Batam Info Thread

[nono1973]

Originally Posted by KohOnly21

...Unfortunately their version of frog legs is frying not claypot. However, quite tasty though.

Oh no...then very likely i am skipping their fried frog leg meal,i prefer those from the clay pot with gravy...anyway ,i will try their other dishes,like non-sea food tim sum when I am there.

I found some information on Zhen Bao restaurant online,a receipt on April 2015 :

The bill for 2 person is really expensive base on Batam standard. Anyway,thats not my question...my question is, i know 2 of the dishes (below pics) is inside the receipt,do you know how much the below 2 dishes cost base on the above receipt? Also,whats that 120k item in the receipt? Is it one of the 2 dishes? Its the most expensive item in the receipt. Sorry,i dont understand the language written in the receipt except Chinese tea,hence i ask. No obligation to reply me tho.

Dish 1



Dish 2

Thank you.

[J00J]

Lo Bebek 1/4


Brokoli Scallop S

[SEAJ]

Originally Posted by nono1973

...do you know how much the below 2 dishes cost base on the above receipt? Also,whats that 120k item in the receipt? ....

Dish 1 = Lo bebek – LO (Old?) duck. Rup. R 75K
Dish 2 = Brokoli scallop – Broccoli Scallop, although I don’t really see scallops in it, but it’s the receipt item closest to describing this dish. Rup. 56K
Minuman sarang burung Wa – Rup. 120K = Bird’s nest drink/beverage Wa (whatever Wa means!)

Hey nono1973 – next page on this thread is #1973. You should do something special on it!!
Maybe you repeat/post up ALL your guides and summary on it? Then when anybody ask anything already replied to in your summary, easy for you and everybody else to just reply “Go To page 1973 on this thread!” LOL

SEAJ

[hawkeye007]

Originally Posted by nono1973

The bill for 2 person is really expensive base on Batam standard. Anyway,thats not my question...my question is, i know 2 of the dishes (below pics) is inside the receipt,do you know how much the below 2 dishes cost base on the above receipt? Also,whats that 120k item in the receipt? Is it one of the 2 dishes? Its the most expensive item in the receipt. Sorry,i dont understand the language written in the receipt except Chinese tea,hence i ask. No obligation to reply me tho.

Thank you.

The first picture is Lo Bebek (braised duck), which according to the receipt is 75k..

Second picture is probably the brokoli scallop at 56k..

Lastly, minuman sarang burning is bird's nest drink...

Tahu grg spc Zhen bao probably means Zhen Bao Special fried tofu..

Nasi putih = white rice, hakkau = Har Gow

Looks like Zhen Bao is really quite expensive.. For this pricing, I would prefer to go to Grand Duck at Nagoya Hill or Kepri Mall; it'll probably be cheaper and the food is good.

[KohOnly21]

Originally Posted by johnkhb

Looks like Zhen Bao is really quite expensive..

Yeah most of the dishes on the menu are expensive, thats why if i go there it will be only for 1 reason, the porridge

Anyway, the coffeeshop beside the restaurant is selling various porridge as well. Saw another store in this coffeeshop selling l@ksa, lu mee and etc.. Probably going to try out this week

[lawbah]

Originally Posted by newyorker88

HOw long you did not go batam? It changed a lot over the years.

Yo bro! i think when i first started, u already here to guide us along liao haha

actually i have been going about once every 2 years or so... but i have never seen such nice coffeeshop / eating place that nono bro has posted.

looks like its time to explore again! but will probably be exploring balai this time... (kinda torn between balai and batam...) hahaha

[Kelvinchan1984]

After seen Nono1973, posted so many sharing ! i think i got to visit batam during the 1 May 2015 holiday.

3D2N trip! anyone interested?

[nono1973]

Originally Posted by J00J

Lo Bebek 1/4

Thank you bro.

Originally Posted by johnkhb

Yes, your photo has actually captured the coffeeshop.. It's right underneath the "Hotel Instar" signboard with the bunch of motorbikes parked in front of the coffeeshop...

