Quote:
Originally Posted by blursam
Go after that....maybe 3 July onwards....
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Once again, to the benefit of all non-Muslim readers who don't know when Ramadan is coming and what that implies in Batam.
In Batam the police enforces (Batam is unpredictable, but this is the norm) total closure of all entertainment, including KTV, pubs, discos, on the first 3, middle 3, final 3 days of Ramadan. Those are definitely don't-go days, unless you have some friend there to meet without needing music, dance, etc.
Ramadan 2014 in Indonesia
is expected to begin on Saturday 28 June and end on 28 July. I write "
is expected " because the actual date depend on when the moon is seen by some religious authority. Thus, +/- 1 day could apply.
If I count well on my calendar, that days would be 27-28-29-30 June (one day added for the uncertainty), then 14-15-16-17 July, then 27-28-29-30 July. Consider that the whole week around the end of Ramadan is the week where everyone leaves the work place to go back to original home to meet family.
If in doubt, calling directly the pub or the Newton/Pacific hotels to ask "will you be open tonight?" or even "are you open NOW?"
may be useless. Beware of that.
I did it last year: I called Harmoni to ask "Is NoName open?", the reception called someone and replied me back "no, the pub is closed".
Later, when I passed by at 1am, I was horrified by seeing a line of sexy girls in miniskirt and high heels leaving the pub, because the pub was indeed OPEN that night, but it just closed earlier.
I missed the highlight of my holidays in Batam (Saturday night in NoName), just because I trusted that idiot at the reception of Harmoni.
