Batam Info Thread

[newyorker88]

FOR ALL CHEONGING INDONESIA TO READ

Jakarta. Activists have blamed an ineffective health awareness campaign and ignorance about risky sexual behavior for the double-digit increases in HIV/AIDS infection and mortality rates in Indonesia since 2000, even as the global averages dropped.

Indonesia had an HIV/AIDS incidence, or number of cases, of some 45,000 in 2013, and 14,400 deaths that same year, according to a study by the US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation published last month in the British medical journal The Lancet.

Those figures were up 28 percent and 87.5 percent respectively from 2000. During the same period, by contrast, the global HIV/AIDS incidence decreased by 3.9 percent and deaths declined by 1.5 percent.

“Various government programs to tackle HIV/AIDS are still considered ineffective, if not unsuccessful, because of poor campaigning methods,” Soewarta Kosen, the Health Ministry’s chief policy analyst, said at a recent seminar in Jakarta.

He cited the case of programs to encourage the use of condoms — always a sensitive topic in religiously conservative Indonesia, which doesn’t even prescribe sex education in the public school curriculum.

“In Thailand and the Philippines, the spread of HIV/AIDS has dropped dramatically because of the success they achieved in condom use,” said Soewarta, who was a co-author of the study.

Thailand saw a 9.6 percent decrease in deaths among people with HIV/AIDS between 2000 and 2013, while the Philippines recorded a 1 percent increase.

Risky sexual behavior, often willful, is also a major factor in the huge increase in new HIV/AIDS cases in Indonesia, says Baby Jim Aditya, an HIV/AIDS activist.

“Educating people on the importance of condom use isn’t easy because they tend to be stuck in their own ways,” she said of the general reluctance among Indonesian men to use a condom. “Such behavior is hard to change.”

High-risk groups include sex workers, men who have sex with other men, and intravenous drug users. But experts have identified married women as being the fastest-growing group of people at risk of contracting HIV, and have attributed the phenomenon to serial philandering among many Indonesian husbands.

“Risky sexual behavior isn’t a problem associated exclusively with young, single people — their chances [of contracting HIV] are actually much smaller than for married people,” Baby told the Jakarta Globe.“And housewives are the most vulnerable in that group, because of their husbands.

“So how do we protect these vulnerable individuals, including babies? Education is the key to overcoming such a serious problem,” she added.

She lauded government programs such as ongoing education campaigns, an increasing budget allocation every year to tackle HIV/AIDS, the free provision of antiretroviral drugs and therapy, and efforts to prevent mother-to-child transmission.

But she said they would only work if people with HIV/AIDS came forward to make use of them, which many were reluctant to do because of the stigma associated with the disease.

“So even though the treatment is available for free, there’s no guarantee that people will come. It’s hard to encourage them,” Baby said.

[nono1973]

Originally Posted by Tho66

However, all d taxi drivers doesn't want to lower less than IDR 50K. When I was about to loss hope, an Ojek driver approached me & offered me IDR 20K. I immediately took his offer & the ride was about 10mins.

Hi,1st thx for sharing the cost of your trip to Batam from the other post.

Now,you just prompted the same question that i had received via PM regarding taxi fare in Batam.

Base on my experience,there are 2 types of people in Batam who will approach a tourist to offer Taxi service. The 1st are the REAL taxi driver,the 2nd are the taxi touts. I realise that most taxi touts wears uniform,i think they have the Car Park Attendant LOOK and very often wears an uniform. They are usually the one that charge at higher rate,and very often,they are not the one who will drive you from point to point. They are like middle-man,who act like OKT pulling customers to taxi drivers. So in order for them to take a cut of commission from the tourist,they will charge a little higher.

The whole trick for a cheaper ride is to find the REAL taxi driver,the actual real person who will drive you from your current location to your destination. And you bargain with him. As i am still newbie in Batam,i can only make out some small significant of a REAL Taxi driver as below :

1. They are definitely not in uniform.
2. They dress simple.
3. They rarely seat around when waiting for customer to arrive from arrival hall.
4. Some are shy and reluctant to approach tourist.They usually start with a softer approach,and not come at you strongly with their ,"Taxi?" tone. In other word,you probably don't see them keep coming at you again when you reject them once.