Noted with thanks.

I shall pay this Hotel Instar coffee shop a visit soon.

Originally Posted by SEAJ

Dish 1 = Lo bebek – LO (Old?) duck. Rup. R 75K
Dish 2 = Brokoli scallop – Broccoli Scallop, although I don’t really see scallops in it, but it’s the receipt item closest to describing this dish. Rup. 56K
Minuman sarang burung Wa – Rup. 120K = Bird’s nest drink/beverage Wa (whatever Wa means!)

Thank you for translating,bro.

Ok,so that 120k in the bill is Bird's Nest,hehehe...next trip i can skip that item.

Originally Posted by SEAJ

Hey nono1973 – next page on this thread is #1973. You should do something special on it!!
Maybe you repeat/post up ALL your guides and summary on it? Then when anybody ask anything already replied to in your summary, easy for you and everybody else to just reply “Go To page 1973 on this thread!” LOL

Its a good idea,but not exactly feasible. I have about 12 to 13 summaries in total,a basic guide and a List that require monthly update.

Each summary contain an average of more than 30k words and on average takes up about 5 posts due to the 4 photos and 10k words limitation in one single post.

So when each page can take up to 15 posts,so 12 summaries (12 x 5 posts) + 1 guide + 1 Batam Cheong List will be 62 posts.

And if all 62 posts were being copied and paste to new posts,it will take up from page 1973 to 1977 = nearly 5 pages of this thread. If i were to do that i will need to 1st reserve 62 posts of space in this thread with the word RESERVED,and then the forum's anti-spam function will set in to stop me for repeating each post with the same word.(most forums deem repeated posting of the same content as spam)

i gave it a 2nd thought again and come up with another method,that is to turn each summary,all 12 or 13 of them,plus the list and guide into jpeg picture format to squeeze them into page 1973(or even one single post). But the repercussion will be the whole of page 1973 will be stretching from north pole to south pole (it would likely be the longest post/page in internet forum history),who would want to read such a post/page? Hehehe... worse still,if picture files are too many or so big,the page 1973 will appear to be lagging and disrupt proper reading ,and at any point if it disrupts the function of the thread or forum due to its gigantic content,very likely it be removed. My effort will then be wasted,hehehe...

Conclusion : not feasible.

Originally Posted by johnkhb

Looks like Zhen Bao is really quite expensive.. For this pricing, I would prefer to go to Grand Duck at Nagoya Hill or Kepri Mall; it'll probably be cheaper and the food is good.

Thank you for your explanation. Save me all the trouble to go google to translate the whole receipt word by word.

I wonder how's business in this restaurant since their pricing are on such high side in Batam term. If i were to pay this restaurant a visit, it will likely be just a one time thing but the least is ,its mostly non-sea food,hehehe... and i believe most local Chinese there only visit it on special occasion. (to me,their pricing are very close to Sillypore)

Base on whats on the receipt,it should be dinner time. Maybe lunch/breakfast time will be different pricing.

[SEAJ]

Originally Posted by nono1973

Its a good idea,but not exactly feasible. I have about 12 to 13 s......

Conclusion : not feasible.
....

Hmmmm....!!

How about this.
At least reserve the first few posts on page 1973 (I think starting from number 29581 - you only have 5 more posts after this) and give links to all your summaries.

Write up a short description of the information contained when one clicks on the link followed by the actual link.

Perhaps 5 links per post so that it is more readable and easy for anybody who wants to have your informations to read. Of course the initial posts should be what you consider the most informative/useful and subsequent ones links that is less informative etc.

Workable?
Just my suggestion in view of all your invaluable contributions to this thread. I think it appropriate that you at least be given this recognition.

SEAJ

[Black Page]

Yes. I second that. Something like what's done in the Report of Distinction threads of the ISG (I'd call it "complementary" forum rather than "competing" forum)
("complementary", not "complimentary")

Originally Posted by SEAJ

Hmmmm....!!

