Batam - Field Report Apr 2006

Okay, brief field report from weekend in Batam.

After paying my $30 for return ferry trip and waiting an hour for next ferry, arrived in Batam. Too early from what I gather too. First stop, Lucy’s Oarhouse. Friendly staff (Yumi and Tutti) and Even and Jensen were available for advice and recommendations. They are co-owners I think. Evan told me for cheap accommodation try this place across the road, got a front facing room so I could get a window, Rp 120,000 a night. Largish room, nothing special, TV, bath, sink, double bed. Upstairs from Lucy’s is PP Banana, basically a titty bar with poles, couches, bar, drinks and or course, hot ladies. Can take LT (Rp 300,000) or ST (Rp 200,000) on the premises itself. Jensen can help you out. In fact, recommend getting Jensen to bring you up there to introduce you to the girls.

I realized I arrived in Batam too early. Searching for Jungle Bar and Ice Pub and couldn’t find, until I realized their shutters were down and literally weren’t open, so wandered into the Red Cock which has good food too. Was too early for any girls and I’m told even discos don’t open until 10pm. Went out again a bit later, Jungle Bar had potential, but alas, never realized, went back three times over the night, each time more dead. Ice Pub was good, fun staff, one staff tried to hustle money on games of pool. She wanted best of three, if she lost, she’s come to my room all night at not charge. I knew she must have been good, I told her I didn’t bet on pool. Anyway, should have taken her up, beat her 2-1. I made some pretty arsy shots after a few beers, but she was very good. Both my wins were come from behind. It was time to check out discos. From what I could tell, Ice Pub has staff and FL’s. Staff were better looking and friendlier, which FL’s were stand offish and not so attractive.

Went into Steps bar, which had live music. Big place, good lighting, expensive beer though. Met Olivia who was a “supervisor” there. More men than women there, the two hottest girls there were with two other Caucasian guys better looking than me, couldn’t tell if staff or girlfriends, acted like FL’s, no lip kissing, turn back to guy let him fondle, still, didn’t think they’d leave as they kept buying drinks and not wanting to settle for second best, I left. Despite the customer service and charms of Olivia.

Walked up to Planet, can’t miss the neon sign on the hotel. Entrance to disco round the back. Arrived at about 11pm. VERY disappointing. Not even music, pitch black, few guys hanging around, no girls. Left quickly, not even one beer (which is rare for me).

Now, forgive me if my timeline is getting confusing, drunk way too much beer by this stage (started at about 3pm). Anyway, eventually ended up at Pacific. This place is massive. I tried the “look straight ahead, walk like you belong” strategy, but they made me pay the Rp 25,000 entrance fee, which included a beer anyway, but still it’s the principle. Place is almost pitch black, but massive. Hard to pick attractive women, let alone pick male from female, that’s how dark it is. After talking to a few girls, met one I thought I liked. She was cute, smiled a lot, big flirt and very attractive face (I’d moved nearer to toilets where there was more lighting). I thought I might be able to find better, but too much of a hassle and about 12:30pm by this stage. Took her back to hotel at Nagoya and when I got her inside and she took off her top, I couldn’t believe I missed it, she seriously has 38D-40D size tits. She was a small girl, tight ass, flat stomach, and he tits were real but just didn’t look like they belonged. She wanted to be the ‘starfish’, but I made her get on top and earn her Rp 150,000. She wasn’t that great, pussy quite tight, nothing special, but those tits were something else. I even got to take photos of her, I really wanted to get her pretty face and tits, but she started posing like a porn star, so I got full body shots with legs spread, those huge tits and lovely face.

Next day, went to Blue Moon massage for a Rp 70,000 for 1.5 hour massage. The inevitable came and I got a sub-standard hand job, just lube up and move hand up and down fast as possible. None of the ball caressing, light fingernail touching, nipples sucking, breast rubbing, thigh teasing, tip squeezing I’d come to expect. I tipped her Rp 50,000 which she thought wasn’t enough, but I stuck to that.

Saw on Channel News Asia in morning a Singapore business man found dead in Batam, thought to have been robbed. I heard nothing, saw nothing and I really didn't mind leaving on Saturday and night staying an extra night. Needless to say, don't carry huge wads of cash and stick to well-lit areas in Batam.