I like bargaining ,and i believe it's part of Indonesia's commercial culture to bargain.(sellers often also mark up their price becos of this culture too) For my case,it's not to save the S$1.10 - S$2.20 that matters but more for the fun of it (i like to win in a bargain,hehehe...). Even if i got a bargain of 30k or sometime 40k taxi ride,very often i will still tip them an extra 10k and they seems happy about it. And if i happen to take a 50k taxi ride,i most likely won't tip them further. Not forgetting in Batam,my destination is usually from pt A to pt B,then to pt C. (Harbour Bay to Kaha,wait for 5-10 mins then to Formosa)

In case no one realise,recently taxi touts starts their price at 60k (Harbour Bay),comparing with the usual 50k last month (and days before July 2014). And recently Batam keeps raining....

Hope this will help.

[miumiu6464]

Over analysis lah.. those just outside the arrival, they paid a levy in order to be able to queue outside. It's not like Changi airport where taxis are free to join the queue and surcharge is passed to the passengers.

Whereas those that you get outside Habour Bay wearing, they can take lesser because they didn't pay a levy to join in the queue. They are wearing plain clothes instead of uniform because they don't belong to any company. They are just like the 霸王车 in 60s Singapore.

Want to get cheap taxi, just walk outside Habour Bay and chances are you'll be able to get 30k to Nagoya. Anyone who don't want to bulge, just wave them away. Taxis, like wl, are plentiful there. Just throw a stone and you'll likely hit a few of them.

[FireTruck]

Originally Posted by miumiu6464

Over analysis lah.. those just outside the arrival, they paid a levy in order to be able to queue outside. It's not like Changi airport where taxis are free to join the queue and surcharge is passed to the passengers.

Whereas those that you get outside Habour Bay wearing, they can take lesser because they didn't pay a levy to join in the queue. They are wearing plain clothes instead of uniform because they don't belong to any company. They are just like the 霸王车 in 60s Singapore.

Want to get cheap taxi, just walk outside Habour Bay and chances are you'll be able to get 30k to Nagoya. Anyone who don't want to bulge, just wave them away. Taxis, like wl, are plentiful there. Just throw a stone and you'll likely hit a few of them.

Yap true... got one of the supirs in habourfront keeps bugging me via whatsapp to take his taxi.

Irritating sia...ignore him completely

[Tho66]

Firstly thanks to all bros who have appreciated my FR & also upped my points. I've received several PMs on whether they can join me for my next Batam trip. I need to reject their requests as due to my hectic travelling schedules & majority of d year I'm not in S'pore therefore would not be nice to promise these bros then need to cancel it later. My apology for this rejection of request.

As promised, attached below are some pictures that I took during my trip over at Batam.

Finding Hotel Utama, you will need to walk along d road beside Centrepoint, after walking about 3-mins you'll see d Siga building. Cross d road & walk along d road beside this row of Siga buildings till you see a coffee shop.



Turn left & walk straight till you reached a T-junction, turn right & walk straight till you see a 2-way traffic road. Cross d road & turn left & walk straight till you see a cross road junction. Walk towards d side road on your right hand side to look out for Hotel Utama.



Once you found Hotel Utama, d road behind d hotel you will find both Princess Massage & A5 Massage.



Facing both massage front door, turn left & walk straight till you see a big building which is a school (which you can hear a lot of children voices). Attached below is a picture of d school looking from Jolly massage area.

[Tho66]

Once you found d school, turn left & walk straight till you see a traffic junction. Cross diagonally d road junction & walk towards d first row of building (which looks d newest among all other building). At d building turn left & walk straight & look out for Dolly massage. Attached below is a picture for locating Dolly Massage.



After locating where is Dolly Massage, I managed to find where is DC Mall, Keyzha Massage & Beautiful Massage (both massage place is opposite of Hotel Pagoda) & S Hotel.

