A Small Zoo at Golden Prawn Batam Island

Have you ever been in Bengkong Laut? If you are a batam citizen I am sure you know this area very well. But for all of you who haven’t come to this place yet, from this blog I suggest you to come to this place. There is a famous Sea Food Restaurant here that is always visited by many people from many areas in Batam. If you are planning to come to this restaurant in groups, it is better for you to book the tables and arrange the menu you want to eat first. Because if you don’t book it, I am afraid you will not have any tables to sit here. Beside the restaurant, there is a big hotel named Golden Prawn Hotel. When I came to this place two days ago, there were many guests stayed here. The facilities of this hotel are also quite good. But for this time, I will not talk about Golden Prawn Hotel and Restaurant, but I just would like to let you know about a small zoo that you may see there.

The small zoo is just located at the left side of the entrance. When you enter the entrance, just go ahead straight, then you should park your car or your motor bike at the parking area that is available there. The parking area is quite large at this place, so don't worry that you will not have any space to park your car or motor bike. From the parking area, you just need to walk around 20 meters to the mini zoo. There are many kinds of animal that you may see there, such as birds, snakes, monkeys, fishes, chipmunks, and many more. All of the animals are kept in a large cage. Different kinds of animal will have a different cage. And all cages are designed quite well that make the animals unable to escape from the cages.

If you come to this place at the afternoon, you will see many people at this place. As this small zoo is opened for public and is aimed for all people especially for those who want to stay in the Hotel or who eat at the restaurant, so to enter the zoo, we don’t have have to pay anything because it is absolutely free of charge. Almost all of the visitors who see the zoo at the afternoon are Bengkong Laut citizens and the rest are the guests who stay in the Golden Prawn Hotel. This small Zoo becomes an interesting place for the guests, especially for the children. The existence of this small zoo becomes an attraction for all people to visit the Golden Prawn Hotel and Restaurant.

So for you guys who are curious to know about this small zoo, just come to Golden Prawn. I remind you once again that to enter and see this zoo, you don’t have to pay anthying. By the way, if you haven’t tried the sea food in the restaurant, you also may try, I am sure you will feel satisfied to have lunch or dinner there. Because all the menus that are available there are quite complete, and from my experience to have dinner there, the foods were very delicious. Although the price of the foods are expensive, but it will not be a big problem from people to come to this place. Please come and prove it by yourself, won’t you?

Honda Club Gathering and Fun Rally in Batam

One of the biggest motor bikes main dealers in Batam will have a big event this month. It is Capella Dinamik Nusanatara Company which will hold this interesting program. The Committees name this event “Honda Club Gathering and Fun Rally. This event will be held on Sunday, April 26, 2009. There will be many Honda Motor Clubs in Batam join this big event. One of them is Bikers Tiger Batam (BTB). And not only Honda Motor Clubs are invited to join this event, All customers of Honda in Batam are invited too, especially for those who have “BEAT” Honda Motor Bike type.

One of the intentions of this event is to gather all Honda Motor Clubs in Batam. As the main dealer of Honda in Batam, Capella Dinamik Nusantara Company want to thank them for their help in supporting the main dealer to introduce some new Honda products in Batam island Because of the existence of many Honda Motor Clubs in Batam, many people in batam become interested in buying a new honda motor bike to join the club. Another intention of this even is want to form a new “BEAT” Honda Motor Club. That is why, many of “BEAT” Honda motor bikes type’s customers join this event.

As an appreciation to all of their customers in Batam, The Main Dealer of Honda also provides many prizes through a fantastic lucky draw tomorrow. The committees of this program suggest to all customers that have already registered their names in joining that program to come to this event tomorrow because only the customers that come to this event can win the Lucky Draw. All the invited Honda Motor clubs and customers are suggested to gather in SKS Honda Dealer in Nagoya before 8am. From this place, All the members will make a motor convoy to Kampung Melayu Nongsa escorted by policemen. The routes that will be passed by all the members are: Tanah Longsor Jalan Ali Haji - Jalan Duyung – DC Mall – Top 100 – Raden Patah – Simpang Jam and will be finished at Kampung Melayu Nongsa.