Overall, all the bar staff I met were great, friendly, accommodating. Cheap beer, cheap food. Things got going a bit too late for my usual tastes, (usually prefer taking a girl before 11pm, more bed time (2-3 times) and still reasonable amount of sleep and then 1-2 times in the morning before kicking her out.

Overall:
Jungle Bar – like I said, potential not realized, staff great though
Ice Pub – staff good fun, bit cramped inside, but pool table
Red Cock – far as I could tell, only good for food and TV
Lucy’s Oarhouse – Seems like a rester/meeting place, achieves that well though
PP Banana – go there via Lucy’s, sexy girls, no negotiating though, set price
Planet – Can’t be too harsh, perhaps need to visit at another time
Pacific – crowded, loud, dark but plenty of ladies, worth it if take time to find right one.

As said before, S$200 should cover you, depends on how much you drink/eat and what hotel you stay at. S$30 for ferry is standard, as is US$10 for visa, everything else you can determine depending on budget. I think if you get to Batam in afternoon, take a nap and recharge for evening, don’t start to early or you’ll burn out before action really starts.

I am by no means an expert on Batam, these are just my observations, right or wrong.

Enjoy boys.

TRIP REPORT: Batam /Riau islands update
by Batam Bob

July 2003

Batam /Riau islands update

I have been working in Batam for nearly a year now. While the place is no Bangkok, it is well worth a visit if you happen to be passing through Singapore.

But be warned that Batam and the other three Riau island towns where you can find large numbers of lovely Indonesian women, are working towns, not tourist towns. It would be boring to holiday for more that a few days here.

Batam's main town of Nagoya has about 50 karaoke joints but most are hard to find. On day-1 hire an English speaking taxi or 'ojek' (moto) driver for 3 hours to show you the joints. [Always agree on the price first]. Most are fish tank style, which western guys dont like. If you do "book" a girl, your driver will get Rp60,000 to 80,000 ($8-10) commission from the all-night booking fee of Rp280k to Rp350k ($28-40).

For those who are patient, and want more of a GFE, Batam, has thousands of young single women. Try chatting with the shop girls in any of the big stores like Matahari, Robinsons, Galleria. Go when it quiet, find a girl who speaks some English and tell her you want to meet one of her friends after work. You will almost certainly get lined up with someone. Carry a card with your hotel details, as language will be a problem, if you cant speak Indonesian. If you make a date, and the hotel is more than walking distance from the store, pass the girl a twenty thousand Rupiah note and say "for taxi".

It should go without saying that those who are well dressed, polite, funny, charming and generous will have the best chance of good luck with the young ladies. Being old fat and bald (like me) doesn't matter, so long as you have those other attributes.

As a rule, any girl in Batam without a hand-phone is genuinely still innocent. But even so, only believe half of what any of them tell you. Even the innocent ones are motivated by money.

All Indo girls want a (small) hand-phone. And if they have one, they need money to buy "pulsa". So, stored value cards are an ideal gift. There are three GSM networks.

Nagoya has plenty of pubs, bars and places to eat Western food.

The other large Riau islands also have plenty of young women but not much English is spoken and not much Western food, so they are for the more adventurous. These islands are referred to by the names of the main town on each island. All have direct ferry services (many trips per day between 8am and 5pm) from both Batam and Singapore.

Here is a list with the name of island /name of town / name of brothel village / distance of village from town / hrs by ferry from Singapore.. in the order that they are worth visiting ..

Karimun Island / Tanjung Balai / Payar Labu / 14km / 1-1/2hrs
Kundur Island / Tanjung Batu / Batu Tujuh / 7km / 2-1/2hrs
Bintan Island / Tanjung Pinang / Batu Dua Puluh Empat / 24km / 2-1/2hrs

If you have more that a few days to spare, consider making Batam your base and take a side trip to Tj Balai - but only if you are adventurous. Don't here come expecting Bangkok or Pattaya and you should be okay.

Batam Websites:

1] http://nedbatam.com - a site that overviews Batam Island's NED - Nagoya Entertainment District

2] http://getit.at/ppbanana
Indonesia's only gogo bar

3] http://go.to/oarhouse
The pub downstairs from the PP Banana

4] Another new site on Batam nightlife is http://bataminfo.com

5] Batam Nightlife Forum: http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/19627

Bangkoker

Jul 17, 2003

Got stuck in Singapore last Tuesday/ Wed waiting for the client to get his **** together so went wait in Batam. No point hanging out in Sing for two days.

first night, went to PP Banana and met Asi and Sinta - two very charming young ladies who told me that they enjoyed all the same things that I do.

