Batam Info Thread

[micmac888]

Originally Posted by KohOnly21

Bro i'm still hot and young leh.. But i certainly understand

Aiyo...Dun wan to say it direct but kena misunderstanding.

The hot heavy and young are not in their literal meanings ... The young refers to 人生經驗不夠足的.....nothing to do with age.

[DDAMn]

Therefore I always consider Lailai hotel and Formosa hotel as a benchmark or point of reference for comparison for 1 star and 3 star hotel respectively. [/QUOTE]

So bro localbest wats ur favourite room at lai lai mutiara hotel?mine 301 or 302.hahaha pak ah heng got give u discount boh?if have i next time also must claim room discount...hahaha...long time dissappear..

[localbest]

Originally Posted by matong36

I just got back from batam day trip.

Stumbled across bunga massage while visiting the massage joints nearby Utama hotel. At least 20 girls available on a Friday afternoon 5pm, spotted at least 4 good ones. Mamasan Irene was very good at recommending her girls for 1.25m for the pretty and sexy ones. Discount are available if me and my friend took one girl each. Short time is also available at 400k upstairs and 600k back at hotel. Prices quoted not yet bargain as I had no intention for an overnight stay.

Shall share my experience on one of the massage joint soon..

Bro, thanks for sharing.

Doing a short time (one hour) with a 1.25 million cewek at 400k rupiah in bunga massage upstairs is worth considering.

Average cost per shot is (1.25million divided by 3) = 417k rupiah.

(assuming that the syt cewek only allowed maximum 3 shots per day booking)

[localbest]

Originally Posted by DDAMn

Therefore I always consider Lailai hotel and Formosa hotel as a benchmark or point of reference for comparison for 1 star and 3 star hotel
So bro localbest wats ur favourite room at lai lai mutiara hotel?mine 301 or 302.hahaha pak ah heng got give u discount boh?if have i next time also must claim room discount...hahaha...long time dissappear..

My favourite room is 201, 202 long & rectangular and 206 squarish but facing behind more quiet.

These are superior room with lots of space....

Is pak ah heng one of the boss who likes to have his meal at the Lailai restaurant ?

So far no discount given.

Surprisingly for a one star Lailai hotel, there was a house phone for guest to call up their room at the ground floor lobby and a safe deposit box at the counter.

[nono1973]

Originally Posted by ubikayu

I hope some kind bros can help:
If I want some day adventure, which massage place is 'good'.

In Sillypore,massage in most places usually cost S$50/hr,S$75/1.5hr. Special service in most places cost about S$50 for hj,S$80 for hj + bbbj and S$100-S$120 for FJ.

Total spending in Sillypore for massage which can be divided into several packages :

Package A :
S$75/1.5hr + hj S$50 = S$125.00

Package B :
S$50/1hr + fj S$100 = S$150.00

Package C :
S$50/1hr + hj S$50 = S$100.00

Package D :
S$75/1.5hr + fj S$120 = S$195.00

Package E :
S$75/1hr + fj S$100 = S$175.00

So much for Sillypore,now,lets talk Batam..

Ferry Tickets to Harbour Bay from Harbour Front : S$48.00

Massage at Ocean outside Harbour Bay (100m radius of Wey Wey Sea food restaurant) between S$25 to S$50 for 1.5 hr depending on which package you choose.

Special is S$15 for HJ and S$30 for FJ which is the highest i paid (and can still be lowered at times)

All below packages comes with 1.5hr massage -

Package A :
Massage with dick play S$32 + HJ S$15 = S$47.00

Package B :
Massage with dick play S$32 + FJ S$30 = S$62.00

Package C :
2 girls Massage with dick play + BM S$50 + 2 girl HJ S$30 (by 2 girl) = S$80.00

Package D :
2 girls Massage with dick play + BM S$50 + 1 girl FJ S$30 (by 1 girl)= S$80.00

Package E :
Massage w/o dick play S$25 + HJ S$15 = S$40.00

Package F :
Massage w/o dick play S$25 + FJ S$30 = S$55.00

After massage still not enough,i will go Manzhu massage at Harbour Mall (inside harbour bay) for some foot reflexology at about S$15/1.5hr.

After all the massages,eat something at Harbour Bay that usually cost around 40k with drinks and then take ferry back to Sillypore.

This should take up at around 2/3 of the daylight from early noon to early evening w/o involving any hotel or taxis/ojeks.

* "package" here refers to my choice of available massage base on my spending illustration

Originally Posted by ubikayu

So far, I see only funs at nights.
Thank you so much.
(I mean I'm not staying. Will go back in the afternoon same day.)

As a non night-life person in Batam,i rarely look for fun at night. I just read the last 20 pages of this thread,most of the fun was in the day.
(i do not mean there is no night life in Batam nor night life in Batam are in anyway no good)

[DDAMn]

[QUOTE=localbest;13516999]My favourite room is 201, 202 long & rectangular and 206 squarish but facing behind more quiet.