As almost of all batam citizen have a motor bike, so in my opinion, this kind of event is very good to be organized here. And if it is possible not only Main Dealer of Honda motor bike do this event, but other dealers from other producer of Motor Bikes also can do this event, such as Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, KTM, Bajaj, and many more. This event is good to attract the customers to be more loyal to the brand of motor bike they like. Hopefully the event that will be held tomorrow by Capella Dinamik Nusantara Company will run well. And how about you, are you going to join the event?

Why Foreigners Should Come to Batam

My writing at this time is only aimed for foreigners all over the world. I choose this topic at my post because I want to give you some information about batam and to challenge you to come to Batam Island. There are many things that make Batam becomes a suitable place for you to visit, Besides for spending your holidays to enjoy all the beautiful views, hotels, resorts, and restaurants, you may also do some businesses in this island. Shopping some new brands from many products offered in some shopping centers in Batam is also another reason why you should come to batam. All of them really can spoil you and can make you stay longer in this small island. There are also many public services built to welcome you to visit Batam. Beside that, some easiness to reach this island also one of attractions for you to come to this scorpion island.

Since Batam Island location is just nearby Singapore, it will make you come to this place easily. There are many ways you may take to reach this island. If you are from Singapore, I suggest you to use ferry to come here. It only takes around 45 minutes to 1 hour to get here. If you are from Malaysia, i advise you to use ferry too to come to Batam. It will take 90 minutes to 2 hours from Malaysia to Batam. There are so many destination sea ports you may choose, Namely: Batam Center International Sea Port, Sekupang Sea Port, Harbour Bay Sea Port, Nongsa Pura Sea Port and the last sea port is Water Front Marina Sea Port. Please have a look at my previous post about International Sea Ports in Batam. . If you are from other Asia, Europe, America, Africa and Australia countries, i suggest you to come here by plane. If you are from others cities in Indonesia and plan to come to Batam, you may come here by plane, as plane is the fastest transportation to reach this island.

As I said before that there are many things you may see in Batam. Some interesting and luxurious resorts are available here for you to stay, such as: Turi Beach Resort, Nongsa Point Resort, Marina Resort, Harris Resort, Batam View Resort, Sijori Resort, KTM Resort and many more. You may see best sea views from all of the resorts. In some Resort, you also may see the best sun set. All of the resorts have their own restaurants that offer many western menus for the visitors. Beside the Resorst, there are also many International Hotels you may see in Batam. They are: Planet Holiday Hotel, Good Way Hotel, Harmony Hotel, Novotel Hotel, Nagoya Plaza Hotel, Vista Hotel, Harris Hotel, I Hotel, Golden View Hotel, Panorama Regency Hotel, Puri Garden Hotel, and Pacific Palace Hotel. Please look at my previous post about Hotels in Batam. Inside those hotels you also may find big restaurants available with many kinds of interesting menus. You probably think that if you stay in those hotels you will spend a lot of money. Don’t worry, the tariff of those hotels mentioned above are very reasonable. Besides you will also have the best services given by those hotels.

If you are the one who likes doing shopping, Batam is the best place for you. There are many famous Shopping Centers that offer you many kinds of import and local products. Those Shopping Centers are: Nagoya Hill Shopping Center, BCS Shopping Center, DC Mall Shopping Center, Mega Mall Shopping Center and Panbil Mall Shopping Center. Please check my previous post about Shopping Centers in Batam

The advantage to shop here is the price is quite cheap. If you compare the price of some products offered in Batam Shopping Centers from Singapore Shopping Centers, the price is far in different. Almost all of the products price in Singapore are more expensive from Batam. That is why many foreigners that visit Singapore come to batam only for shopping.

In Short, for you guys who stay overseas that haven’t come to Batam Island yet, from now onwards you should consider to come to this beautiful island. I dare to bet you that you will never regret to come to this island because there are so many best places you may find here, and many best views you can see in this island. It is also important for me to let you know an official site about Visit Batam 2010 and I am sure that you may find complete information about batam from this site. So Come to Batam, and Enjoy your holidays here with your friends, and your relatives and other people that you love.

