Batam Family Trip of 2018

The Family Trip 2018 might become a recurrent event of our family just like last year’s when 20 of us took an altogether trip to Penang for 4 days. Since then, most of us caught the travelling bug to take a trip together once a year.

So, this year's Family Camp 2018 was planned for a short 3 days 2 nights, inexpensive but entertaining trip to nearby Batam, Indonesia.

There won’t be much to explain about Batam, as many Singaporeans enjoyed regular one-day trip out of Singapore, just like a one-day shopping trip to Johore Bahru, the southern state of the West Malaysia.

On 27^th December 2018, we set off, 15 of us consisting of several families, their spouse and children.  Leaving Harbourfront Centre on Horizon ferry was an uneventful but smooth sea journey to HarbourBay at the northern tip of Batam, thankfully to God for journey mercy.

The necessary immigration and custom clearances on both countries went smoothly. Soon we are on our way to the hotel at Nongsa Hill, the Nagoya Hill Hotel, a 4-star well-equipped urban hotel with a huge shopping mall with basement hypermart next to it.

After a quick “Padang” style Indonesian  lunch across the street, we proceeded to do what was top on our agenda. Some went for local massages which were plentiful with prices and skills that ranged from each shop.

The others went shopping for bargain sneakers. For me, getting plenty supply of bottled water was top priority as I drank like a fish. I found to my pleasant surprise that the mineral water only was a fraction of the price in Singapore, including our favorite tropical fruits of soursop, dragon fruits, and papaya.

I spent only Singapore $5 for many large bottles of mineral water and some portions of cut fruit, and I could not help but laughed all the way back to the hotel.

Our dinner for the first night was at Golden Prawn Restaurant at Jalan Bengkong, next to Golden View Hotel.

The large dining area platform was built over the seawaters of the open sea. Before entering the main dining hall, it was expected to select the choice of live seafood in glass tanks and then instructing the cooks on the style of cooking. 

After we settled down on a long table, we were entertained with complimentary live music band delighting us with Chinese songs and their own Indonesian hits, whilst we savoured the various type of seafood prepared in different styles.

For the second day, a 1-day tour around the island was planned. Most tourists believed that Batam was boring and dull, but if one would take the effort to explore the less unknown area of Batam, they would be in for a great surprise. For that’s was what we found out!

We went a long one-hour drive to the southern part of the island to view the Barelang Bridge, which is a chain of 6 bridges built to connect the many islands of Batam, Rempang, Galang and the Riau Islands, completed in 1997.

Barelang bridge is a cabled arch structural bridge of total length 835 metres and main span 245 metres. Some locals called the bridge “Jembatan Habibie “named after Dr Jusuf Habibie who oversaw the project construction. It was best to visit the bridge for unforgettable breathtaking sunset landscape, which we sadly missed for this trip but maybe someone might return in the future to connect the missing stunning scene.

From there, we proceeded to a quiet seaside restaurant at The Riverside Restaurant Kabil, Nongsa, Batam City, Riau Islands 29467, Indonesia. 

It had been in existence for a long time, though unknown even to our local tour guide .

They served fantastic authentic tropical seafood like prawns, crabs, scallops which were caught fresh out of the sea and we all enjoyed the food and the experience tremendously. 

Interestingly, we discovered that the entire sum for the lunch was only half of the price of the seafood restaurant from the previous night. 

Fully satisfied, we then proceeded to visit a layer cake factory, called the Kueh Lapis, recommended by the young tour guide. 

After a long drive, we arrived at the simple factory but found to our great amazement, that it was behind the seafood restaurant of the previous night. All of us gave such a loud shout and exclamation but the tour guide thought that we were so glad to visit the factory. 

Nonetheless, several kueh lapis in various flavours were bought as souvenirs.

Next, we went to a nearby factory outlet, only 3 mins away. We spent quite some time to buy designer footwears, well known shawls and fashionable clothes and also got to even sample local Robusta coffee.

Our last dinner was at the famous Sup Ikan Yong Kee at No 5- 8, Jalan Engku Putri, Tering, Kota Batam. Each of us enjoyed an individual fish or seafood soup with local rice, accompanied with familiar dishes of the region.


During both 2 nights, we ended our day by relaxing at the hotel lobby lounge whilst listening to a lady singer who had a voice like Dione Warwick with accompaniment of a grand pianist.

The younger ones played Big 2 card games at the lounge corner, whilst the others drank martini and the like. We had a great time playing Big 2, though we did not pay in cash, but had them recorded on a paper for final payment after the games. I won a mere $6, a rare turning point for me as I lost too many times in many CNY card games.

The next day being the last day, some of us proceeded to a morning street market to purchase fresh local seafood to bring directly back home.

At noon on 29^th December 2018, we took a return Horizon ferry quickly and without harm ,back to Singapore, because of the grace of God with each of us bearing the wonderful memories of a pleasant family time whilst reminding each other for the forthcoming Family Camp of 2019, as well as with renewed and fresh expectations of many family trips for many many years to come.

All in one, we enjoyed terrific and excellent family time together. The atmosphere of Batam was lively and weather were bright and breezy. 

The itinerary was well planned and orderly. The 4-star hotel met our expectations with comfortable spacious rooms, extensive choices of complementary breakfast, coupled with good courteous services of the hotel staff. 

Lastly, many thanks to those who organized and planned this whole trip, Patrick, David and myself being the main organizers and all others who helped here and there, in big and small ways including good suggestions and objective remarks to make this trip to Batam a great success and unforgettable memory of our time life.

Family taking a group photo against the backdrop of Barelang Bridge, Batam, Indonesia

At Riverside Restaurant, some of us ventured to catch live seafood from the open sea on wooden plaform.

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