Batam Info / Interest / Help Thread

[Humlea]

Originally Posted by newyorker88

Almost anywhere you can buy sim card lah.

Where's the LIKE button?

[devilchan78]

Originally Posted by devilchan78

Did any kind bro here upped my points without leaving his nick.

Batam Info / Interest /...24-02-2016 10:37 PM4792 to 4795

Thank you.

Pls pm me so that I can return the favour.

Some bro return me with a zap

Batam Info / Interest /...25-02-2016 02:36 AMreturned the favour

[nono1973]

Originally Posted by Humlea

LOL... I haven't even started my virgin trip to batam yet... still learning and researching from Nono's guide... tomolo go there and check out the place... any fellow cheongster going tomolo?

All key points of my Batam Beginner's guide is here :

https://sammy.services/showpost.p...ostcount=32897

Follow it and you should not go too wrong. If something goes wrong,then maybe pay a visit to Tua Pek Kong to get some "flower water" to bathe,hehehe... *joking only*

The information posted on the above given link is updated as below :

_____________________________

Originally Posted by Nono1973

Going to Batam is like going to Sentosa in Sillypore. The main difference is you need a passport. You do not even need to understand their language. Most people there will be able understand simple English.

Below are some basics :

1. Stay in Formosa Hotel,which will be use as your HQ for your group. Its a hotel with nearly all you are asking for under one roof,eg Massage,KTV,overnight booking girls,provision shop etc.

2. You likely reach Batam before noon,get yourself to the hotel and checked in,rest up a bit and then look for taxi driver for 2D1N from either the bellboy of the hotel,the receptionist or just step outside hotel to ask around. Price around.3 person share should not cost you more than 150k per pax. (dont forget to tip 10k-20k for those you ask help from)

* the reason why I am looking for 2D1N taxi driver when you are staying 3D2N: It is becos you can bring down the price lower when you tell the driver you extend another night later on. Its your bargaining chips.

3. As a beginner,do not be too ambitious. Aim for just 3 of the safest booking joints for overnight girl which you can ask taxi driver bring you there or simply walk there if you have the courage. Locations and maps are on my signature.

a. Gold Bird (nearby Lai Lai Hotel)

b. New Berry (opp Hana Hotel)

c. Bunga Massage (directly behind DC mall)

Dont hold too high expectation,be humble, courteous and dont show off.These are my keys to enjoy Batam. Drop whatever expectation you have by half before you touch down Batam.

4. KTV which usually opens around 7pm is just at the 4th floor of Formosa Hotel. Be reminded that you already have a booking girl when in a KTV for your 1st night,so you might want to save your 2nd night to grab a higher priced overnight girls from KTVs. You decide.

5. Massage is also at the same floor as the KTV in Formosa Hotel. You need to bargain down the price for Kings massage on the same floor on special service or get ready to be chopped. They opened till 1am. (if i dont remember wrong)

6. Walk across the street from Formosa Hotel is another 2 more massage shops,Linda Massage and Relax Massage. at 70k to 80k per hour,i believe its still worth exploring. (1 min walk,Relax is known to be clean,Linda is not)

7. Directly behind Relax Massage is the popular Indo Rasa Massage (not clean) on the 2nd floor. 1st floor is Indo Rasa Food Court where you can eat till you drop during day time and early evening.

8. Step outside Formosa Hotel front door,turn right and walk straight is Lucky Plaza. In between Lucky Plaza and Formosa Hotel is a small road. Raise your head up and you will see Nagoya Hill Mall. 10 mins walk there if you dare.

9. Once you can walk to Nagoya Hill Mall and back,there will be no place within Nagoya area you cannot go by foot. Start roaming around the Mall (inside and outside),it can easily burn your whole day off. Almost everywhere within a radius of 500m of this mall could be a trap for tourists. A Batam newbie's shopping paradise.

10. Pace are slower in Batam,do not plan too much schedule on your itinerary in one single day.

Key things from my signature you need to know :

1. 1 of the main link on my signature that holds some most important links with infos :

https://sammy.services/showpost.p...ostcount=29580

2. How to pick the right girl in overnight booking joint :

https://sammy.services/showpo...ostcount=32592

3. How to search for what you are looking for in this thread :

https://sammy.services/showpo...ostcount=27197

4. The latest Batam Cheong List updated on Oct 2015 :

https://sammy.services/showpo...ostcount=32873

5. Useful maps of Batam :

https://sammy.services/showpo...ostcount=30020

6. Tipping Table for overnight booking joint girls :

https://sammy.services/showpost.p...ostcount=30015

7. Additional Information if you think you wish to know more :

https://sammy.services/showpo...ostcount=29580

Above links are mostly taken from my signature links. It has helped me and hope it can help you too.

Always bargain down the price BUT do not bargain until your mood is spoilt.If price isnt right,just smile and walk off or simply politely turn down the offer. Its Indonesia's business culture to mark up a higher price for one to bring it down. How low you can bring the price down depends on your capability to bargain. Put it in another way of saying,how much you choose to get chop carrot also depends on how well you bargain.

