To be frank, I never thought that a short trip to Batam, Indonesia, would be a enjoyable one. Batam, only a 45 minute boat ride away from Singapore, has always been etched in my mind as a place for dirty old men to find ..erm. entertainment. Suffice to say it was not a place I thought of visiting. Ever.

But one long weekend, my friends and I took a rather impromptu trip to Batam. One of them had been there before and said it was not too bad a travel destination. And I have to admit, though I splurged a little on this trip (by my standards that is. To me: the cheaper the better. I even stayed in a HOTEL here for a first time in years), I had great fun while at it.

Here’s what we did:

Go-karting:
5 Gokarting flags Batam Harris
3 Gokarting Batam Harris
7 Gokarting car Batam Harris
6 Gokarting helmet Batam Harris

Water sports such as banana boating and parasailing:
9 Batam Parasailing Watersports Harris
11 Batam Parasailing Watersports Harris
13 Batam Parasailing Watersports Harris

Beering:
8 Bintang Beer Batam Harris

Doing nothing by the pool:
15 Holiday Inn Batam

And massage.

If you’re looking for a place in Indonesia that is culturally Indonesian and at Indonesian prices, then Batam is definitely not the place to visit – honestly, given the number of Singaporeans on the island, it is a mini Singapore with cheaper than Singaporean prices. Dammit, everything is even calculated in Singapore dollars. But if you live in Singapore and do want to escape the hustle and bustle of the city for a weekend, then Batam really is not too bad a place to visit.

Ahh. And a simple weekend escape is what I call a good life.

(Pardon the poor quality of the photos as they are taken from a phone camera)

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In Waterfront City, Batam:

To do watersports (Parasailing, Banana Boat, Jetski, Wakeboarding, Kayaking), you may visit the watersports centre at Harris Resort Marina.
Price: about SGD55 for a package deal of Parasailing, Banana Boat and Jetskiing

To Go-Kart, you may visit the Go-Karting track next to Harris Resort.
Price: SGD15 (for Harris Resort guests), SGD18 (for everyone else)

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