Traffic Lights in Batam

As we have known together that there are many traffic lights we may find in Batam. These traffic lights are usually placed in many intersections especially in main roads of Batam, for instances: Simpang Jam, Simpang Sei Panas Batam Center, Simpang Baloi, Simpang Nagoya, Simpang Jodoh, Simpang Pelita, Simpang Kabil, Simpang Franky, Simpang Duta Mas, Simpang Panbil, and many more. All of the traffic lights mentioned above can work well so far. In some intersections we also may see small police station are built there. The stations are used by the policemen to monitor the intersections. Sometimes, when the batam public electricity is suddenly off, and It causes the traffic lights don’t work, the Policemen will be the one who guide the car drivers and motor bike riders to take their turn to pass the intersections. Although it seldom happens in Batam, but all the policemen who stay at the station are usually alert to do their jobs.

The traffic lights are not new thing for us, especially for car drivers and motor bike riders. When we had an examination to have driving license, the meaning of these traffic lights were some of the questions to answer. Well, though I know that all of you have known the meaning of each light, but I think I need to explain again here, in case some of you still don’t understand the meaning of each light. It is obvious that there are three colours of traffic lights, namely: Red colour, amber colour and Green colour. The Red light colour means that the drivers or riders are warned to stop their vehicles. The amber light colour means to get alert. There are two meaning of the amber light here. The first meaning is, When the light is green, then it suddenly changes to amber, it means that the drivers and riders are warned to get ready to stop, until the light really changes to red colour then the drivers and riders must stop their vehicles. Meanwhile when the light is red, and it suddenly changes to amber, it means that the drivers and riders are warned to get ready to pass the intersection, until the light really changes to green, then the drivers and riders are allowed to pass it. The Green light colour means the car drivers or motor bike riders are allowed to pass the intersection. It is a sign to drivers and riders to move their vehicles and pass the intersection carefully.

It is clear that the function of the traffic lights is to give sign to the drivers and riders when they are in the intersection. We can imagine if there is no traffic lights in the intersection, people will pass the intersection as they like, and i am sure there may many accidents occurs in the road. As good drivers and riders, we should obey the traffic lights when we are in the intersection besides we also have to be careful when we are driving or riding our vehicles.

As i said before that there are many traffic lights installed in every intersection in Batam Island. These traffic lights cost a lot of money. As a good citizen, we should keep this facilities well. We should realize that these facilities are built and aimed only for us. The most important thing we have to do is to obey the traffic lights when we are still driving or riding our vehicles. And make sure when you want to stop your vehicles in the intersections, make sure you stop behind the white lines of the road. We should know some consequences when we break the traffic lights. Besides it can injure ourselves, we also can be caught by the policemen for breaking it. So Never break the traffic lights if you still love yourself and your family and be a good driver and rider.

Sekilak Beach

You probably ever heard about the name of Sekilak Beach. The beach which is located in Batu Besar becomes one of batam citizen tourism destination at the week end. The area of this beach is quite large. This beach is managed by a company, named Sekilak. That is why the name of the beach becomes Sekilak Beach. The Sekilak beach is one of famous beaches in Batam. There are many people come to this beach everyday, especially on saturday and sunday. To enter this beach, every guest only needs to pay for Rp. 6000. This payment includes life and accident insurance as long as the guests are still in this area. So the visitors are suggested to keep the ticket well when they are in Sekilak area, in case any bad things happen to them, the company will give a compensation to the guests as long as they are able to show the ticket.

There are many employees from many companies come to this place for recreation. they usually come to this beach in groups. Sometimes they make some programs in this beach, such as games, singing contest, and barbecue. And If you stay in nagoya, and you are planning to come to this beach, you will take around 40 minutes away to reach this beach by car. And for people who stay in air port area, you will only take about 15 minutes to reach this beautiful beach. as i said before that there are so many people come to this place on saturday and sunday, so if you want to come and plan to make some games here, you must come to this place early otherwise you will not find any places to make games. It means people who come earlier will freely choose the place they want to stay.

Swimming in this beach is very pleasant. As long as you can swim, you don't have to be afraid to swim in the beach, some more there are many life guards equipped with life-jacket keep their eyes on visitors when the visitors are swimming. So if some thing happen, they will directly save you from the beach. But you also have to be careful, and take a good care of yourself well when you are there.

