Batam Info / Interest / Help Thread

[nono1973]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

exactly...70k rupiah and have about 7gb of data...why bother to register...was told Telkomsel pre-reg to sell...

Situation for Batam is like that some months ago. Initially when i 1st started Batam,there is no need for registration for sim card (buy ,insert and use), but recently government wants all sim card registered before use. So end up when i step into,i cant buy some brands of sim card and be ready to be use immediately. (after new law, it becomes buy,insert but cannot use until registered)

So now, with these sim card vendor having pre-registered sim card and selling a little higher than normal price to tourist, tourist need not register the sim card they buy anymore. The government new law becomes a little redundant now.

This still doesnt apply to all brands of sim card as yet tho,meaning NOT all brands of sim card were being pre-registered by vendor.

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

in the past, I will not stop if Police stop me unless is a road block...those days many rented the Police uniform and trying to setup to con money...they will anyhow plant fake evidence...also make sure I dun speed...all my friends told me dun stop and just drive on...I will go down to open booth and closed myself at road block...usually suspicious if the Police request to open booth...

Actually it is really difficult not to speed when driving from Singapore to KL,hehehe...i dont drive there tho but i did rent the service of a Malaysian driver to drive a small group of us to KL many years ago. And he was driving at about 140km to 150km per hour (sometime even above/around 160km/hour),hehehe...

Yes,its a good habit to open and close the car booth personally.

But in Batam,cant possibly to check every wechat girl's bag when we engage their service,right? Which is why i would say wechat girls would be good for short time, but long time can be a bit risky. And especially so when Hari Raya season is close by.

*so far the girls who ask to go to discotheque,quite a big handful of them were drug-user (told to me by taxi drivers i met in Batam).

Originally Posted by deca

Rupiah gaining ground rapidly.

Singapore dollar weaken rapidly against rupiah in about 1 week plus,hehehe...

[Black Page]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

exactly...70k rupiah and have about 7gb of data...why bother to register...was told Telkomsel pre-reg to sell...)

Nobody wants to bother to register, but months ago ANY SIM CARD bought in Batam could not be used EVEN FOR A MINUTE without registration.
Local people can easily register, even by SMS. Foreign people must use their passport, and that can be done, for example for Simpati Telekomsel, ONLY at Grapari points of customer care, spending significant time for queuing etc.

Now, things have been improved, as pre-registered SIM cards are widely sold in Batam, including at the booths at Harbour Bay Arrival. They are a bit more expensive, but can be used immediately after purchase without registration.

There is an experiment that I wanted to try, before finding that pre-registered cards are on sale: try to register a SIM card by SMS, but using random numbers as (NIK, NOKK). It may work, unless the Telekomsel has real-time access to the government data base.

Originally Posted by nono1973

Situation for Batam is like that some months ago. Initially when i 1st started Batam,there is no need for registration for sim card (buy ,insert and use), but recently government wants all sim card registered before use. So end up when i step into,i cant buy some brands of sim card and be ready to be use immediately. (after new law, it becomes buy,insert but cannot use until registered)

So now, with these sim card vendor having pre-registered sim card and selling a little higher than normal price to tourist, tourist need not register the sim card they buy anymore. The government new law becomes a little redundant now.

This still doesnt apply to all brands of sim card as yet tho,meaning NOT all brands of sim card were being pre-registered by vendor.

Exactly, as I explained in my previous post and above.
https://sbf.net.nz/showpo...ostcount=12020

I suggest to go for SIMPATI cards. They are 4G and achieve an excellent data throughput (see my previous post for experiments). I would not save few dollars on the SIM card.

Originally Posted by nono1973

*so far the girls who ask to go to discotheque,quite a big handful of them were drug-user (told to me by taxi drivers i met in Batam).

I suggest to not use taxi drivers are source of information. They are the biggest and grossest bullshit tellers, IMHO, as they want to convince their customer that:
1) they know more than anyone else;
2) that the customer is lost in Batam without their precious help;
3) that Batam is dangerous and they can help to stay out of danger.
Once the customer is convinced of 1), 2), and 3), then the driver may ask high price, the customer will be happy to pay, and even grateful to the driver and to the Destiny for having had such a good luck to meet such a good driver.
In Batam, I simply disregard any offer of help provided by drivers, but I just politely listen to their bullshit.

About discos, unfortunately quite a big number of people there use MDMA drugs and similar substances of dubious quality and source. Therefore, it is likely that any girl who likes to go to disco uses, rarely, sometimes, or often, drugs. Do we need a taxi driver to know that?
However, that is not enough to qualify the girl as thief or dangerous.

I find many of my girls in disco. I am used to filter out all those that request me to buy obat in the first 5 minutes after we start "talking" ("talking" is an overstatement, as my poor bahasa overwhelmeed by the loud music is really not adequate to sustain a real conversation there).
The real reason is not "danger", but that it is not fruitful besides ethically wrong.
After years of extensive experience, I can state that the empirical evidence is that I never got anything interesting from offering obat to a girl in disco. They do not become "hotter", but just dumber. They are out of this world for at least 2 hours, and once back it is not necessarily true that they would be happy to follow me in my room, if not to sleep.

