Batam Info / Interest / Help Thread

[Kaboon]

Originally Posted by hawkeye007

Coincidentally, I just had a one-day staycation with my family at Planet Holiday Hotel yesterday, checked out this afternoon.

Room Type: Deluxe Room
Price: S$81 inclusive of 2 breakfast, booked via Hotels.com (Kaha's pricing was 780k, so I went for Hotels.com rate to earn points)

A well written review on Planet Holiday hotel.

May i ask if $81 rm from hotel.com is w tax inclusive or without?

Thx

[hawkeye007]

Originally Posted by Kaboon

A well written review on Planet Holiday hotel.

May i ask if $81 rm from hotel.com is w tax inclusive or without?

Thx

It was inclusive of taxes... $67++, nett was just under $81.

There was a cheaper rate of $58++ ($71 nett) but it was without breakfast, so it made sense to pay an additional 10 bucks for the breakfast.

Kaha's rate of 780k also includes breakfast.

[nono1973]

There's going to be a Mooncake Festival celebration event at the Windsor Tua Pek Kong from tonight in Batam with Games, Bazaar, Performing art, Lucky draw etc :

Coupons available in :

May all have a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival 2016.

______________________________

More on the history and development of the Chinese Mid Autumn Festival.

Stories of 3 Origins
Sacrificing to the Moon, Parties at Night, and Eating Mooncakes

Sacrificing to the Moon — Earliest Origins of Ancient Worship

Ancient Chinese emperors worshiped the harvest moon on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunar calendar, as they believed that the practice would bring them a plentiful harvest the following year.

The custom of offering sacrifices to the moon originated from worshiping the moon goddess, and it was recorded that kings offered sacrifices to the moon in fall during the Western Zhou Dynasty (1045–770 BC).

The sacrificial offerings include apples, plums, grapes, and incense, but mooncakes and watermelons (pomelos in the south) are essential. The watermelon's (or pomelo's) skin is sometimes sliced and opened up into a lotus shape when offered as a sacrifice.

Appreciating the Moon — Harvest Moon Feasts at Night Established

Appreciating the moon has been a traditional custom since the Tang Dynasty. Not just the rich merchants and officials, but also the common citizens, began appreciating the moon together during that time.

The rich merchants and officials held big parties in their large courts. They drank and appreciated the bright moon. Music and dances were also indispensable. The common citizens just prayed to the moon for a good harvest.

Eating Mooncakes at Mid-Autumn — It Began 650 Years Ago

The tradition of eating mooncakes during the festival began in the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368), a dynasty ruled by the Mongols.

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Han people's resistance wanted to overthrow the rule of the Mongols, so they planned an uprising together. But they had no way to inform other Han people who wanted to join them of the time of the uprising without being discovered by the Mongols.

The military counselor of the Han people's resistance army, Liu Bowen, thought out a stratagem related to mooncakes. Liu Bowen asked his soldiers to write "uprising on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival" on slips of paper, put them in mooncakes, and then sell them to the other Han people.

When the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival came, a huge uprising broke out and the Han people succeeded.

From then on, people ate mooncakes every Mid-Autumn Festival to commemorate the uprising (although this is little-remembered today).

___________________________


3 Interesting Mid-Autumn Festival Stories

1. Chang'e and Hou Yi — Love Story of a Beautiful Lady and a Hero

Long, long ago, there were 10 suns in the sky. The suns burnt all the plants on Earth. People were dying.

One day, Hou Yi used his bow and arrows to shoot down nine of them. All the people on Earth were saved.

The Queen Mother of the West gave Hou Yi a bottle of elixir that could make him immortal. But the elixir was only for one person. Although Hou Yi did want to become immortal, he wanted to stay with Chang'e more. Therefore, he didn't drink the elixir and asked Chang'e to keep it safe for him.

Hou Yi became more and more famous after he shot down the nine suns. People wanted him to be their master and most of them were accepted by Hou Yi.

Not every student of Hou Yi had good morality. Pang Meng, one such student, wanted to seize his elixir.

One day, Hou Yi went hunting with his students, but Pang Meng pretended to be ill and stay at home. After making sure Hou Yi had gone, he went to Hou Yi's house and tried to force Chang'e to give him the elixir. Chang'e knew she couldn't defeat Pang Meng, so she drank the elixir immediately.

The elixir made her fly higher and higher. In the end, she stopped on the moon. She became immortal.

Hou Yi was very sad when he received the news. He came back home and moved a table under the moon, preparing some food on it. He hoped Chang'e could come back to stay with him.

Since then, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, people have offered lots of food to worship the moon.