From what I have seen in this location, this place is devided into three interesting areas. The first area is usually used for people to see the sea view. We can see the best sea view from here. Besides, this place is a good location to take some photos. This area is quite windy, so it’s also nice to relax here. The second area is called Tanjung Mak Dara. This is the best place you can visit to play the sea sands. You can use sand to form anything you like. The last area is called Tanjung Penyu. There are so many games of boat you may find here, such as Dragon Boat (Perahu Naga), Kayak, and Duck Boat (Perahu Bebek). But remember, before you are allowed to play some games here, you must buy the ticket first. Different games will have different ticket price. But don’t worry, the ticket price for all of the games are still reasonable.

It is so clear that many people in batam go to Sekilak Beach for relaxes and the most favourite days for people to come to this place are Saturday and Sunday. Some interesting boat games offered by the management of the Sekilak really can attract people to visit this beach. If you haven’t come here yet, and want to try the kayak, duck boat and dragon boat, you can come here and enjoy all the facilities.

Futsal Center in Ex-Matahari Building in Batam Center

Nowadays, Futsal becomes one of famous sports in Batam. There are many futsal’s arenas we can find in Batam, but for this opportunity, I would like to let you know the Futsal Center in ex-matahari building. This arena is located in Batam Center, just nearby My Mart Building. The sport which is played by 5 players each team is now liked by many people in Batam. This sport becomes a favourite sport especially for teenagers. That is why, if you go to Futsal arena in exs matahari building in Batam Center, you will find many people there playing this sport.

If you really like this sport, you may come to this place to play it with your friends. There are many futsal fields you can find inside the building. And before you are able to play in this arena, you must book the field first, otherwise you will not be allowed to use the field. As many people like playing fustal in this arena, almost all the fields have been booked already. So once again, it is not easy for you to play in this arena, as you must book the field first at least three days before you will use the field. The price for using the field here is also quite cheap if we compare with other futsal arena in Batam.

There are many reasons why people like playing the futsal in this place. The first reason is because this place provides so many futsal fields that enables people to choose which field they want to book for playing this game. So when you want to book the field, the management will offer you some available free fields to choose, but the fields that have been booked by other people will not be given to you anymore and no one is allowed to use the booked fields. The second reason is because the price for renting this field is reasonable. Beside that, if you always use the fields, you probably get some discounts from the management. The last reason is because the facilities of all futsal fields that are available here are very good. The imitation grass is very soft that will not hurt you when you fall down in the field.

There is not only Futsal arena you may find in this ex-matahari building, you also can find billiard arena here. There are some billiard tables offered by the managements to all of the guests. I think this is also one of the reasons, why people like coming here rather than go to other place. When you are thirsty or hungry, you also can find a restaurant that sells complete menu. A parking area is also provided by the management for the customers, unfortunately it is only for motor bikes meanwhile for cars, the customers usually park their cars at the edge of the main road.

It goes without saying that playing futsal now becomes a new hobby for many people in batam. This is one of the sports that can keep our body healthy. It is also obvious that many people choose Futsal arena in ex-Batam Center Building to play the sport. If you really like playing this sport, and you haven’t played it in this field yet, you may come to this place and enjoy yourself to play the sport here. I am sure, you will not regret to play futsal here.

Let’s Support The Program of Visit Batam 2010.

As we have known together that next year will be the year of Visit Batam 2010 as planned by the Batam City Government (Pemko Batam). This program is aimed by the Batam City Government and Batam Tourism Department to introduce Batam Island to all over the world. Beside that, Some preparations have been made to succeed this program. Some associations that available in batam also support the year of visit batam 2010. They are : Batam Hotel and Restaurants Association, Indonesian Traveling Company Association, Indonesian convention and Congress Association and Batam Entertainment service Association. These four associations have declared to support the program by presenting some Indonesian traditional dances, some foreign dances, and to hold some international meeting to attract foreigners to come to batam

In supporting the program of visit batam 2010, almost all of the hotels in batam make the best preparation. They improve their service to the guests to make them satisfied to stay in the hotel. Many hotels in batam have international standard service. Some of them are: Planet Holiday Hotel, Vista Hotel, Harris Hotel, Good Way Hotel, I Hotel, Harmony Hotel, Novotel Hotel and Grand Majesty Hotel. All of these hotels are ready to welcome all of the foreigners that will come to Batam. The restaurants are also prepared well by the management of the hotels. Many westerns menu are available in these hotels that can spoil all of the westerners and keep them stay longer in Batam.

