All About Your Child

Adults and Kids alike, all of us missed the massages we had during our first Batam Trip. Read blog post here: “Children on Holiday – Batam Day 1 (Part 1)”

Over 100 photos were taken during our 3 days 2 nights trip, so I would not be putting all here, but will upload all over at my Facebook.

Alright, here goes day 1:

11th June 2012

It was a pity that we could not visit Nygoya Hill in the previous trip. This time, our Swiss-BelHotel apartment is very near to the big shopping mall, its only less than 5 mins drive. Whoo Hoo! *clap clap clap*

Don’t get mix up with Swiss-BelInn, which is nearby too. They are both under the Swiss-BelHotel International group and both are in Batam. So their name cards wrote Swiss-BelInn as well, which could be quite confusing. Hhhmmm….

It cost us 855,000 rupiah per night staying in this 2 bedroom apartment in Swiss-BelHotel. About SGD$117.12.

We had a guided tour during our 1st Batam Trip. This time, we decide to go free and easy. We searched for an accommodation on the Internet which has a room big enough for two queen size beds and our search ended with Swiss-BelHotel. Instead of queen size beds, we had KING size beds! *thumbs up*

It is very much like the 3NG type of flat in Singapore. The only difference is, the rooms are much bigger. So this time, Allan finally have a proper bed to sleep in, compared to the last.

Two Bedrooms with King Size Beds, Two Toilets, Living Room with Dining Area and a Kitchen with a rubbish chute. Having the rubbish chute in the apartment makes it so convenient to throw things that will give off bad smell after a night. So that is a super thumbs up, in my opinion.

Toilet 1. Not attached to any bedrooms.

Toilet 2, attached to one of the bedrooms

Swiss-BelHotel is less than 10mins drive from Harbour Bay Terminal in Batam, we paid 40,000 rupiah for the taxi ride from there to our apartment, with our rate of 1:7,300, its about SGD$5.47. After being there twice, we feel that the taxi fares are pretty much the same as Singapore.

The difference is, the taxi in Batam, Indonesia does not run on meter. You need to agree on a price first, before hoping into the taxi.  There are taxi drivers who quoted really high, thinking that we were tourist and unfamiliar with Batam taxi rates.

As we had been to Batam before, we ‘roughly‘ know what is considered a reasonable price. So we are saved from being ‘ka-tok‘.

Bedroom 1: Bedroom with attached Toilet

Bedroom 1 : I forgot to take another shot from another angle, so the wardrobe on the left is not captured.

Bedroom 2 : The bigger Bedroom. Probably because there are no toilets attached to this one.

Bedroom 2

Kitchen

I was hungry when we reached there at 12 plus Indonesia time. Since we could not check in yet, I went to the restaurant for a bite. To my surprise, the waitress told me that I cannot order any other food except this:

Due to the many customers who bought the Groupon deal came on the same day as us, the waitress ASSUMED that we were one of them, so she insisted that I had to take this set lunch meant for the Groupon customers.

It was after my food has arrived and had taken a few bites, then she asked me for the Groupon voucher. *sigh*
Only then did both of us realised that it was a BIG misunderstanding. I did not notice the word ‘Groupon’ on the menu and she did not check if I was a Groupon customer first.

As a result, I had to pay cash SGD$5 for this meal.

Anyhow, the food was nice. So long as it can fill my stomach, I’m fine with the misunderstanding.

My Fruit King gladly helped me finished the whole plate of fruits. *laugh*

After food, we were still not able to check-in, so we went around to explore Swiss-BelHotel and the kids had an opportunity to see how the swimming pool is kept clean:

Think I will stop here for now, be prepared for MORE photos in the next post as we venture Nygoya Hill for the first time. *wink*

I love the nature and I love how the nature teaches kids things that are beyond the encyclopedia. The hands on activities, the creativity at play and the bonding between peers and adults = Priceless!

Girls hiding in the tent brought by my 2nd BIL

My eldest BIL suggested that we should spend today, 3rd June, at the Pasir Ris Park, instead of meeting at his house, which is our usual practice on Sundays.

Boys savouring their granny's cooking

Under the perfect sun, the kids……and playful adults (including me. When my camera phone is off, my playful self is turned on!) had fun with everything at the playground:~

My eldest niece, C.H. loves excitement! So while Allan gave her the HIGHs,

….I gave her the SPEED she desired at the mini flying fox, after Binbin became exhausted from pushing her.

Its a shame that no one captured the moments when I gave her the mighty push and when she returned me the favour later too. So Fun! Thank goodness the rope didn’t break when I was on it. *laugh*

So the only photos captured at this area of Pasir Ris Park was C.H. and Binbin.

All thanks to my 2nd BIL, who rented the 2-seater bicycle for 2 hours. Finally, every kid get to feel some breeze (at last) in the fast ride. The sun was REALLY ‘hard at work’ today! *fanning*

The funniest moment was when Keatkeat chose to be in the front seat and his dad at the rear. They wobbled like crazy down the slope (which was the starting point)! Just like what my 2nd BIL said, “Its a miracle that they didn’t fall!”
From the 5 year old to the 68 year old, everyone had a great laugh!

We moved on to the seaside when it was less glaring, at around 4pm plus:

Though every moment (to me) was precious, there were some that stood out…….

Allan, stayed under the shelter chatting with his parents:

The exciting soccer match, which made the big boys played as hard as the small ones. *giggle*

Keatkeat's expression in this photo is so funny! *laugh*

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE such family gatherings. 3 generations together. Laughing. Playing. Chatting and Bonding. Thank you eldest BIL for the great suggestion!

Moments captured, moments treasured!

Pasir Ris Park : Place for Kids To Play