Children Still Believe That a Beautiful Lady Lives on the Moon

Most children in China believe that Chang'e is still living on the moon. And on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, when the moon is bright, children try their best to find the shape of Chang'e on the moon.

2. Wu Gang Chopping the Cherry Bay — He Could Never Cut It Down

Wu Gang was an ordinary person who wanted to become immortal but didn't work very hard, and he never tried his best to learn the necessary.

The Emperor of Heaven got angry with him because of his attitude. In order to punish him, the Emperor of Heaven planted a huge cherry bay tree, which was 1,665 meters (5,460 feet) high, on the moon and ordered Wu Gang to cut it down. If Wu Gang could cut it down, he could become immortal.

This time, Wu Gang was very serious and worked hard on chopping down the tree. But you know what? He could never finish his work because the cherry bay was healed every time that Wu Gang chopped it.

Wu Gang wouldn't give up. He tried time and time again, and is still trying now. On clear nights, people can see an obvious shadow on the moon. This is made by the huge cherry bay.

3. The Jade Rabbit — Self-Sacrifice Rewarded

There are three animals living in a forest: a fox, a rabbit, and a monkey.

One day, the Emperor of Heaven wanted to test the animals' virtues. So he came to Earth and changed his appearance to that of an old man.

He said, "I heard that you three are good friends, so I came a long way to meet you. Now I am very hungry. What will you offer me?"

"Please wait here. We will come back with food soon." Then the three animals went their separate ways to find food.

The fox caught a fish in a river; the monkey got fruit in the forest; but the rabbit got nothing and came back with nothing.

The old man said, "It seems that you three are not united and work alone. You two kept your promise and brought back food. But the rabbit hasn't brought back anything."

The rabbit felt very sorry. "Please help me to get some firewood. I want to cook some food for him," she said to the fox and monkey.

After they set the firewood on the fire, the rabbit said, "Sorry I didn't fulfill my promise. But I can give myself to you. Eat me, please!" and the rabbit jumped into the fire.

The Emperor of Heaven was deeply moved by the rabbit. He picked up the rabbit's bones and said, "I was so touched. To honor her, I will let her go to the Moon Palace, so that people can see her forever."

[Black Page]

Originally Posted by tomcat007

With the abundance of choices in Batam nowadays, my staying power with cewek shrunk from 10 months to max 1 week. Lol

Still way too much for one (e.g., me) who can stay in Batam only one week, and once in a while.

[xircon]

Can anyone advise on sexy hairdresser at salon and foot reflexology?
Gong for hunting this weekend..

[tomcat007]

Originally Posted by Black Page

Still way too much for one (e.g., me) who can stay in Batam only one week, and once in a while.

Lol. My 1 week actually refers to 1 weekend, since by the next weekend, it's another new girl...

[Black Page]

Originally Posted by xircon

Can anyone advise on sexy hairdresser at salon and foot reflexology?
Gong for hunting this weekend..

I know one who is very good, but he's gay...

[xircon]

Anyone can advise on a good KTV for hunting ground? Any takeaway for 1.5 juta? Still planning 24 hours before departure

[KohOnly21]

Originally Posted by xircon

Anyone can advise on a good KTV for hunting ground? Any takeaway for 1.5 juta? Still planning 24 hours before departure

Most Ktv joint are going for 1.5 juta +/- for takeaways.

However, it can be tricky as they are supposed to remove the sitting fee of your girl from the bill if you decided to takeaway and sometime they still charge you anyway.

Usually only 20-40% of the girls in KTV do overnight, 50-75% do short time, the remaining do not do any booking.

Personally i feel booking of KTV girls overnight are not wise as usually you only leave the KTV after 1 am and these girls usually stays with you until 5-11 am. Do remember the price above exclude tipping (standard as in most will give min 50k for taxi)


Btw, anyone know if L Hotel spa open already? If yes, how is the quality of girls there?

Anyone going Batam tonight?

New Hotel, look very impressive especially the swimming pool.

https://www.agoda.com/en-sg/radisson...a-377c5e86db50

[nono1973]

Originally Posted by KohOnly21

Btw, anyone know if L Hotel spa open already? If yes, how is the quality of girls there?

I believe you mean Enter Spa. Yes,its open but on/off basis. Meaning happy they open,not happy they just close.

I have been there at least 6 times,most recent one being on 4th Sept 2016 whereby they were closed in an early noon (about 1pm Batam time). Other times when I was there when they were opened,but no massage girls (yet) and there was once in accordance to one of my 28th Batam trip where 2 guys were trying to catch some micro-organism in the pool (sea monkeys look-alike,hehehe...).