It is true that many hotels will take some advantages when many foreigners come to batam and stay in their hotels. The more guests stay in their hotel, the more money they will earn. Restaurants, travel agents and ferry owners also will get some advantages from this program. I am sure that’s one of the reasons, why they want to help Batam City Government to succeed the program of Visit Batam 2010.

There are many things that have been done by the Batam City government to succeed Visit Batam 2010, especially in providing some useful facilities that can attract the foreigners. As good citizens, what should we do to support this program? According to me, there are so many things that we can take to succeed this program. Firstly, we can keep all the facilities provided by the Batam City government well. Secondly, we should prepare ourselves by learning english in order to be able to answer westerners question in case they ask us questions when they meet us in some places. And the last thing that we should do is learning some folk stories that are available in batam island. This is important for us to explain them the right folk stories in batam.

Finally, as good batam citizens, let us support the program of Visit Batam 2010 by doing some positive things that I have explained above. I am sure with many supporting from many associations and the local citizen, this program will succeed well. May many foreigners will come to our small island, and may this island become one of the best island in tourism industry in Indonesia.

Note : Some Sources were taken from Kompas Daily Newspaper Edition October, 2008

Hanging Out in Ocarina

Ocarina which is located in Batam Center becomes the most favourite place for batam citizen to spend their time for recreation. There are some interested places you can find in this place. The best sea view is one of attractions given by Ocarina besides many playing parks for children are also available here. Ocarina is only 10 minutes away from batam center sea port by car, and it takes 30 minutes away from Hang Nadim air port. Although, ocarina is considered to be a new recreation place in batam, but it really can attract batam citizen to come to this nice place.

If you come to this place in the afternoon, you will see many people playing here especially teenagers and children. This place becomes the best place for teenagers to hang out. Most of them like riding bicycle that they rent from here. They usually ride the bicycle in group. As there are some parks to play, many children also play here with their parents. Many visitors come here with their children. This place really succeed to spoil their visitors with some interesting playing arenas which are used children for playing. Beside that, we also can see many shops that sell food, drinks or snacks. Though the price of some food offered here is more expensive if we compare from others, but it will not be a problem for the visitors.

If you haven’t come to this nice place yet, you just need Rp. 5000 for the entrance ticket to enter this place. I think this is the cheapest ticket price I have ever known in batam for a recreation place. For your information, if you come here by car, you can directly enter the entrance after paying the ticket, but if you come here by motor cycle, you cannot bring your motor cycle along with you to enter this place, but you should park your motor cycle at the parking area provided by the management just out side the entrance gate. After that you need to walk to the gate to pay for the entrance ticket. Ocarina managements provide two special and small cars to take the visitors from the gate to the main place inside the Ocarina. But I think these cars are not enough to bring all the visitors. So If I may suggest to the management of the Ocarina, Providing more cars will be an advantage for the management to satisfy the visitors. Because from what I have seen so far, many visitors who come here by motor bike or cab take a walk from the gate to the playing arenas inside the Ocarina. Another suggestion is, if it is possible, please make a motor bike parking area inside the place. So the visitors don’t need to walk so far anymore to get the place.

As there are many visitors come to Ocarina, the management of ocarina should improve their service in order to keep their customers. Providing more transportations as for the visitors will be one of the management consideration to attract their costumers to visit the place. I am quite sure if the managements build a motor cycle parking area inside the entrance gate, more people will come to this place. What do you think guys, do you agree if Ocarina management build a parking motor area inside the entrance gate?