How about this.
At least reserve the first few posts on page 1973 (I think starting from number 29581 - you only have 5 more posts after this) and give links to all your summaries.

Write up a short description of the information contained when one clicks on the link followed by the actual link.

Perhaps 5 links per post so that it is more readable and easy for anybody who wants to have your informations to read. Of course the initial posts should be what you consider the most informative/useful and subsequent ones links that is less informative etc.

Workable?
Just my suggestion in view of all your invaluable contributions to this thread. I think it appropriate that you at least be given this recognition.

SEAJ

[nono1973]

Originally Posted by SEAJ

How about this.
At least reserve the first few posts on page 1973 (I think starting from number 29581 - you only have 5 more posts after this) and give links to all your summaries.

Write up a short description of the information contained when one clicks on the link followed by the actual link.

Yes,yes,thank you for this suggestion and idea. All of a sudden you reminded me of what bro Hurricane88 says before,to use link like on my signature to reduce the amount of words in a post (becos my postings were repetitive then).

http://sbf.directory/showthr...3#post12415863

And i suppose you and him means to make a post something like this one below that is created by bro Hurricane88 for the convenient of everyone who are in this part of the forum to just click and go to places to find the necessary information.

http://sbf.directory/showthr...4#post12515834

Originally Posted by SEAJ

Perhaps 5 links per post so that it is more readable and easy for anybody who wants to have your informations to read. Of course the initial posts should be what you consider the most informative/useful and subsequent ones links that is less informative etc.

Using the combined idea given by you and bro Hurricane88,i believe reserving one post should be sufficient. I have about 28 days to do up all the summaries with links on it with the Batam Beginners Guide and the List,tho the list will eventually become out-dated over time since the reserved post will become uneditable after about 28 days. Still,i will say it is a good idea,but i am only afraid i might do something not right that may breech the forum's rules.

Hopefully this one wouldnt...

Originally Posted by SEAJ

Workable?
Just my suggestion in view of all your invaluable contributions to this thread. I think it appropriate that you at least be given this recognition.

I dont know if its gonna work out,but flipping back to my bookmarked links,i realise i only starts writing summaries since my 3rd trips onward,so that makes it enough time to even add my next trip summary for my April 2015 trip in it too (thereafter no more adding on due to post limitation). But still,i think its a good idea to have an all-in-one information post.

Recognition? Hehehe...forget that,i would have start a facebook,twitter or blog about Batam if i wish for "recognition" but that would means more work for me. My primary objective here is to "collect" information so i know exactly how to get the BEST out of my destination and when these information collection comes to some level,it tends to becomes stagnant (almost stand still),that means no more new information or anything out of the ordinary happening in Batam. So i begin to created a one-stop guide for beginner and write a monthly trip summaries to try to draw bros with common interest together whether they are old or new,hehehe...more begin to share their experience (be it in this thread or via PM to me)and in these experiences they shared about Batam,new stuffs new findings were sometime uncovered (eg bro Black Page's in 3-4 of his FR ago on MM Massage last year),and at some point,i even have the honour of digging up old place that people somehow forgotten too,hehehe...

Batam is an island where people (the girls) from different provinces/villages comes and go on an average of every 3 months,so that makes every of my trip and my encounters different. And thats not counting the different indo holiday seasons when i was there,hehehe...

[nono1973]

How do i begin this,not too sure. But i am here to consolidate all the information thru out 2014 to now on all my trip summaries and all my guides into one single post for easier future reference free for all Batam cheongsters ,if you need it,they are as below :

*its 10k words and post is long, i quoted it to prevent accidental quoting from new forum users.

Beginner/1st Timer to Batam :

1. 1st time going to Batam? Or long time never go Batam? Here we have a Beginner's Walk-Through Guide for 1st Time/Newbie Batam Visitor to help you navigate Batam. Alternatively,you can also click on my signature for the same link. I back it up with another link in case the above link ever fail. The main Link,in case all else failed

2. Need some advise being a 1st timer Batam Traveller,here are some consolidated basic advise which i find MOST important. The Key Points are stated HERE by some senior bros.