Photo taken when I was there

Hope that helps a little.

Originally Posted by KohOnly21

New Hotel, look very impressive especially the swimming pool.

https://www.agoda.com/en-sg/radisson...a-377c5e86db50

Its at Batam Center and meant mostly for golfers. Nice hotel,too bad its not around Nagoya area. May be good for bros "playing" around Batam center area.

Originally Posted by nono1973

More and more new hotels already in Batam,bro. Like Eatern Hotel,Sahid Batam center hotel,Sky Inn Express,Raddison etc,but none really caught my attention except a bare few. And everyone of them seems to be cater for a different type of tourists landing in different places of Batam,hehehe...and there will also be refurbish hotels that is going to bring back good old memories too.

At least the new Eatern hotel is near to Eatern food court near penuin but their rooms really cant make it to my expectation, hehehe...a small suggestion,you may wish to give the new Harbour Hotel within Harbour Bay a shot if you do not mind not having a swimming pool.

[KohOnly21]

Originally Posted by nono1973

I have been there at least 6 times

You visited 6 times?

Any particular reason??

[nono1973]

Originally Posted by KohOnly21

You visited 6 times?

Any particular reason??

6 times over a period of different months for over half a year period isn't a lot when each time I was just passing by and it took me about 5 mins time of my trip to walk in to look see. Moreover, I wanted to try that place out becos Batam mainly has ONLY 4 decent men's spa (Octopuss,Altalanta,Pas and Delta) after Newton Spa and Trinity Spa closes down some time ago, and I was really hopeful that this one will be able to make it to the rank ,but each time its either not ready or no massage girls ;and the most recently time I went on Sept ,its totally closed. (they were still looking for massage girls tho) Today, even their main website is down, hehehe...

I also have the habit of dwelling in a particular place enough before either singing its praises or condemning it.

Maybe you can help me check it out if there are more reason/s behind it becos as you know,i don't speak bahasa,so my communication with them could be a bit messed up when i talk to the hotel receptionist in English. (no obligation, and only at your convenient time please)

Thank you.

Please do not believe totally the promotion poster below :
(always double check personally with the staffs there)

[KohOnly21]

Originally Posted by nono1973

Please do not believe totally the promotion poster below :
(always double check personally with the staffs there)

If the price stated is not inclusive of hj, it's really expensive.

Sure i will check it out if i have time.

[iicycold]

Originally Posted by nono1973

Next upcoming of my intro-hotel-write-out would be even better,hehehe...i already finish writing it but i wont be posting out so soon yet becos there isnt any name to that so-call-hotel. Well,its actually a 2 storey bungalow chalet with 2 rooms ,both with queen/king size bed near Nagoya Hill Mall around Spa Secret area there and its costing about S$104 to S$135 a night (or around that pricing).

I tink i might knw which 1 u refering to. Nice pl.

Originally Posted by tomcat007

I ever took before the 1.2 juta type kos. Got Aircon and water heater, but TV a bit lousy. Livable lah. But, ya, hotel have the benefit of having room cleaning.. Location just behind Harmoni Hotel, so I'd not some ulu place. Mine is 5 years ago pricing though.

Oh,got water-heater & aircon,i tht kos is share common toilet kind. Tink abt it also a bit scare scare.

[KohOnly21]

Originally Posted by iicycold

I tink i might knw which 1 u refering to. Nice pl.



Oh,got water-heater & aircon,i tht kos is share common toilet kind. Tink abt it also a bit scare scare.

A kost is usually a divided cubicle kind of space with a premises.

It's a 1 room 1 toilet type similar to studio apartment but much more small. It is consider packed after you put a queen size bed, wardrobe and a TV. Toilet is around 2 footsteps big. It cost around 800-1.5 juta a room in nagoya/jodoh/utama/peniun area. It can also cost as low as 500k a month in btm center / nongsa/ sekupang / batu aji area. Kost are not really safe as you'll be living with different kinds of people. Most common tenent are those single mum with their children and her elderly mother or aunt. These kost often had shortage of water, short circuit of electricity and leaking of water during rain.

I had a honor in the past of staying a night or two with a wl and her 3 years old son in her kost at happy garden (behind top100 peniun). It was really an experience to me. Within the premises , there are roughly 8 others family/individual who are staring at me with unfriendly look.
I would been doomed (as in sucked dry in my pocket) if anyone of them decided to report to the area chief / head or religious group. As it's prohibited to be in the same room with a women alone who is not your wife especially at night.

Anyway that's me 2/3 years ago, young and ignorant. Btw I'm still young now okay.