Sunday, August 29, 2010

Harris Batam Resort

Woohoo finally it's the day! The plan for a short getaway is finally here. Teddie and Pinkie are going to Batam!

Boarded the 12.10pm Jet Flyte 2 ferry. The whole journey took about 1hr 20min. As Indonesia time is 1 hour slower, we reached Waterfront City Terminal at around 12.30pm(Indonesia time), which is 1.30pm(SG time).

A man in Harris uniform waited there for us and we boarded their shuttle bus to Harris Resort which we will be staying over at. It was just nearby the terminal, about 3min journey haha.

As we arrived, the Harris team warmly welcomed us with drinks and cold towel. The normal check in time for the hotel is usually 2pm, however as long the rooms are ready, we can get to check in earlier. They upgraded our Harris room to Cabana room for our honeymoon package hence we were quite curious to know the differences. Well, the hotel is distributed into 3 different wings, the Funky wing (8 yrs old), the Trendy Wing(8mths old) and the Cabana(Resort type). 

Compared to the first 2, Cabana's room is more spacious and special. It's also nearer to the beach area, with a private backyard, however one problem of it is that as it's located near to the trees and water, there might be mosquitoes. Luckily for me, I didn't get bitten, for Teddie, he got 2 kisses from them. Baygon insecticide is also provided just in case. They also installed mosquito net around the bed and you can let it down anytime. Don't know why, I find it rather nice looking with that haha.

Cabana is located at another end and luckily a friendly Harris uncle offered to bring us there if not I'm sure we will lose our way.

As our package only provide free breakfast and dinner, we got to settle the lunch ourselves. We strolled around, the only available eatery are one Korean-Jap restaurant and Harris cafe. We chose the latter one. initially we wanted to try their lunch buffet which costs S$17/pax but as they showed us around, we notice that the food are very limited and partially emptied. That doesn't look too appetizing. Hence, we end up ordering ala-carte instead. We had Pasta, seafood chowder and complimentary Keropok. Wow, their seafood chowder is really nice, it's filled with the sweetness and freshness of the seafood but yet not so salty, with a special kind of pepper sprinkled on it makes it more delicious.

After our lunch, we carried our bloated tummy to explore the places. I tried to take snapshots of every corner while Teddie just roamed around senselessly before heading back to our room to rest awhile before our spa session at 4pm.

Their spa is located at the recreational building near Cabana and Trendy Wing. It was known as H Spa. I noticed they named lots of their location as H 'something'. The weather is quite warm and we were perspiring before the spa session. We got the couple spa room and it was located outdoor with curtains around. The duration for the Indonesian massage is around 1 hour while the Herbal bath is 30min. Overall the spa was quite normal, nothing special to comment about, except for their warm service.

After the spa we headed back to bath and prepare for our candlelight dinner hehe. Teddie was kinda hungry by then. At around 6.30pm (Indo time), we went to Harris Cafe for dinner and they let us choose upon BBQ Buffet or Menu Set. We chose BBQ one as it was special and more worthwhile. They placed us at the poolside where the pool was around 2m deep. I warned Teddie not to make me angry in case one kick from me will send him down the pool since it was so near! Hahaha...

The varieties of the dinner buffet were also quite limited, however at least there are some favourites dishes such as BBQ prawns, crabs, lamb chops, baked potato, lasagna etc. There were also 1 glass of red/white wine complimentary each. Although we sat at outdoor, the place is quite cooling. The live singing performance make the place very lively and vibrant. With the dimmed candlelight and the scenery by the poolside, it was indeed quite romantic too. Overall, we really enjoyed the dinner session.

After the dinner, we went to buy snacks, it wasn't cheap at all but we were afraid that we might get hungry during the night. After strolling around and enjoying the night breeze, we ended the day and headed back to our room.

The next morning, it was raining. We woke up at around 9am and headed to Harris Cafe again for their breakfast buffet. Teddie ate 4 eggs! That was really heavy. There were omelettes, sunny side up, sausage, pancake, porridge etc. We then went back to hotel to pack up and prepare for checkout at 12pm. Our ferry is at 2.10pm and it took 2 hrs plus to reach SG, omg, I wonder why it took so long.

Time really flies, so our short trip ended and we really enjoyed ourselves. Harris resort is quite valued for $ with the things that is included in the package. I would recommended a stay for 2 days 1 night and if you wish to head down to Nygoya town, go in the morning so at least will have more time to shop. They have shuttle bus for pick and drop at certain timings.

Many packages to choose from their website: http://www.harris-batam.com/

Cheers!


More photos can be found at my facebook :P

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Thursday, August 19, 2010

Astons @ Suntec City

The price at Astons is really reasonable, we ordered 2 set of their Prime Sirloin steak with baked potato and garden vege as side dishes. Teddie got himself IBC root beer while I had homemake lemon tea. We also ordered additional soup - cream of mushroom which comes with 2 garlic breads. It was a total of $31.20 only as they do not have service charge.

The portion was normal but considered quite generous in term of the steak size and qty of side dishes. The steak was tasty and chewy, not perfectly tender but juicy enough. The baked potato was the next best part, big scoop of butter melted inside the potato which makes it extra tasty! One problem is that we had to wait for quite awhile for the food to be served and we were quite hungry haha.

Overall it was a very nice and valued for money dinner and we really enjoyed every bit of it.
3 Temasek Boulevard #B1-043/044
Suntec City Mall
Tel : 6884 8816
1130-2200hrs (Opens Daily)


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Friday, August 13, 2010

Da Dong Restaurant

It was Grandpa's birthday so big aunt booked this Cantonese cuisine restaurant - Da Dong which is situated at Chinatown smith street. It has been there for quite sometime and normally tourists who visit that area will definitely get attracted to their big signboard and try the food.

The appearance of each dishes are presentable, but as compared to few years back, I would say the taste of their standard does dropped a little. Or probably my aunt has requested for lesser salt/sugar for healthier choice? Haha I'm not too sure. Overall, I like their roasted pig, very crispy skin and tender meat, couldn't resist taking more haha..

Another dish I preferably like is the fish maw. It was springy, easy to chew and quite tasty. A healthy dish with mushroom and vegetables accompany. Not to forget, the mango sago pomelo dessert! It was one of my top favourite desserts. Sweetness of the mango blends with the bitterness of pomelo.. splendid always :)

Grandpa got 2 cakes this year! It was a cheese cake and fruit cake from Mache. Taste good but I couldn't finish as I was too full. 

Well, I just wanna thanks everyone for being so patient with me to take the photo of the food before consumption haha... :P

39 Smith Street, 058952
Tel: 6221 3822

Open Mon-Sat 9am-6pm



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