3. And i have an updated Batam LIST recorded as of 3rd April 2015 HERE and as they are constantly being updated from time to time for everyone's reference,please do follow this thread from here onward for the latest updated List. There is also another shorter list that i do not constantly update for bros who would like to visit alternative Bars,Pubs or Night Clubs HERE.

In order for me to bring all my summaries together,i actually Read Back from Page 1664 of this thread onward. And from my reading,i found out how i actually almost fully utilise every single post i made in this thread and rarely find any of my own posting going out of topic. So for those who wish to track back my postings to see if i post anything that may be useful to you,you may follow the below steps :

Go to my nick on the left hand side of my post,click on it and you will see the below :

Then you click on Find all posts by nono1973

And you will be brought to a page that look something like the below :

There you go,you have practically all my postings in this Batam Info Thread inside a couple of pages. Go ahead ,click and read them. This is also a method that you are able to trace back another person's posting track record to gauge the reliability of his/her information shared in the forum too.

Ok,back to my summaries. I only start writing my trip summaries from my 3rd Batam trip onward in this thread,and as this forum has a single post limitation on the number words and photo ,i shall share all the links of my summaries with 2 links in each summary that i backed up starting from April 2014.

My Batam Trip Summaries

One of my main purpose for writing summaries are for my future after-trip-reference as well as for others NOT to make the mistakes i made before.

1. From 14th April 2014 ,my 3rd trip to Batam and it is my 1st summary in this thread. I was a newbie back then,reading back today really gives me a good laugh especially when i think back on those dumb mistakes i made....lol. Here is the Full Link.

2. 6th of May 2014 after getting more good advise from senior bros here,i made my 4th trip to Batam. And some of the photos shared (above link) after a while went dead,but my bookmarked summary link photos are still intact.

3. Soon it was 5th June 2014,thats my 5th trip to Batam,hehehe...and it was during the Batam MTQ time where most booking joints are not fully open for business for fear of raids by the Batam authority. It wasnt a exactly a good trip for me. Well,for the complete story with photos,it is being bookmarked here.

4. Wah! I actually didnt have a back up bookmark on my 6th Trip to Batam becos it was written LIVE when i visit Batam,hehehe....seriously,i have no one-click-to-go link as the summary/FR link is being divided into few parts scattered all over in the thread. It was also my 1st Ramadan trip and Ramadan is known to be "not a good time" to visit Batam.

Below's the report in scattered links in this thread :

http://sbf.directory/showpos...ostcount=26054

http://sbf.directory/showpos...ostcount=26060

http://sbf.directory/showpos...ostcount=26066

http://sbf.directory/showpos...ostcount=26090

5. My 7th Trip to Batam on 5th Aug and back on 6 Aug,its a 2D1N. Hmm...i always have the impression i always go for 3D2N,hehehe...the 7th Trip contains information of VOA aka Visa-On-Arrival for foreigners entering Batam too. Anyway,i did remember to do a bookmark on this one,hehehe...

6. 25th Sept was my 8th Trip to Batam....at this point,i am already having a little concussion reading my trip summary and tracing my thread from the SBF side...lol.Its REALLY tough tracing back a particular post or my summary in this thread. I know its there,but finding it is a challenge. The bookmarked summary is so much easier.

7. The Oct 2014 Batam trip,it was my 1st Barelang Bridge visit and my 9th trip to Batam. It was my BEST TRIP in Batam.To date,none of my trip could match this one. My only regret is,i didnt extend it to a 4D3N. Btw,its also my 1st trip with someone i do not know in person from this thread.