Engku Putri and Tiban Park Free WiFi, the free internet solution for Batam Citizen

Where do you think you can find places in batam that provide free internet access for you without spending money? If your answer is Cafes or Food Courts, it is not a correct answer. Why do I say so? When you visit a cafe that provides free Wifi, you still have to pay for drinks or food that you order. Or let say you only order a drink, Orang juice for example, you still have to pay for this order, don’t you?. If your answer is Engku Putri and Tiban Park, then i agree with your answer.

Engku Putri Park is located in Batam Center. If you know the location of Batam City Government (Pemko Batam), you should know this Park well. The name of Engku Putri is very familiar with batam citizen. Besides because of the free WiFi, also because of many activities are usually held in this place. By the way, Batam city government which had the idea to facilitate the park with free WiFi. The pioneer of this free Wifi is the vice mayor of Batam city government, that is Mr. Ria Saptarika. Because of a good cooperation between the mayor and the vice mayor of Batam City Government, the free Wifi could be provided in the park. One of internet providers in batam becomes a main sponsor of this free Wifi, that is Telkom Speedy. That’s why there is only speedy access available in this Park.

Many batam citizen take some advantages from this Free wireless internet connection. Especially for students and workers that don’t have any internet access at home. Because of this free Wifi, there are many people come to Engku Putri park every day. Especially for university students, they always come to this place to finish their home works given by their lecturer. Even in the morning, you can find some people already come to use the access. There are three shelters that are available in the park. So all people use these three shelters when they enjoy the facilities provided by the Batam City Government. From my observation for a week of the shelters, the three shelters are not enough for all people that come to this place, especially on saturday. So if I may give a suggestion to Batam City Government, please add more shelters in this park, at least 2 more shelters. For your information, there are three accesses point in this park, namely, Engku Putri, Engku Putri 1 and Engku Putri 2. So you have three options to choose which access point you want to connect to your laptop.

Besides Engku Putri Park, there is another park that is facilitated with a free Wifi in Batam, that is Tiban Park. Tiban park is located in Tiban. It takes about 15 minutes from Nagoya to reach this place. There is only one shelter you can find in this park, but I am sure that the Batam City Government will add more shelters in the future. Many people that stay in this area use this facility at their spare times.

In conclusion, many people in batam come to Engku Putri and Tiban Park to use the free Wifi provided by Batam City Government. The free WiFi is very useful for batam citizen especially for Students in Batam, as they can use the facility to do their home works without spending any money. You can imagine if they go to internet cafe and do their home works there, how much money they will spend for it. Hopefully, The Batam City Government will add another shelters at these two parks and add the access points as well.

My Mart, The Computer Center in Batam

Are you looking for computer or laptop? What computer or laptop are you looking for, new or second hand one? What brands of computer or laptop are you planning to buy? Or are you looking for some spare parts of computer? Don’t be confused, just come to My Mart, the computer center in Batam Center, I guarantee you that you will feel satisfied with the services that given by the computer sellers there.

My mart is located in Batam Center. I am sure if you are batam citizens you should have known this place. My Mart was a very famous shopping center a few years ago. There were so many tenants rented some shops in this building. They sell clothes, computers, foods and drinks, music equipments, ferry and plane tickets and many more. But since there were many new malls built in Batam, My Mart was not able to compete with them that caused many of the tenants move to new other malls.

However, My Mart has changed a lot now. If last time many tenants sold many kinds of product here, now almost 90% of tenants do computers business in My Mart. They sell new and second hand computers and laptop. Many kinds of new computer and laptop brands are offered here. Besides, we also can buy computers or laptop spare parts here. It is true that My Mart is not the only one place where you can buy computer or laptop. There are some other places that also offers computer or laptop, such as Nagoya Hill, Dc Mall, Panbil Mall. But from all of them, many people prefer to go to My Mart for buying new computer or laptop. For Internet Cafe owner in Batam, My Mart becomes a favorite place to visit when they need to buy new computers or laptop or other equipments.

There are some reasons why people come to My Mart to buy new or second hand computer or laptop and others spare parts.. The first reason is because there are many brands of new computers and laptop offered by the sellers. The second reason is the price. Most of the computer sellers in My Mart give reasonable prices to the buyers. The last reason is because of almost all brands of the computers or laptop are available here, so all the buyers can easily find the computer or laptop they want to buy.