These are superior room with lots of space....

Is pak ah heng one of the boss who likes to have his meal at the Lailai restaurant

yes bro pak ah heng is actually the one in charge of the hotel,the hotel actually belong to his father in law.can forget about the discount but usually if u are one of the regular customers u can get a late checkout...

[micmac888]

Originally Posted by localbest

During year 1997/1998 asian economic crisis, the rupiah fall until machiam like almost no value like banana money

Correction. Not Asian economic crisis which made RP literally worthless. That distinction belongs to the holocaust - May 1998 Riot.

[nono1973]

Originally Posted by KohOnly21

Here's the menu.. Easier to order

http://www.mcdonalds.co.id/menu/menu-favorit/semua-menu

By the way, their website can change the default language (Bahasa) to English.

Thank you,bookmarked it with thanks.

This is going to come in handy some day,hehehe...

Originally Posted by gab23

When she appear, i sian half cos i tot siao liao shemale, almost as tall as me n throat area like have little apple. lucky throughout the hour, had talk n all tat, finally can confirm is 100% gal, but aready no mood. pay up 150k plus tips for 1 hour.

Oh,you also kena "cursed trip" ah?

Look like you spend time to "hunt" than to "shop",hehehe...

May your next trip to Batam be a good one. (usually it will be good after a not-so-good one,hehehe..)

Originally Posted by DDAMn

..stayed at Biz hotel junior suite had to walk in as room was only at its website not available on agoda or other hotel website..room had a total of 3 tvs .1st in living room,2nd in bedroom ,3rd at bedroom toilet facing the jacuzzi yes not bathtub but jacuzzi but damnn let down was the water tat came out was yellow had to drain out 3 types the water clean.room damaged was 900,000 per nite stayed 2 notes total damaged was 1,800,000 IDR.another info the room comes with free dvd player usage but must request from front desk.will try marine seafood next...

Hmm...am now curious if Kaha got sell room voucher for the Junior Suite in Biz Hotel. Your description starts to make me drool a bit (the tap water part reminds me of Gideon Hotel),hehehe....i am only curious,not exactly going to want to stay there. Anyway,i will soon find out,hehehe...

Thank you for sharing,bro.

Cheers!

Originally Posted by Black Page

How to measure and compare the "performance" of a money changer?
Compare the offered rate to the official interbank rate (the easiest way is to check on XE, there's an easy app for phones, or on Yahoo Finance, or on any financial news web site) and compute the relative "Delta".
Or, almost equivalently, compare the buy vs. sell rate.

I am doing that. I benchmark the online rates from XE or Yahoo Finance and then compare with money changer around. And i finally settle down with opposite Formosa Hotel.The rest of the money changers were just a few call away for me to compare between the best i knew and to know which one of these BEST i know are the BEST among the BEST. And they will usually give me the same rate which i often conclude as the best rate. (note:these money changers do not know each other)

Example, there is a Health Science Authority (HSA) in Sillypore,once a year (or 1.5 year),the company i work for are require to submit 4 exact same product samples to them (they may do a sudden pop by to make this request w/o 1st informing us). We gave them the 4 exact same product,they will then do a lab test on 1 of it and send the other 3 to independent labs. The result of the test in these 4 lab-test MUST come up very close to the same.

It is the same method i am using for getting the best rate in Batam by using the online rate as a benchmark. If online shows 10.2k/SGD at the last 5-10 mins,my answers from all money changers i called to MUST be 10k/SGD. Money changer that give the wrong answers are strike off my list. Last few shops usually give me the same answer and from there onward, i will gauge my travelling distance to them.

And opposite Formosa Hotel will be "my" closest BEST.

Originally Posted by nono1973

My personal method? I tell the money changer to give me their best rate even if i am changing S$50 (i will still bargain),and they wont regret doing business with me,hehehe..and i use the online Forex exchange rate to benchmark against the given rate and obviously no one could get the exact same rate as those online. It is how far apart between the money changer rate and the online Forex rate that i am more interested to know during the comparison. Instead of running around comparing money changer to money changer,i compare with the online Forex rates at that very few min point of exchange. More efficient and i know who REALLY REALLY give me the BEST rate.

[miumiu6464]

I used to go to all that trouble to get the "best" rates. But, given that I don't usually change more than $400 per instance, the difference in 20-30 rp/sgd equate to about 8000-12000 RP doesn't make a lot of difference to me..now, at most I ask about 2-3 shops near my hotel to get the approximate rate and go along with that.

[newyorker88]

Originally Posted by micmac888

Correction. Not Asian economic crisis which made RP literally worthless. That distinction belongs to the holocaust - May 1998 Riot.

That was an internal political struggle between Suharto n Prawabo. According to many people whom I know, n spoken to... The "army went out to create a crisis" so that the REAL army personals can launch a civil war/coup to topple the regime then. Using the riot as a cover.


Economics at that time is bad too.. .Suharto team of ministers( economics) all resign as well. Simply too broken to be fixed.

