Waterfront City Batam Terminal where we were waiting to board our ferry back to Singapore. The trip went by without a lot of photo taking as there wasn’t really much to shoot! Also, we didn’t venture far away from Harris Resort Batam to engage in other activities as we were traveling with children. It’s really a “getaway”! Haha!

Hiya, this is a long overdue blog post! The Kuala Lumpur trip was made during the long weekend of 7th to 9th August 2010 where Singapore was celebrating it’s National Day and it’s a holiday on 9th August 2010. We (a group of 6 adults and 2 children) took the opportunity to go for a last-minute short trip and the hotels was almost full (well, they did jack up the prices though!). It was a self-drive journey and there was jams along the way (especially at immigration) as many Singaporeans also had the same idea of relaxing out of Singapore! Anyway, the photo above show my lunch (Fish Ball Kway Teow Soup) at Yong Peng Rest Stop.

By the time we reached our hotel (The Gardens Hotel) at Mid Valley, it was already around 6pm. There was a queue at the front desk and we got our rooms separated on different floors even though we have made requests.

The Gardens Hotel – Nice room with comfortable-looking bed.

The Gardens Hotel – Large desk area for those who are going to do work or surf internet.

The Gardens Hotel – Vanity area.

The Gardens Hotel – the bathroom comes with a selection between using the normal shower head or the rain shower function. You can also take a soak in the bath tub too!

The Gardens Hotel – Separated dry toilet for you to take a dump without getting your feet wet! 😛

The Gardens Hotel – View from our room.

The Gardens Hotel – Comes with a mini-fridge and complimentary tea/coffee/drinking water.

The Gardens Hotel – Outside of the hotel where you can valet park your vehicle. For hotel guests, it is much more economical to valet then to park on your own.

The Gardens Hotel – Sofas at the lobby area where we always use as a meeting place. 🙂

Taking a walk at Mid Valley Megamall.

Having our dinner at Little Penang Kafe at Mid Valley Megamall.

Little Penang Kafe serves the best of Penang cuisine and seems to get a fair bit of press write-ups!

Assam Laksa at Little Penang Kafe.

Prawn Mee at Little Penang Kafe.

After our dinner, we continue to take a walk around Mid Valley Megamall.

After several grueling hours of shopping, we head off to T.G.I. Friday’s to have a drink and light supper. It was already 10.30pm!

T.G.I. Friday’s – Long Island Tea for my partner and I had Erdinger.

Our simple supper at T.G.I. Friday’s.

T.G.I. Friday’s – The interior of the restaurant. Love the “Kitchen” signage!

T.G.I. Friday’s – Guitars and photos of singers are hung on the wall. Not sure why but it sure gives me a feeling that I am in Hard Rock Cafe…

Forward to the next morning, we had our free buffet breakfast within The Gardens Hotel.

Breakfast time at The Gardens Hotel was having long queues at the reception to wait for tables. Believe that lot of the tourists are Singaporeans!

After breakfast, we went to the swimming pool to have a look even though we were not planning to swim. Nice looking pool!

The view from the swimming pool at The Gardens Hotel.

After our tour at the swimming pool, we went to Suria KLCC and it’s shopping time for the ladies. Huge crowd here even though it was early morning!

Interesting roof architecture at Suria KLCC.

Our wives getting all frenzied up with Vincci shoes… It was so packed that there is virtually no air-conditioning in the shop… haha!

Went outdoors to take a photo of Petronas Twin Tower.

Open area in front of Suria KLCC. We didn’t hang around for long as it’s really warm outside!

We went back indoors and then to Olio Dome Café to take a break from our tired legs.

My drink at Olio Dome Café, think it was Passion Fruit Berries or something like that… hehe!

Wanted to have Bak Kut Teh but it was not open yet so we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant at the corner of Jalan Alor. My partner having chicken noodles.

I am having Wonton noodles. Decent meal.

The outside of the restaurant. Think most people might be familiar with this location.

After our meal, my friend decided that we should have durians for dessert and went to buy a couple of them. We brought them into the restaurant to eat after seeking the staff’s approval. Damn, these durians are good!

Next, we went to Pavilion Mall to walk around. Basically, this trip is more of hanging around and shopping rather than like my usual of exploring the less-traveled areas. It’s good for a change but not too often as I do get bored at shopping centers! Haha!

The next morning, we will be leaving Kuala Lumpur and back to Singapore, but before so, we will stop by Malacca for a couple of hours to buy food stuffs and eat Cendol! 🙂