Batam Trip Summary
from 15th May to 17th May 2016
(28th Batam Trip)
Reference to my
27th Batam Trip Summary
This trip was relatively quite unlike the other trips i had before becos it was initialed by a friend 1st before i decide to pick on the date to go. So i count myself as just a follower instead of an organizer.
The trip begins with a little hiccups. We were all suppose to meet at x time at Harbour Front but only one turn up. There were suppose to be 4 of us going in this trip,the other 2 seems to have forgotten...but base on my understanding of this friend (1 of the 2),he isnt those irresponsible kind. So i go take the ferry w/o the 2 and later found out they actually took a ferry ahead of us to reach Batam and stayed in another hotel which we initialed planned to stay in.
Reason is simple,he brought along a newbie,a 1st time Batam visitor which he feels he didnt wish to drag all of us down. Most of us in this trip were somehow experience-enough when it comes to Batam and all of us were there to experience together and to learn from each other,hence we got ourselves divided up for a bit to help newbie catch up and understand the scene better.
So now,we have a group of 4 pax divided by 2. Its a 3D2N trip. Newbie will be staying for 2D1N,and my friend will be coming over my hotel on the 2nd night stay. So this arrangement has been fixed.
Upon touching down Harbour Bay,as usual...we head over 1st to change money opposite Formosa. My 1st group of friend change thousands in Sin$ at 9690/SGD,my friend and i changed the same at S$300 for the same price,hehehe...my other friend with with me,together we changed S$600. At this point,the 1st group and myself hasnt see each other yet. But we were suppose to meet later to go cewek-shopping together.
The usual,change money,head to Kaha,grab room voucher and then proceed to hotel to check in. Room not ready,we left our bags there and then head for brunch at the Meximo Pub want tan mee.
...as for the other group,they headed to Instar Coffee shop for their meals.
As usual,the noodles was good blah blah blah and we manage to finish our noodles within mins (the usual 3 min eating speed,hehehe...),head over back to hotel to check in to one of our room 1st becos the other 1 one isnt ready ;before merging the 2 groups together to go cewek-shopping,hehehe....
At this point of time,i knew...a few bros were already in Batam,hehehe...15th May 2016. So many of them were staying in Formosa Hotel. (i knew at least half a dozen of them inside it)
During checking in my 1st room,i learned that Formosa Hotel will be ending its contract with Kaha on 22nd May 2016. To be exact,after the end of their contract,they will not be extending the contract anymore. So in my next trip,i need not go to Kaha to get room vouchers if i want to stay in Formosa. Other hotel's voucher still available tho.
Here's the information i wish to keep in record on this summary :
Formosa is now offering FREE membership to all their clients (i think should be all) Below photo shows its privileges but please skip the part where you need to pay 400k and get the 450k voucher tho.
Let's make some comparison here.
Kaha current price for Deluxe room is 475k for weekdays and 525k for weekends.
Formosa Free Membership offers 460k for weekdays and 510k for weekends. So it is cheaper. On top of it,each night entitles a guest 10 points,and upon accumulation of 150 points,guest get a free night stay. And a free upgrade to silver membership. There are some % discount from Vienna Restaurant,Tea Story,and Alishan KTV too,but i guess thats not important becos not many really goes there and Alishan KTV also give customer the same discount as of the member discount w/o being a member,so that part would be a total crap to me,hehehe...
Only setback is,its a promo. So the pricing may change from time to time. I argue about the pricing with them,citing that Biz and Da Vienna Hotel offers much better room rates with better newer rooms. Gave them the pricing of some other hotel rates and tell them their prices were "way too high" if i were to make an apple to apple comparison. I asked for a better price. As in,"my price"...i mean since i am pretty much regular there and i used Formosa like a school for Batam newbies (or 1st timers).I believe they should offer me some premium pricing/offers for the newbies who are with me and myself too.
Like i say before,whatever good price i got,i dont pocket it like a commission thingy. I dont wish to share it openly in public either,but the people with me pays only what the hotel ask for and that is their price,a supposingly good price if one compares apple to apple (which i often ask bros to make comparison with before their trip).
As for the collected points,every 150 points entitled a member a night of free stay and every night stay gives me 10 points. This trip i have 3 person i knew using my name to get the room and another 1 more coming on a later date, also using my name. And guess how many points i will be earning. I checked and double checked with the hotel recpeionist and their manager,i only get 10 points for all the above. They only counted in the points for the room i stayed in,so irregardless i have how many people joining me,i still ONLY get 10 points per night stay. And i have to be there in person in order to clock those points. Which also means if i have a dozen friends who use my name to book the hotel,i dont earn those points and i can only earn points for the room i stayed in per night. Again,no extra earning on clocking points to earn free stay and please dont believe what i say here,check and double check with the reception manager.
Ok,back to after checking in and meeting up the other 2 friends who came from another hotel. We start cewek-shopping....
Cant remember the sequence,we go thru New Berry,Gold Bird (aka Sedona),Bunga,Hawaii and Happy 8. New Berry has like 15 girls....yes,i remember someone saying there were on less than 5 girls on a wrong timing,and gold Bird has like 15 girls too. Bunga about 20 over girls and Happy 8 about 30 plus. We got 2 from New Berry becos my friend wish to test water due to the fact he didnt had a good trip the last time round. Ah Beng (or ah peng) from ex Gold Bird moved to Hawaii and due to his strong recommendation,we took another one there. Newbie bro too a 19 year old SSYT from Bunga,hehehe... (yes,she was a super sweetie in looks and i believe 19 years old is young enough,hehehe...)
Next,we headed over to Altalanta. If this trip is planned by me,i wont be going there,but well...they say go and since i am a follower in this trip...i just follow along,hehehe...and i learned a few tricks from the seniors too.
What kind of tricks,you may ask. Well,all i can say is if i normally pays 150k for HJ and 300k for FJ in an upscale men's spa like Altalanta. Then they are actually paying lower than me and yet still the girls were very happy and willing to serve them well.
...to continue in the next page