Suharto resign as president after that.

Whole country went downwards in chaos... Habibie is appointed president to clean the shit. 1 year later, he left office a much happier man becos he was not longer the president.

[micmac888]

Originally Posted by newyorker88

That was an internal political struggle between Suharto n Prawabo. According to many people whom I know, n spoken to... The "army went out to create a crisis" so that the REAL army personals can launch a civil war/coup to topple the regime then. Using the riot as a cover.

In full agreement.

Originally Posted by newyorker88

Economics at that time is bad too..

Gotta thank Soros and gang (Hedge-funds) and penultimately - IMF for that.

Originally Posted by newyorker88

Suharto team of ministers( economics) all resign as well. Simply too broken to be fixed. Suharto resign as president after that.

A direct aftermath of the May Riot. I do not condone violence - but yet there are 3 sides to the Riot - shall not comment further.

Originally Posted by newyorker88

Habibie is appointed president to clean the shit. 1 year later, he left office a much happier man becos he was not longer the president.

Who would have thought a bright engineer would be president. He has foresight in-especially towards the RIAU archipelago. To a certain extent, I respect the guy. PS : he saying SG is a red dot, was totally taken out of context - screw the media. LOL!

ok ok - enuf politics from me

[gab23]

for me, i am very lazy go around shop, and need luck in it, if heng ur whole nite will b good if not than too bad lor.
my past few trips, i always hunt around wif wechat, chat them up, n than book them when going for next trip.
tis trip consider ok la, except one call tika from wechat. chat wif her last trip, about 3 weeks ago, so last nite ass itchy wan book her, st 400, overnite 1.2m.
from profile pic, looks good. after she arrived at 1030am, she ask wat i wan, so told her overnite, n she ask for payment first, but i not enough cash, so give her 100 sgd. as i usually build up chemistry from massage first, she i really dunno wat do, cos she dun do massage, or sucks at it. so we just lie on bed n face our hp n she fall asleep later. now comes the stunt liao, after 2 hours, she woke up go toilet, after tat say she lai ang, will ask her friend come take over her, so i let her go n pass her 100k take cab, after about half hour i wechat her, check her friend status, she block me.
so whole nite lan lan sleep alone, n paid 100 for nothing

[Black Page]

Originally Posted by nono1973

As a non night-life person in Batam,i rarely look for fun at night. I just read the last 20 pages of this thread,most of the fun was in the day.
(i do not mean there is no night life in Batam nor night life in Batam are in anyway no good)

It happened one week me and Nono were simultaneusly in Batam for a few days, staying in Formosa, in two rooms on the same floor only 20m away.
We exchanged several SMS and we kept in contact, but it's not surprising that we NEVER met in person
We "work" on different time shifts

[KohOnly21]

Originally Posted by nono1973

And i finally settle down with opposite Formosa Hotel.

In the past, we used to change money opposite formosa like you during every trip to Batam. However, i realized something about these money changers at that point of time.

1) They don't always give competitive rate
2) They sometimes ask how much you are changing before providing you the rate based on the amount of money you are changing.
3) Their rate in the morning and during night sucks
4) They do judge their customer first (Newbie face or regular face)

Currently, those money changers that i frequently visited has the following pluspoint:

1) They will only give their best rate at all time
2) No matter i change $20, $40, $400 or $1000 are the same rate (Maybe more than $1000 can request for the boss to provide slightly better rate)
3) Welcome anybody

Those money changers in the malls often offer rp 50/100 to 200 lower for every SGD 1.00 changed, comparing to the average rate offered outside the malls.

If comparing getting the best rate vs shopping malls rate, some times the differences can be as much as 200-300 rp for every SGD 1.00 changed.

Every $100 changed = loss 20,000-30,000 rp
Every $500 changed = loss 100,000-150,000 rp

Out of Topic,

It's really amusing to see many tourists taking taxi from Nagoya Hill to Formosa/ Formosa to Nagoya Hill for 50,000/60,000 rp per trip.

Usually for nearby places, the lowest the taxi driver will ask are 30,000 rp. In this case, i would recommend calling Silver Cab/Blue Bird (Metered Taxi). If the fare turn up to be less than 25,000 rp, you just pay the minimum charges of 25,000 rp will do. The call operator of Silver Cab/Bluebird can speak pretty decent English.

1 more thing i realized, these metered taxi can be considered worst than the normal taxi as so far in my experience, none of the metered taxi has returned changes to me as told by them that they do not have any small changes. However, i do encountered plenty of the normal taxi giving me back my changes after the ride.

[micmac888]

Originally Posted by KohOnly21

Currently, those money changers that i frequently visited has the following pluspoint:

1) They will only give their best rate at all time
2) No matter i change $20, $40, $400 or $1000 are the same rate (Maybe more than $1000 can request for the boss to provide slightly better rate)
3) Welcome anybody

bro, by any chance - the moneychanger you mention is that one ?