[Tho66]

After checking out from Hotel Formosa & made my way to Harbour Bay for departure back to S'pore. As there were plenty of time before departure, I decided to walk to Pacific Palace Hotel. The starting point will be d Harbour Bay vehicle entrance & exit point.



Upon exiting d Harbour Bay vehicle entrance & exit point turn right & walk straight soon you will see a petrol kiosk with Pacific Palace Hotel in further sight. Within another 5mins of walking you will reach Pacific Palace Hotel on your right hand side.




Bros out there, I'm definitely welcome any bros (with at least 1-Power Point) who can help to up my points. Pls state your SBF nick in the "Comment" column so as I can in return up back your points. Thanks.

Bros whom are awaiting next in-line for me to up their points.
benong1975, indignant, gem08, Driftmaster, curiousSG, newyorker88, ComelyModels

[nescafeGold]

Originally Posted by Tho66

Finding Hotel Utama, you will need to walk along d road beside Centrepoint, after walking about 3-mins you'll see d Siga building. Cross d road & walk along d road beside this row of Siga buildings till you see a coffee shop.



Turn left & walk straight till you reached a T-junction, turn right & walk straight till you see a 2-way traffic road. Cross d road & turn left & walk straight till you see a cross road junction. Walk towards d side road on your right hand side to look out for Hotel Utama.



Once you found Hotel Utama, d road behind d hotel you will find both Princess Massage & A5 Massage.



Facing both massage front door, turn left & walk straight till you see a big building which is a school (which you can hear a lot of children voices). Attached below is a picture of d school looking from Jolly massage area.

hi bro tho66, do you have higher resolution of the photo? it will be much helper to id the building with better resolution which we can read the signboard if there's any..

by this resolution, we can only tell the building color and shape..

sorry for asking too much..

[nono1973]

Originally Posted by nescafeGold

hi bro tho66, do you have higher resolution of the photo? it will be much helper to id the building with better resolution which we can read the signboard if there's any..

by this resolution, we can only tell the building color and shape..

sorry for asking too much..

Hi bro Nescafe,the photo by bro Tho66 is already on its highest res liao.

Just click on the photos and it will be enlarged to a higher res. When you see the pic after clicking,just click "download" on that page you are broght to and you get an even higher res.

I think bro Tho66's photo here is so big (very high res) that the forum post itself cannot hold its resolution,that's why he uses a thumbnail format to put up the pics here.

Below an example of the one of the pic i cropped using bro Tho99's photo :

Hope it helps.

Originally Posted by Tho66

Once you found d school, turn left & walk straight till you see a traffic junction. Cross diagonally d road junction & walk towards d first row of building (which looks d newest among all other building). At d building turn left & walk straight & look out for Dolly massage. Attached below is a picture for locating Dolly Massage.

Bro Tho66,may i seek your permission to use the original Dolly photo you posted? When i go to Dolly the last time,becos it is already late evening and the photo i took from my mobile phone isn't clear. I will be using your pics to make out my map guide to Dolly on my signature at a later time but before i can begin,i need your permission.

Thank you,bro.

[Tho66]

Originally Posted by nescafeGold

hi bro tho66, do you have higher resolution of the photo? it will be much helper to id the building with better resolution which we can read the signboard if there's any..

by this resolution, we can only tell the building color and shape..

sorry for asking too much..

Hi Bro nescafeGold, as per your request I've changed d resolution of my pictures (only for those pictures for direction purpose) for various bros for easy reference & guide.

Originally Posted by nono1973

Bro Tho66,may i seek your permission to use the original Dolly photo you posted? When i go to Dolly the last time,becos it is already late evening and the photo i took from my mobile phone isn't clear. I will be using your pics to make out my map guide to Dolly on my signature at a later time but before i can begin,i need your permission.

Thank you,bro.

Hi Bro nono1973, you've my permission to use my pictures to share & benefit with d various bros in this forum. Cheers!


