Day2 | Despite setting the alarm for 7am, I was lightly awakened by the effervescent chirping of birds outside the windows. With mama and baby Coven not due to wake up in another hour, I decided to sneak a workout at the gym.

But the plan was thrown out when I caught the neon red sun peeking through the horizon at the lift lobby.

For the next 30 mins, I stood enraptured, watching the sun sail up the zenith, brushing the skies with hues of pink and orange, wispy mists rolling by the gentle hills and sparrows frolicking above the green sea of trees.

Breakfast buffet @ Terrace Cafe was as good as before. The buffet is divided into several sections: pastries and cereal, fruits and salads, local delicacies (fried noodles/ kway tiao), porridge and pau, continental (sausages/ waffles), a noodle and egg station.

Strongly recommend the fishball noodle soup. Tasted really traditional; like those found in really old coffee shops.

Baby Coven also feasted on a sumptuous spread of bread, egg yolk, and warm porridge mixed with cold papaya from the fruit platter.

While papa and mama were eating, baby Coven was busy working his charm on the kakaks & abangs, flashing his toothy grin and doing his finger curls or what we call the money-come-come gesture.

With baby Coven becoming very hyper after breakfast, nap time became swimming time!

Then & Now: when baby Coven was 2 months in mommy's tummy & when baby Coven is 10 months old!

Nearing 1pm, we decided at the last minute to take the shuttle down to Nagoya Hill Mall. We had actually made a booking the day before but fickle-mindedly cancelled it in the morning. Turns out that we were the only booking for the day so the they had to make adhoc transport arrangements for us. Really appreciate the service.

We even got our ride free-of-charge! Apparently the fee is waived for IHG members which I'd signed up after our previous stay.

It was our maiden visit to Nagoya Hill Mall, the largest mall in Batam, having always opted to go BCS mall instead.

With mama craving for pizza, we settled down at Pizza Hut, ordering a personal Hawaiian pizza (Rp 35,000++) and an oriental chicken spaghetti (Rp 52,000++). 

The spaghetti was so uniquely tasty, drenched in sweet teriyaki sauce that we finished it in less than 5 mins. Well, we were hungry too and the portion was quite modest.

After waiting for more than 20 mins for the pizza, we checked with the waitress who came back apologizing and explaining in brief English that there was a system error and the order wasn't logged. We decided to skip it after being told that it would take another 17 mins for a new order to be ready.

Our next stop was the Singaporean old-timers' favorite: A&W!

While we were there, we were flanked by groups of Singaporeans. MFA should just put the Singapore Embassy next door.

We shared a 2-piece chicken meal with curly fries and root beer float. But root beer float was too good, we had to get another one.

With another 2 hours to our pick up time, we struggled to kill time, circling aimlessly around the mall. Unlike BCS Mall where cheap bargains can be found round every corner, Nagoya Hill Mall is more catered for tourists and the prices of goods were comparable to those back home. So our raid did not materialize and the we ended up only getting the trademark Lamoist layer cakes (Big: Rp 160,000; Small: Rp 80,000).

The 3rd level restaurants and arcade were populated by smokers and the non-air conditioned food street coupled with hot humid weather made it inhabitable for aircon-baby Coven.

Shopping mall advice: go to Nagoya Hill Mall if you are craving for A&W or wish to catch a budget movie; go to BCS Mall if you wish to pick up some bargain buys.

Day 3 | Baby Coven woke up early this morning. Hence the 3 of us crawled out of bed to catch the majestic sunrise.

After another filling breakfast, we surveyed the games room. Look at the assortment of fun facilities!!

Sadly baby Coven was too young to enjoy any, though he got pretty excited smashing balls at on the pool table.

Last lunch at Terrace Cafe before shuttle to Sekupang Terminal at 1pm. The ride took only ~15 mins so we had ~1hr to kill before boarding our 3pm ferry back home.

|TRAVEL TIPS|

 

[Ferry] Ferry to Batam is free seating. Take the window seat to the left of vessel for views of Sentosa, St John Island, MBS and flyer skyline. Window seat to the right for views of Reflections at Keppel Bay, Bukom, Semakau, Sebarok islands. Opposite directions apply for return trip.

 

[Porter] Porters at the ferry terminal will offer to carry your bags/ luggage but they expect to be paid ($1 per item). So insist on carrying your own bags if you do not want to pay.

 

[Travelling with Baby] Do not feed baby food/snacks that they have not eaten before in case they develop an allergy reaction. If your baby has a sensitive stomach, you may want to bring along some bottles of 'Singapore' or local water.

 

[Shuttle Services] The resort provides shuttle services to Nagoya Hill Mall & ferry terminals (fixed timings). Do make prior reservations with the Concierge. Shuttle service to and fro ferry terminal is complimentary. Shuttle service to Nagoya Hill Mall is charged (Rp 20,000 1-way; Rp 30,000 2-way). However, the fee is waived for IHG Rewards Club members; free sign up.

 

 

[Drinking Water] Tap water is not potable in Batam. If you need more water than the 2 complimentary bottles, the gym has a water dispenser where you can fetch both hot & cold water.

 

[TV] The TV in the room has a USB port. If the plethora of cable channels cannot satisfy you or your kids need their daily dose of Barney, you may want to bring along a thumbdrive loaded with your favorite videos. Short of charger heads? Connect your device via usb for makeshift charging. Remember to remove your thumbdrive after that!