So I booked both of them back to the Melia Panorama. but I had drank so much that I passed and didn't get to service either of them.

Anyway, God bless them, I had left 1000s of $$$ in cash lying around - they didn't touch any of it, so I gave them a big tip and promised to book them for Wed (last) night.

Last night, I stayed sober and took both of them again. Wow! What a busy night.

Well recommend both these girls for fun attitude, good humor and staying as horny as me.

My Batam Trip
by Peter Ma

SPORE TO BATAM: Got to Spore in early pm and took a taxi to the WTC. Penguin ferry to BATU AMPARE and arrived around 6:00PM. Tried to get into Hotel Formosa but no luck, went to Penguin Hotel on edge of city. Lotsa fun in the food court in the rear of the hotel, but no pussy action. Thought about trying to score with the beer girl but was too tired. Next day: Check in at Hotel Formosa (weekend pussy hounds go home). What a great day! Got a great message for 2 hours at about 10 bucks USD. No sex, just a great message. All this from the in house masseuse. Afterwards went up to the fish bowl on the 4th floor for pussy. Checked out an ok chik for 60,000 Rp short-time. OK, but no BJ and just a straight ****. Chik wanted to watch TV so we bonked and I kicked her out. Later that nite went to ALISAN (also on the 4th floo) to the Karaoke joint and did another short time gig in the room. OK, but the chik chain smoked and wanted to watch tv..........Next day: Check in to the Melia. Wanted to try the best joint in town ($75S). Not a bad room (secure safety deposit) and nice digs.. Had a room that looked out toward MEMORY karaoke. Off to MEMORY to check out the merchandise. Place sucked. Smokey and too few chiks (maybe too early). Decided to walk to Queens and Dynasty (back near Formosa). Very smoky but lots of chiks, some good looking. Mr. Happy did get hard so I passed. Walked around Nagoya and over to Hotel Mandarin and the pubs in back.... Nothing doing (too early) so I got another message nearby. This joint in back of Hotel Mandarin. Ok, but this time the chik wanted a 20,000 Rp tip. I told her to **** off and gave her 50,000Rp. Later that nite I went to CROWN Karaoke.......Jackpot!!! Found a sweet lady (spoke some English) and we joked around for about one half hour. Teased her about taking some of the younger stuff (she was about 25) and she proceeds to tell me about the chiks and wants to know if I want her to introduce me..... Finally, I quit ****ing with her and said lets go.... Great move! Bonk, bonk, bonk,..... this lady wouldn't quit. Early in the morning she got me inside without a condom until I freaked. I told her to stop that **** but she would do anything. Next day she wanted to stay the whole day and next nite. I thought about staying another day but needed to get back to San Francisco.... What a **** up, should have stayed and bonked her again for another 24 hours...... Hey dudes, you guys fortunate enough to get that Batam pussy are in paradise. Much cheaper than most anywhere else in the world and with very good service, compared to elsewhere....... Next trip: Bintan and Karimun....... Ciao.....

Batam Trip
by Anonymous

Here is a useful travel-to-Batam FAQ
 

found at - http://www.webcom.com/leongsam/batamfaq.html

Batam FAQ Courtesy of Quint7 and the Gang
BATAM & HOW TO GET THERE

There're as much as 6 or 7 ferry terminals in Batam but the 2 that will lead you to the action is Batu Ampar and Sekupang. Ferries depart daily from World Trade Centre and journey takes about 45-60min for both. Most prefer B.Ampar because of shorter traveling time ( 5-8min ) to Nagoya town where all the action are compare to Sekupang ( 20-25min to town ). But if you just miss the ferry & don't want to wait another hour or want a less
crowded ferry & terminal, you can take the one leaving for Sekupang about 20-30min later.

At WTC u can purchase a 2 ways ticket inclusive of seaport tax btw $20 - $26 just half an hour before departure, give yourself an hour if you're looking for a hotel/ferry package provided by the many tour agency here. Dino & Penguin are the prefer ferry operator here, we each bought a Penguin ticket($26) for the 11:15am ferry, later found there is another counter selling at $23, don’t know why.