8. On my 10th Trip to Batam,Prima Ferries has change name to Horizon Fast Ferries. My 1st trip with more than 1 bro from this forum whom i did not know in person. Its consider as my 1st group trip i guess,hehehe...i think everyone has a good time together. Good memories to remember by in years to come.Also 1st time i have to reject a girl after booking,hehehe... The Full Story Here.

9. Now for my 11th Trip on 9th to 11th Dec. Quite a good trip in general,and again its in group. I kind of like group trip. But group trip means less trying of new things and i am not the type who like to repeat the same thing over and over again in Batam. Bookmarked of my 11th Trip

10. My 12th trip on Jan 2015,and yet its is another group trip . And this is another good one too becos we have a bro who could speak Malay (tho not Bahasa).Save us a lot of trouble and we score some SYT bonk at 250k per pop real easy!! Read on....

11. The 13th Trip,which is also CNY and my MOST expensive trip to Batam ,cost a bomb but enjoying the least. The scenarios is entirely different from the normal last 12 trip i had in Batam,the girl's pricing to taxi fare...even the food,they are higher in price. Read on...

12. March 2015 trip,a trip i knew that would not be as bad as my last CNY trip...its the most recent one as of date of this post. Not my best trip,but neither is it the worst...rating 8/10 overall. The complete details....

13. 14th April 2015 trip to Batam,my number 15th trip to Batam....here's the Detailed Summary. Contains Indosat Mentari internet sim card info,Ocean Massage and Princess.

I guess thats is all i could update before this post expires in about 10 days from now as then, i wont be able to edit this post anymore. I go to Batam once a month,so likely the next time i would start a brand new thread like this with all the consolidated information, will be in end of 2015 or somewhere in 2016. Do keep a look out in the Batam Info Thread.

Cheers!

~~Continue to part 2~~
(next will be my personal Batam notes)

[nono1973]

....continue from part 1 :


My personal notes :

1. Good advise for 1st timer from long ago.

2. Another piece of information that bros should know if they are going Batam during certain public holiday.

3. Be careful when you book Harbourbay Amir hotel

4. Newton Spa FR from about 5 years ago,its not a popular Spa due to it being overly priced.

5. Give you some info on how you should use a Indo sim card to call Sillypore.

6. Interesting type of massage about 5 years ago in Pas Massage.

7. Common excuse for overnight booking girl to leave early.

8. Delta Spa Pricing and location

9. Some Facts on Batam that are good to know.

10. Some information on bringing your Batam Girlfriend to Sillypore.

10. Some good REASONs to go Batam.

11. A Japanese Spa in Batam

12. Basic information of what a Fuckhouse/Farm/KTV/Massage is like in Batam

13. If you wish to know the range HOW MUCH you should pay for special service during massage in Batam that is considered "not under/over paying". To each its own tho.

14. My 1st basic question posted in the Batam Info Thread and 2 days later a kind bro replied some of my questions. I was once a noob too.

15. Some basic "hunting" tips if you are going to hunt for FLs in disco,pub or night club. If you are not a Hunter,you may choose to be like me to go "shop" for girls in Batam at overnight booking joint.

16. In case you get your into any trouble with the Indo law (eg. lost your passport etc),this is definitely a MUST READ.

17. Batam tourist alight at different Ferry Jetty for different reasons. Try not to end up the wrong place if you aim is to cheong.

18. Most of what you need to know about Batam Delta Spa are here.

19. Some Information on Octopus Spa near Harbour Bay.

20. Some FRs from day tripper to Batam,how they arrange it etc.For bros who wish to go Batam in the morning and return in the evening.

21. More Batam KTV and Massage information. Click on those links in it to know more.

22. Massage information around Utama Hotel/Romance Hotel area.

23. Then there is Titanium Night Club,new in Batam that started end of 2014.

24. Batam Fresh Beer,if anyone wish to try out their locally brewed beer in Multi-colour.

25. There is this Morena Club and KTV that are also new (2014) but are subject to be closed by Batam authority.

26. For newbie,try to avoid asking questions w/o 1st searching this thread. Below is a guide to help you search this thread. Believe me,you will understand more when you do a search and try to find out things yourself 1st before questioning.