Bros out there, I'm definitely welcome any bros (with at least 1-Power Point) who can help to up my points. Pls state your SBF nick in the "Comment" column so as I can in return up back your points. Thanks.

Bros whom are awaiting next in-line for me to up their points.
benong1975, indignant, gem08, Driftmaster, curiousSG, newyorker88, ComelyModels

[nono1973]

Originally Posted by miumiu6464

Over analysis lah.. those just outside the arrival, they paid a levy in order to be able to queue outside. It's not like Changi airport where taxis are free to join the queue and surcharge is passed to the passengers.

Whereas those that you get outside Habour Bay wearing, they can take lesser because they didn't pay a levy to join in the queue. They are wearing plain clothes instead of uniform because they don't belong to any company. They are just like the 霸王车 in 60s Singapore.

Want to get cheap taxi, just walk outside Habour Bay and chances are you'll be able to get 30k to Nagoya. Anyone who don't want to bulge, just wave them away. Taxis, like wl, are plentiful there. Just throw a stone and you'll likely hit a few of them.

Hi,bro...thx for your heads up. i don't usually take taxi from outside Arrival Hall,i take them near to Prima Ferries area or further down. And over my last trip,they (those car park attendant in uniform) quoted 60k too. I totally ignored them and walk further down to get a taxi from a REAL taxi driver which i bargained for 30k.

Originally Posted by FireTruck

Yap true... got one of the supirs in habourfront keeps bugging me via whatsapp to take his taxi.

Irritating sia...ignore him completely

Lucky i don't use whatsapp and didn't give any taxi driver my hp number. I didn't know taxi driver in Batam will bug people in Batam via hp.

Thx for sharing this info,bro.

To bro Tho66 :

I see you just enlarge all the photos you posted earlier.By doing that,becos your photos are all in high res,it will take up a lot more loading time to view this your post now as this forum do not auto resize your pics. So in a way,it make reading tougher when reading the thread as it takes a longer time for each photo to load. You will also be using up your uploaded picture's bandwidth allowed faster and hence make the pics you post expire faster.

Meaning,when you post the full res pics here,your picture are likely to disappear after a week later as you may have use up yr bandwidth. Makes reading tougher and also user reading your post will take a longer time for the page on their browser to load,it will be especially bad for Mobile phone user or old computers.

Just a note.

Originally Posted by Tho66

Hi Bro nono1973, you've my permission to use my pictures to share & benefit with d various bros in this forum. Cheers!

Sincerely thank you bro.

I have upped you,but plz do not up me back. Its exactly the reason why i don't leave my nick after i upped you (or anyone) and plz do not add my name to your to-up list too. Thx,bro.

[Naka_Timo]

Originally Posted by nono1973

Bro Tho66,may i seek your permission to use the original Dolly photo you posted? When i go to Dolly the last time,becos it is already late evening and the photo i took from my mobile phone isn't clear. I will be using your pics to make out my map guide to Dolly on my signature at a later time but before i can begin,i need your permission.

Thank you,bro.

Thanks for nono and tho intro.

In short, dolly is very further inside, is rather discreet that area.
Hotel that are near is standard hotel, hotel utama and biz hotel.

[Naka_Timo]

Originally Posted by Tho66

Due to the night is still early, I decided to have a points. Thanks.

Bro, u have nice share but u may want to make the pics smaller so is easy to see and also load, else take quite some time

[nescafeGold]

Originally Posted by Tho66

Hi Bro nescafeGold, as per your request I've changed d resolution of my pictures (only for those pictures for direction purpose) for various bros for easy reference & guide.


Hi Bro nono1973, you've my permission to use my pictures to share & benefit with d various bros in this forum. Cheers!

thanks both of you, tho66 & nono. your guide is very helping for town explorer..

[nono1973]

In case no one realise,Bro Tho66's photo also shows the building that Holds a Booking joint by the name Happy Massage as pictured below :

The Happy massage overnight booking joint also at the same building that says SIGA...somewhere around the area with the RED arrow.