Schedule of Penguin Ferry
SG to B.Ampar ( sg time )
0735/0850/0930/1015/1115/1250/1350/1450/1555/1655/1745/1825/1850/1925/ 2000/2045/2130

B.Ampar to SG ( Batam time ; sg:11:15am = btm:10:15am )
0650/0740/0910/1045/1140/1240/1345/1420/1545/1615/1710/1750/1840/1910/ 2010/2050/2130

HOTEL

here're some reasonable ferry/hotel package provide by Penguin:
Novotel / Harmoni - $98
Melia / Mandarin - $95
Royal / Oasis - $85
extension nite : $50-$65
Ask for a few dollars discount if you don't intend to use their bus for pier to hotel transportation.

These are usually available even at last min on a busy Sat, becus most people will not opt for 4-5 stars hotel. I've tried melia, cool! But 1 plate of nasi goreng cost Rp35K !!!

Here're some 3 stars hotel info provided on courtesy of Bionic :

Singa : 0778 - 451919 ( $35 - $40 )
2000 : 0778 - 428483 ( $36 - $48 )
Rashinta : 0778-455888 ( $40 - $50 )

hotel rates are usually cheaper in weekday.

I choose Singa for this trip to cut some cost since we're letting the driver get some commission off our gals, but it surprise me as a pretty decent hotel, swimming pool, bathtub, fridge, big room with a blockbuster movie channel round the clock and a Jap AV channel. I rate it slightly better than our usual Hotel Pelangi at TP. It's better to
book a hotel in advance for weekend if you don't want to pay for a 4-5 stars hotel otherwise in weekday u can always walk in, lots of hotels & rooms, no problem at all.

DRIVER

I choose to use a driver this time because there're 3 of us plus gals total 6, so don't think we want be taking those 4 seater taxis that stink! furthermore we intend to check out a few places, so wanting to skip the usual "taxi ride to nearby hotel, go in take a pee & wait for taxi driver to disappear" stuff. Bionic recommend Osman (hp: 08127005498 ), a Malay chap that speak good English ! Overall we find his service good, his hand-phone always on to standby for us to call him should we run into any trouble, and he is very punctual! We arrive at B.Ampar around 11:15am Indo time and spotted him rite away, how smart for him to put on a bright red shirt holding a banner with my name written clearly on it.

For first timer or people who are not familiar with Batam, I strongly suggest u took one recommend by a friend, not just anyone from the arrival hall. If you're in a group, better still since you're giving him more commission to earn, just gave him anything and he will also accept. For my practice, how much you tip him depends on how much we use him & how much commission we let him earn. If just pier-gal-hotel, hotel-pier, he will also accept nothing for a group of 4 will already earn him 200K in gals' commission. But if you had him stay with you late into the night for disco/pubbing, be a bit generous lah. Be warned that some driver will also get commission from the money changer, restaurant, pub etc he bring you too.

I find most people choose not to use one, I respect their decision. Everyone spend their time there differently, so long you know how to get around safely, do what pleases you most. We're glad to have one this time as it rain heavily while we hop from joint to joint looking for our gals.

TRANSPORT & GETTING AROUND

Those 4-5 stars hotel cum ferry package usually provide free pick-up from pier with bus. If you don't like to share a vehicle with others, ask them to send a driver to pick u up. They are usually in uniform and can be easily recognized, they will also not pester you to pick a gal or go anywhere u don't want to. But the hotel will charge you about Rp20K
for pick-up at B.Ampar & Rp30K for Sekupang. There will be a lot of driver trying to pick you up outside the arrival hall, advice is don't choose from these, chances are you'll be press to choose a gal from joint that pay them higher commission or get rob. Walk outside & took a taxi to your hotel if you must. Be warn that some 3 stars or below hotel
do not have their vehicle & so might just ask a taxi off the street to pick you up.

The lau-jiao will usually book a hotel close to their favorite joint, so that after checking into the hotel, they can just walk to the joint to pick up a gal at Rp50K price lower. Or take a taxi to a nearby hotel close to the joint then walk in after the taxi disappear. I've done these too but if you're in the mood to go hunting from joint to joint, I'll either take a personal driver or one provided by the hotel.

