2D/1N NONGSA, BATAM, INDONESIA

Hello my Nomadic Traveler Friends!

Today's trip takes us to the sunny island of Batam, Indonesia...

Batam is an island, municipality and the largest city (on the island) in Riau Island Province of Indonesia. 45 min away by ferry from Singapore. Batam is divided into 12 sub-districts with Nongsa, Batam, Indonesia as our main destination for today.

My friends and I decided to have a short getaway and so we decided to head out to Batam.


HOW TO GET THERE?!?!

Staying in Singapore, we got there by ferry. Book your ferry tickets and hop on for a 45min ride.

Or fly to the island's main airport, the Hang Nadim Airport. International flights currently includes Singapore, Penang and Kula Lumpur.


SLEEP WHERE?!?!?!

I've been in Batam a few times but most of those times I stayed in Batam Kota (Central City) and this is my fisrt time outside the city, in Nongsa.

We booked at TURI BEACH RESORT. Being relaxation as the name of the game we decided to head down to this really awesome resort. Stayed there and just relax. Terrific place! You'll sure have fun!

Turi Beach Resort is located in Nongsa, Batam Island. 45 minutes drive from the main town in Batam and just 35 minutes away from Singapore by ferry.

TURI BEACH RESORT

Day 1. Meet up at 7am at Tanah Merah Interchange MRT station. Then we took a cab going to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal. Once we arrived we got our tickets and stuff, the ferry leaves at 8am so we still have some time to have breakfast. After breakfast we headed to the immigration and board our ferry. It was 35 minutes ferry ride and since it was still early for us we had a peaceful nap. We woke up just in time. WELCOME TO NONGSAPURA, NONGSA, BATAM, INDONESIA!!!

We were greeted by the Turi Beach Resort staff and a transport took us to the hotel. There were other people together with us too. Vacationers.

We arrived at Turi Beach Resort. It was BEAUTIFUL!!! Our room was not yet ready so we decided to take a swim at the pool or walk around and marvel at the beautiful sight.

Everything was amazingly beautiful. But to my horror, just as happy as we arrived in Turi, my period came and I was sooooooo damn unprepared! Which caused me to panic a bit because we were so far away from the city and they don't have any nearby 7-11 or provisions shop for that matter. The only small souvenir shop they have which also sells tampons was CLOSE! We had to wait till someone came and opened the store for me! Damnit! What a mess. But that didn't stop me from having fun!

We went to the rocky area to explore. It was slippery. Very slippery! I slipped and fell! Probably was not my lucky day. But it was okay. I still was feeling positive regardless of the slip and period issues. By 1pm our room was ready. After showering, we decided to head out of Turi and have our massage and have lunch at a seafood house. Mind you, there's not much cabs in Nongsa area so we had to hire a cab for 5hrs which would bring us to wherever we want to go for a handsome fee. At this point, you don't have much choice.

I SLIPPED AND FELL AND GUESS THAT'S JUST SHIT.. lol.

Our first stop was our late lunch at Golden Prawn. We had a very huge lunch! It was so cheap that we just can't help ourselves. The seafood was so fresh! You know why?! Because they're still alive! They have this huge area where all the fishes and shells, crabs, lobsters were kept. You pick which one you want and how you want it to be cooked and they'll do the rest for you. Wait for about 45min and get ready to rumble!!!

We were so stuffed! So full... After lunch we went out to Batam city center and walked around the mall. Brought some stuffs mostly food. And the purpose of the walk is for our tummy to do it'd work because we wanna get our massage. Finally after some 2 hours we went to our massage place. I totally forgot the name but it was so nice. The place was just awesome and neat. And they accept SGD! The massage was only SGD22 for a 2hrs body scrub massage! Beat that! In Singapore 1hr is SGD60! What a killer!

It was a damn nice 2hrs relaxation massage. After massage we still had some more time so we decided to head back to the mall and grab some A&W. It was fun! The A&W crew were so nice. Hahaha.. And they joined us for some photos too! They're so free right?! Lol.

After our day in Batam City, it's time to go back to Nongsa. It was getting dark and by the time we reached Nongsa it was total darkness. There were no street lights and it was really scary. No wonder the driver said we should get back to Nongsa before dark.

We hanged out at the lobby for some time to have free wifi connection. Facebook. Twitter. Whatsapp. Instagram. Name it and we did it all in the lobby.

We headed back to our room. It was a fun and relaxing day. We're only staying for one night and the next day is our check out day. Desiree asked the F.O to do a late cheek out for us and luckily we were able to do late check out.

Day 2. Last day in Nongsa. Woke up pretty happy that day. We had our breakfast and since it was buffet, hahahaha, we sat there until 10am! After breakfast we changed to our swim wear (and this is where tampons are very useful) and went out swimming the entire day until 2pm. Our check out was 3pm. Our scheduled ferry trip was at 4:30pm.

For our last day in Nongsa, and with many Rupiah still on hand, we decided to splurge on drinks! Avocado shake was yummy! And some fries. The Turi staff were so nice and helpful.

We were transferred to Nongsapura Ferry Terminal. Head to immigration and boarded our ferry. Saying goodbye to Nongsa and Turi.

It was a very relaxing 2days holiday.

This holiday was last July 2012. It was a package we got from Groupon. You can check out their website for more travel discounts.

In all, we spent roughly about SGD 150 for the entire 2D1N trip.

Take some time off from the stressful society that is called WORK and relax. You deserve a lil break too!

Have a wonderful trip guys! Take care & Enjoy!

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN TO LATELY?!?!

Much Love!