Batam is a small island in Indonesia that can be access from Singapore by a 45-50 minutes ferry ride. Known for its nightlife and duty-free shopping, Batam also offers many local delicacy for tourists as well as water sports.
I recently went on a 2d1n trip to batam from 10 Feb to 11 Feb as a short getaway over the weekend. Batam itself isn't a very big city so the time taken to travel from one place to another is actually not very long.
After arriving at the sekupang ferry terminal, we went onboard a tour bus that brings us around the city. One of the places that i recommend shopaholics to go would be the BCS mall. It is relatively huge mall where many clothes and shoes/bags are sold at a price cheaper than Singapore! If I didn't remember wrongly, the mall has about 5 floors, where there are many food stalls ( local & international ) as well. I would highly recommend people to do their nails in batam because of their cheap price ( normally it would be below $30) and the quality is pretty average. I stayed in the hotel near the mall ( I Hotel Baloi ) and the hotel is one of the newer ones in the region. i would say the hotel room and its buffet is pretty good.
Things to take note:
- roads are pretty uneven so walking in heels or sandals might be a little dangerous/uncomfortable ( i wore heels there by the way HAHA )
-not everyone there knows how to speak fluent english so you have to be a little
patient with them
-you may encounter some locals asking/pestering you to buy some stuffs so just be take note and be careful :)
thank you for reading & stay happy and healthy !!