In Short, there is one computer center available in batam that offers many new or second hand computer and laptop. The name of the place is My Mart. Many computer sellers offer competitive prices in this place. If you want to buy computers or laptops in a large quantity, i think this is the place you need to visit as many discounts are offered when you buy them in a large quantity. I always come and buy some computers from My Mart, how about you?

International Sea Ports in Batam Island

Nowadays, batam island is very popular in other countries. Many foreigners from different countries come to this island with different intentions. Some of them come here for business, some for shopping, and some more for holidays. It is not really important for me to discuss what are their intentions to come to batam, but for this chance I just would like to give you some information how they get to the island that is now trying hard to become a digital Island in Indonesia. As batam location is just nearby Singapore, so for Singaporean and Malaysian, they can directly come to batam from their sea ports by ferry. I have mentioned before in my previous post, that It usually takes around 45 minutes to 1 hour from Singapore to batam, and around 90 minutes to 2 hours from Malaysia to batam. For other asia countries, they usually go to Singapore first, then come to batam through Singapore sea port.

From what I have seen so far, there are many international sea ports that we can see in Batam. Some of them are: 1. Batam Center International Sea Port, 2. Sekupang International Sea Port, 3. Harbour Bay Sea Port, 4. Nongsa Pura Sea Port, and 5. Water Front Marina Sea Port Although this island is not as big as other islands in Indonesia, but it can not be denied that this island can compete with other island to attract foreigners to come to this island.

BATAM CENTER SEA PORT

Batam Center International Sea Port is located in Batam Center. It is just nearby Mega Mall Shopping Center. If you stay in Nagoya, you will take about 15 to 20 minutes to reach this sea port. And if you have just arrived at Hang Nadim air port and want to go directly to this sea port, you will take about 30 minutes to get this port. This international sea port offers two routes to the passengers. The routes that they offers are Singapore and Malaysia. The port that starts the operation from 7am to 10pm Indonesian time becomes the best choice for batam citizens that stay in Batam Center area. Inside the port we also can see some shops that sell some stuffs, such as food, drinks, snacks, perfumes, and many more. This international sea port also has a big and secured parking area for cars and motor bikes as well. The passengers that use their cars to the sea port and stay overnight in Singapore or Malaysia do not feel worried of the cars that they leave in the sea port parking area, because they know that the cars will be kept safely there. That is why if you come to this port at day time, you may see many cars are parked well in this secured parking area.

SEKUPANG SEA PORT

Sekupang Intenational Sea Port is located in Sekupang. This port only offers the route to Singapore. The port starts the operation from 7am to 7pm Indonesian Time. People who stay in Sekupang, Tiban, and Baloi usually choose this port to go to Singapore. The sekupang international port locations is quite far from Hang Nadim air port. It takes about 45 minutes to reach this port. If you stay in Nagoya, and plan to use this port to go abroad, you just need to take 30 minutes to get the port. This port also has a parking area for cars and motor bikes.

HARBOUR BAY SEA PORT

Although consider to be a new sea port, Harbour Bay can compete with other sea ports in batam in giving the best services to the passengers. The strategic location of this sea port becomes one of the reason why many people choose this sea port when they are planning to go to Singapore. This harbour bay sea port is located in Jodoh. The easiest access to go to nagoya make foreigners use this port as their destination port. This sea port starts the operation from 7am to 8pm Indonesian Time. The parking area for cars is also provided by the managements of this port here.

NONGSA PURA SEA PORT

Nongsa Pura Sea Port is located in Nongsa. This sea port offers a Singapore route only. Many foreigners who want to stay in some hotels in nongsa usually go directly from Singapore or Malaysia port to this sea port. This port is surrounded by many hotels that available there. The operations of this sea port is from 7 am to 7pm Indonesian Time.

WATER FRONT MARINA SEA PORT

The Water Front Sea Port is located in Marina City. This sea port also only serves one route, that is Singapore route. This port starts the operation from 7 am to 7pm Indonesian Time. Parking area is also available here though it is not as big as the port in Batam Center Sea Port. This port is also surrounded by many apartments.