27. Here we have,info of another massage place name Princess Massage.

28. Information in my suitcase involving myself,if you are newbie/1st time Batam traveller who might one day wish to tag along with me on any of my trips,please make sure you read the Terms and Conditions and later my latest itinerary to avoid any misunderstanding.

29. Batam's Places of Interest (non-cheonging place,just plainly for sightseeing)

30. About Mandi Susu Massage and here is more add on about Mandi Susu Massage

31. The different types of Massage in Batam being categorized.

32. An FR from Alishan KTV in mid 2014

34. IMPORTANT : Always be EXTRA careful when you take FLs from disco/pub/night club or girls from Wechat/Watsapp/Online etc when you are still not familiar with the Batam scene,carelessness (or a single time bad luck) may result in you NOT able to return to your home safely. You may be FRAME into some drug issues by your girl. Drug-related offences in Indonesia carries a maximum sentence of a death penalty.

35. Well,this one may be bit out of topic,but its in my suitcase and in case anyone wish to visit Tg Balai ,i have kept a record of a senior bro's Balai Walk Through Guide for my future reference in case one day i am done at Batam and wish to visit Balai.

36. Some assorted Notes :

a. Assorted Info 1

b. Assorted Info 2

37. New Berry has moved away from the Hotel Bali location on Jan 2015,its new location is Here,alt link.

38. How the Taxi Commission works in Batam base on my own experiment and Avoid Over-Tipping your girls/taxi drivers.Here is my personal Tipping Table for your reference.

Lastly,the above listed information are my personal Information vault which i check back from time to time,not 100% of them are here yet but it should be sufficient enough to help most newbies get by Batam. I always emphasis,Batam is a place where one can travel alone,no need for another person to bring you along. But if you REALLY have problem,try reading my Batam Newbie Walk-Through Guide,which is written in a psychological state of mind when i am a noob/newbie, and it is designed to be like a RPG game guide book. So just treat Batam like a RPG World and step into this whole new World of Wonder to explore its treasures. If you know how to go to Sentosa island alone in Sillypore,Batam will be like a walk in the park.You dont even need to understand Bahasa Indonesia/Malay to travel there (knowing of course will be an advantage),you mainly need to understand the language i am writing here & have with you your 2 hands/10 fingers for communication. Do be humble,be nice & considerate.And bring your whatever expectation you have on Batam down by half and you will be smooth sailing at Batam.

If you have more questions on Batam,feel free to post it in this thread (but not before searching for answers here) or you may just PM me. Please dont PM stupid question/s like what is HJ/FJ/BBBJ etc. I received quite a few such questions and i totally ignore them w/o even finishing their PM content.

Back to Part 1

[newyorker88]

Originally Posted by SEAJ

Dish 1 = Lo bebek – LO (Old?) duck. Rup. R 75K
Dish 2 = Brokoli scallop – Broccoli Scallop, although I don’t really see scallops in it, but it’s the receipt item closest to describing this dish. Rup. 56K
Minuman sarang burung Wa – Rup. 120K = Bird’s nest drink/beverage Wa (whatever Wa means!)


SEAJ

The most expensive item is the BIRD NEST. This one has no market price. Up to shop to call. Other than that, the other items are reasonable for a restaurant.


There are cheaper road side makan if you are on a budget. Chinese restaurant further away are available too... some in house restaurant also good food, half the price. Only issue is must know where to go for it.

[KohOnly21]

Originally Posted by newyorker88

The most expensive item is the BIRD NEST.

According to the receipt, is 2 portion. If it is genuine and nice, 60k is still reasonable.

Originally Posted by newyorker88

some in house restaurant also good food, half the price. Only issue is must know where to go for it.

Tried the charcoal fishhead steamboat at 1 inhouse restaurant before. Nice and cheap. Problem is that i don't know where am i as a senior bro bought me there.