Time to write the full summary,this time round,lots of info to share with everyone :
Reference post -
http://sammyboyforum.org.nz/showpos...ostcount=28624
Day 1
This trip is suppose to be a rest and relax trip,dont wish to be burden by the responsibilities of taking care of newbies,so those who are with me in this trip already has some level of good experience in Batam and are all capable of solo-ing on their own. There are 3 of us this time,me,bro S and bro M.
Met up with the 2 bros at Harbour Front in our desired timing,bro M and myself decide to try the business class of Horizaon Ferries but bro S didnt wish to,so he sits at the 1st floor whreas me and bro M took the 2nd floor. Honestly,business class in Horizon Ferries is really over-rated,i was expecting the below type of girls to serve us during the trip...
...but the whole Business Class section was serve by only an Indo man. Yes,we got FREE Today papers,free 1 bottle of mineral of water and some peppermint sweets,and thats about all we are getting for paying the extra S$8 (over the S$48 ticket). We do get priority to get off the ferry when we reach Batam tho,but its only about 5 mins ahead get off time. When we reach the custom of Batam,bro S has to walk in double quick time from his regular economic class to catch up with us. (sorry to bro S) He still manage to catch up with us tho. Nonetheless,those in Business Class gets to reach the custom 1st where the custom officer chop our passport. In general,the S$8 isnt much of a novelty from my point of view as we all didnt need to rush.
Below is a video of how business class looks like in the ferry extract from the Horizon web site :
Yes,more leg space on the chair,other than that,better sea view...and thats about it for novelty sake. Wait,when we disembark from the ferry,I finally saw ONE of the 3 pretty indo Horizaon girl standing outside the ferry to welcome us to Batam. Ok,I guess that should makes the S$8 well worth its cause for now…hehehe…
Upon reaching the custom Arrival Hall where our passport were suppose to be chopped,i realise they have change their custom hall to a more spacious one...below is an illustration pic for your reference :
As you can see,lots of glass in the building. The table where the custom officer chop my passport is much lower now compare to the previous times,so i can see what his hands are doing,whether he chop my passport or try to do anything funny. The custom officer asked me a few questions,but i couldnt hear him very well...so he has to repeat 3 to 4 times before i can hear him well enough to answer him.Thank God i didnt piss him off...lol. His question was why am i here for in Batam? Hehehe...my answer,to tour Batam,hehehe...
For those who plan to bring illegal things from Sillypore to Batam,please be extra extra careful,they changed their X-Ray scanner that were used to scan our luggage to a brand new one. And i also see a few tourist behind us having their bags unzipped and checked like what is often seen in Harbour Front Sillypore custom when we returned from Batam.
For the smokers,upon returning back to Sillypore,i tried their smoking point,its bad...really bad. Totally zero air ventilation. So the feeling is like smoking in a fully enclosed toilet cubicle without the smoke going out of the room unless another smoker opens the glass door of the smoking room to go out and step in. Those outside waiting for the gate to open during departure can easily breathe in 2nd hand smoke. Just a little heads up for smokers and non-smokers.
Now stepping out of the Arrival Hall,will look something like the illustrated pic below :
Stepping out of the Arrival Hall,i realise that we are only less than 30 steps away from Harbour Bay Mart (provision shop) where we await for the unreliable taxi driver.
__________________________________________________ _