In Conclusion, many international sea ports in batam can give batam visitors many options when they want to come to Batam Island. These sea ports managements also serve all the passengers with the best service they can give. So for you guys who stay abroad and want to come to batam by ferry, you will not find any difficulties anymore since the list of Batam International Sea Port has been provided in this simple blog.

Cafes in Batam spoil their customers with Free WiFi

If you are a new comer in Batam, and you want to go to one of cafes in batam, you probably get confused which cafe you want to visit. It’s because there are so many cafes you can find here. Although almost all of the cafes offer the same menus both drinks, meals and even snacks with competitive prices but the competition in this field is still quite high. Nowadays, many of the cafe owners try to attract the customers to come to their cafes by offering them a free WiFi. So the customers who bring laptop can use this wifi to enable them to connect to internet while they are drinking or eating there. As we know together that there are many business man who likes spending their lunch time at cafes. So this free wifi becomes an advantage for both sides, customers and the cafe's owners. Good for customers, because they are able to use the facilities for their own sakes. As many business man in batam choose cafes to continue their works while they are having lunch. And good for the owner because there are many customers come to their cafes because of this sevice. There are many cafes that we can find in batam, namely: Bistro Godiva Café (Mega Mall), CoolJuz cafe (BCS), Godiva café (BCS), Godiva Cafe (Nagoya Hill), ICBIC Cafe (Pelita), Van Hollano Cafe, Olala Cafe (Batam center sea port) and many more. For this opportunity I just want to discuss some of them.

If you go to Mega Mall Batam Center, you may find one of famous cafes in batam there. The name of the cafe is Bistro Godiva. This cafe is located at the second floor of the building. If you use the elevator to go to the second floor, just turn right and you need to walk about 15 meters to reach this cafe. This cafe has already have so many members. Based on the data I collect from one of the workers there, there are few hundred members of this cafe. Why should become a member of this cafe? You probably ask me this question. All the members of this cafe will have 20% discount from the total cost they spend. For example, if the total price of your drinks and meals Rp. 200.000, you just need to pay Rp. 160.000, as the Rp. 40.000 is the discount. This 20% discount is aimed for the members only and for non members there is no discount at all. So if you guys always come to this café, I suggest you to register yourself to become a member, so you can save 20% of your total cost anytime you buy something from this cafe. There is another reason why people especially they who like using the wifi service are fond of coming to this café, that is because the connection speed of the wife is very good. If the connection is slow, I am sure many of the customers will leave this cafe.

Another cafe that becomes a favorite cafe in batam is Cool Juz Cafe. This cafe is located at the third floor of Batam City Square’s building in Baloi area. With special menus such as Fried Chicken Wings and fries, Mikkusu Furai Bento, Oxtail Soup, yakitori and bakso, this cafe can attrack many customers to come. This is one of the cafes that offers some Japanese, Korean, and Thailand’s foods in batam. That’s why many foreigners come to this cafe to try the special menus offered by CoolJuz. Besides spoiling the customers with a free wifi, the owner of this cafe also provide 6 desktop pc for the customers to use. The main intention of providing these computers is because the owner of this cafe realizes that not all people or customers who come to his cafe always bring laptop. That’s why for those customers who don’t bring their laptop they are still able to enjoy the facilities by using the desktop pc. Many activities are conducted by the CoolJuz Cafe’s owner and staff to teach the customers or batam people to know the cyber world. One of the activities is BLOG CLINIC thas was held by this café a few months ago. In this event, they taught all the members to build or create a new blog. There were around 20 people joined the competition at that time and the event was quite success. So for all of you who want to try the meal and drinks here, come to this place and I am sure you will like this cafe and will visit this cafe again when you have spare time.

In Short, the free WiFi provided by the owners of the cafe really can attract people to visit their cafes. High Internet connection speed is also being a consideration for the customers in choosing which Wifi they are going to use. The lowest prices and best services also becomes some reasons for the customers to choose which cafe they will visit. So for all of cafe’s owners, if I may give you a suggestion, Besides offering best menus to the customers, if possible please provide high internet connection speed to the customers, and giving them the best prices as well.