[Milkbread]

I'm about halfway through the whole thread, and it was mentioned that Ocean is closed since last year. Oh well, utama it is. Gonna try my luck to get a ML who gave me such a good GFE during my last visit to Hallo Kitty. Was supposed to meet her but too bad she left for Jakarta.

Just received an email from Aston Batam Hotel with bad news. All their rooms are non smoking. Sigh. Thankfully there is a balcony in their premier rooms. Thinking if I should change a hotel instead.

[nitecrawllerr]

Originally Posted by Black Page

I suggest to not use taxi drivers are source of information. They are the biggest and grossest bullshit tellers, IMHO, as they want to convince their customer that:
1) they know more than anyone else;
2) that the customer is lost in Batam without their precious help;
3) that Batam is dangerous and they can help to stay out of danger.
Once the customer is convinced of 1), 2), and 3), then the driver may ask high price, the customer will be happy to pay, and even grateful to the driver and to the Destiny for having had such a good luck to meet such a good driver.
In Batam, I simply disregard any offer of help provided by drivers, but I just politely listen to their bullshit.

Actually cant really blame those supirs. They earning a living. Those days during the suharto era they even pull ur bags just to close a deal with u. See how desperate they are at the jetty? Behaving like thugs. Been tere done tat. Cant really expect 100% honesty from them either . But now with social media, newbies are very fortunate to get tips and info here. So if need to engage supir then get one just to take u from destination A to B to etc etc. Or if he could recommend a gem, then proceed with it. But of course with eyes wide open.

[deca]

There’s a current flat rate of Rp30k from Harborbay to certain areas in Batam... is Batu Ampar one of these areas?

[nitecrawllerr]

Originally Posted by deca

There’s a current flat rate of Rp30k from Harborbay to certain areas in Batam... is Batu Ampar one of these areas?

Wats tere in Batu Ampar?

[deca]

Originally Posted by nitecrawllerr

Wats tere in Batu Ampar?

Hotel Ibis. And yes, the taxi does serve there for Rp30k according to my friend!

[nono1973]

Originally Posted by deca

... is Batu Ampar one of these areas?

i guess it goes to Bata Ampar...as according to the signage outside Harbour Bay Ferry terminal entrance.

[deca]

Yes, Batu Ampar included. Tks bro Nono. The taxi driver will still try to dig more out of you. First by saying it’s not on the map (to which I said it’s Batu Ampar isn’t it?), then by saying how much was the fare before the taxi stand supervisor called for him (to which I said 30k and this is not the first time I’m taking the cab to Ibis). Total silence throughout the trip thereafter which was how I like it.

[starbuck]

Sorry peers

Thousand apologies, long time no go batam....

Golden question, any place I can pay for one night FL and bring her to my hotel.

Please dont TL if I ask noob quest. peace.

[99546]

Like to ask that any special massage nearby Batam City Hotel? Quite a long time saw post that there is a massage 69 ( should be booking joint ) nearby. Went there but is closed. Any special massage (GQ) to recommend?

[guanglie]

Thanks Bro,
Btw, I'm looking for overnight..

[nono1973]

Originally Posted by deca

Yes, Batu Ampar included. Tks bro Nono. The taxi driver will still try to dig more out of you.

This is not the 1st time those taxi driver at Harbour Bay try "digging" for more (i experienced it myself few times),hehehe...spoil them once,they will shit everywhere and there are solution/s and this is mine.

1st, i dont know where is Batu Ampar,hehehe...or i should say, to my knowledge Batu Ampar is Harbour Bay. So i use this photo from Zest Hotel as a benchmark :

...and if it fail,i use this one :

Notice the phone number on the signage above? Yes...simply dial for a taxi within Harbour Bay. Take note nearly outside every hotel at Harbour Bay has a taxi stand sign that looks something like the above photo.

And if all else fail,here's my 3rd move....i walk back to where i 1st step out Arrival Hall....

...and take a taxi from the new entrance taxi stand. Of course,need to open mouth to ask 1st before jumping into taxi,hehehe...it would still be 30k,i guess...but i would prefer to save 5k rupiah by heading over to Zest Hotel which is roughly about 30 steps away from the taxi stand (in between would be the about-to-open-for-business Marriot Hotel).

Originally Posted by deca

...then by saying how much was the fare before the taxi stand supervisor called for him (to which I said 30k and this is not the first time I’m taking the cab to Ibis). Total silence throughout the trip thereafter which was how I like it.

If it is within Nagoya area, price should be 30k rupiah.

I made a wild guess,i think becos of the recent taxi driver revolting in Harbour Bay due to the frequent usage of online taxi,hence the management came out with this idea of the 30k taxi fare. Let's not forget,people has been complaining about taxi driver charging higher and higher over the last few decades,hehehe...and there are more and more of such complaining people who has over time become smarter.

Note : Most Go Car drivers dont seem to wish to pick up customers from Harbour Bay itself.

[Rihno]

Any Senior going to Batam next week? Hope to tag along to pick up some survival and hunting skills if you dun mind to guide a noobie. Thanks in advance

[milfmilf]

Plan to book Da Vienna by walk in on a monday.
Will the price be higher than agoda or booking.com?