Getting around is pretty easy if u don't have a personal driver. Taxis are available everywhere, walk out of the hotel & you can flag down one anytime. Travel anywhere within the town & to B.Ampar pier should cost you no more than Rp10K, ask the price first. You can also try bargaining hard to pay 5K if this is your cup of tea.

GALS

We check into the hotel first then went for lunch since most joint only open after 11/12noon indo time. We also do some shopping for necessities like condom/drinks/ciggi before we start our hunt at around 1pm. Here's the joint we checked out:

1) Sensasi ( I picked my gal #63 for Rp270K, saw a few chio one around but were all reserve, also saw a young pretty Chinese look-a-like that I might want to try on next trip, #20 and same price, mamasan said only arrive 4 days ago so dunno service good anot )
2) Legenda ( very dark , difficult to choose gal )
3 ) Crown ( horny-man pick his gal here at Rp260K )
4 ) Bovo ( classy place but ave gal is only so-so looking, the price here all **** up, good looker goin for Rp360, one PR going for 800K, **** gold better )
5 ) Titanic ( GreyK finally picked his gal #169 for Rp250K here )

we actually took 2 hours for gals sight-seeing, no real stunner encounter, maybe next trip we should start like this : Orkid, Queen, Dynasty, Alisan . Most joint are equip with KTV facility so u can actually ask a gal to sit with ya, tok cock, sing a song before u decide
to book her but drinks are not cheap. Typical price for a gal's booking range from Rp250K - Rp280K (with commission).

MISC INFO

The Nagoya downtown area is very compact, if I stay in an hotel there, usually I'll walk out of the hotel to get cheap food/drinks/snacks etc. Lots of local eating place around, just avoid side alley & be streetwise. A few eating place popular with Singaporean are:

A1 , Oki , Oke : like our newton circle hawker centre, I like it here. A meal of fish,prawn,veggi and tahu for 7 person cost only Rp145K plus another Rp50K for drinks.
Golden Prawn : a live seafood restaurant by the river, Kelong style.
Batam Kuring : Indonesian restaurant, cheap!

Over dinner at A1, we discuss what to do next, the gal as usual suggest going to disco like Planet / Ozone to pop some pills. But we're all thinking of arranging for a short time for tomorrow morning before we went back, later give up the idea as most gals will only be back quite late so too rush. Finally we went to Sensasi KTV as recommend by my gal,
there’re some singer there to kept you entertain until later at night where a fat guy & a sexy gal put up a dance show, stuff 10K into an Ang-Pao & flash it, the gal will come & lap you up before you slide it into her crotch. Total bill for the KTV session come up to Rp270K.

GETTIN BACK

There're ticket counters inside B. Ampar & Sekupang ferry terminals so you can always confirm at last min, just be there 30min before departure, there's a ferry leaving almost every hour. Your return ticket should be able to last 30 days and is usable at both B.Ampar & Sekupang (some said Waterfront city also can). I prefer to go to Sekupang if I'm coming back on Sunday to avoid the weekend crowd at B. Ampar, Rp15K is
enough for you to take a taxi from town to Sekupang.

SPENDING

There’re many variable cost here, it all depends on how you want to spend your money, like other Riau islands, $200 should be enough for most. The cheaper (nearer) ferry ticket will offset the more expensive gals, other spending is the same, you want comfort, u pay more. Batam is not more expensive than other Riau islands, but got more places to spend your money.

here's my spending for this trip with exchange rate at $1 = Rp5K :

ferry : $26 ( penguin )
hotel : $35 ( weekday rate at singa )
gal : $54 + $20 ( Rp270K + Rp100K tips with driver commission )
lunch : $ 4 ( Rp20K - bah kue teh at coffee shop )
snack : $10 ( Rp50K - room service in hotel )
dinner: $14 ( Rp70K - seafood at A1 )
KTV : $20 ( Rp90K + Rp10K tips )
super : $ 5 ( Rp25K - room service in hotel )
driver: $14 ( Rp70K - tips )
ciggi : $ 4 ( Rp20K for 4 packs of luckies )
condom: $ 4 ( Rp20K for a pack of 12s )
drinks: $ 4 ( Rp20K - bought in supermarket )

TOTAL : $214

Hotels in Batam, Indonesia