Once you are in Batam,get yourself linked with the in-room free wifi to get on to SBF,feel free to ask questions if you have any emergency need. Just avoid stupid questions and have some patience to wait for a reply (Myself and some Batam bros are usually online,most don’t like to answer repeated questions tho). I will try to lead you to the answers.

Sample of my past itineraries for your reference to help you plan your trip :

https://sammy.services/showpo...ostcount=30110

https://sammy.services/showpo...ostcount=31326

https://sammy.services/showpo...ostcount=32162

You can always mix and match your own planned itinerary,no need to 100% stick to what you originally plan. There is always next trip,next next trip,next next next trip to Batam (and so on). Most importantly, you need to find out what you and your friends enjoy most.

Hope my reply helps.

Enjoy!

Add-on : Booking joint near Formosa Hotel were Happy 8 and New Berry. About 10 to 15 mins walk for those who arent sure on direction. (start slow)

Please note the reason why i am quoting my above own post (it is not my whole post) is becos some of the links were broken due to the Administrator/s (not done by a Mod) of the forum removing certain posts in the previous old thread making some links going "not right". I dont wish to mis-direct, so i am rewriting it here again by copying and pasting the previous old post written by me previously with some amendment as some form of update. I have fixed the broken link.

I call this as an enhancement of my Batam beginner's guide,hehehe...

Latest 180 degree-look just outside of Formosa Hotel :

https://sammy.services/showpost.p...&postcount=363

1st 2 pics above show the right side of Formosa. Follow by middle (direct opposite the hotel) and then left side of Formosa hotel from main entrance. Pics were taken from 4th floor of the hotel.

Originally Posted by Humlea

Btw, where should I buy a simcard? at harbourbay or around formosa?

Both places sells them. Beside Formosa Hotel is Lucky Plaza where sim card seller can be obviously seen. I dont use an indo sim card when i 1st started Batam,so i dont have info on this in my beginner's guide. Hotels has free wifi.

Originally Posted by Humlea

Is there a preference for telco and packages? I only need data.

Check with the shopkeeper. Most speaks some form of broken English,Chinese or dialects. Indo sim card should not cost more than S$10. I usually dont ask 1st timer or newbies to buy it unless they were planning to go to Batam on a regular basis. No need to waste unnecessary money for a 2D1N or 3D2N.

*i am prioritizing my reply to you 1st becos you were heading to Batam tomorrow.

Dont be overly ambitious,take each step a time and avoid rushing. Batam has a much slower pace than Sillypore.

Good luck and have a good trip.

[Humlea]

Thank you Nono for taking the time to do a detail reply...
Why your photo the shops all not open? You took it early in the morning?

I understand that I should not be overly ambitious and anyway I just wanted to wind down myself... Getting sick of working.

I could speak quite fluent Bahasa Malayu so I guess I should be able to communicate a bit. But hor... I find that they understand me but I don't understand their Bahasa Indon... LOL

Hope to meet some fellow samsters tomolo.
Thank you Nono!

[nono1973]

Originally Posted by notorioussex

direct book. I mean dun let the shop earn.

Dont let the shop earn? Not possible if the girl is still under contract.But it is possible to let the shop earn less. Dont let the taxi driver earn,totally possible.Just dont use them. But if you dont bargain,the joint will still take the taxi driver's share even when you do not have them with you.

The only method i could think of on not allowing the shop to earn is,customer A book a girl you want,she ranaway or make herself become rejected by customers...then goes to your room.You pay her the booking fee in lesser amount negotiated between you and the girl. This usually happens to non-contracted girls. (these runaway girls usually arent fantastic from my point of view)

(note : you also dont get the same-day-fresh-stock in this case as she probably already got bonk at least once on the same day by her previous customer)

My philosophy in Batam at most time will be trying to create a win-win situation for all so that things can be sustainable in the long run. Let the girls earn,let the shops earn, let the taxi drivers earn and most importantly,allowing myself to feel locally cheap with everyone cheonging happy. (but not over-earn or else it becomes carrot-chop) But equipping myself with enough knowledge and to always bargain to get a better price is essential.

My solution for myself is to write summaries,to keep a record of my Batam trips. Eg,Formosa Hotel room online was S$63.00 when i 1st started Batam 2 years ago,it is now about S$50-S$55,basic Formosa room from Kaha used to be 455k,today its 475k,exchange rate was about 8700/SGD back then,today is around 9500/SGD,quite a few booking joints no longer has 600k category girls etc etc (not forgetting special service price from massage girls,hehehe...). I do keep all of these in record.

Example (if i bargain) in an illustrated situation. i walk into a booking joint WITH a driver. Girl priced at 1 million,i bargained to 900k. Taxi driver probably earns 50k-100k comm,the joint probably earns half of the rest ,the girls earned the other half.

Example (if i DONT bargain) in an illustrated situation.i walk into a booking joint w/o a driver. Girl priced at 1 million,i dont bargain at all. I paid 1 million rupiah w/o a driver. The joint takes half of the 900k booking fee + the 100k taxi commission,the girl will take the other half of the 900k.

(note : at times in different joint,the total booking fee were being divided by 3 parts between joint,OKT and the girl hence i say i am giving an example in a illustrated situation)

Different booking joints works differently. So one will need to understand the culture of each booking joint to get a better price. Some booking joint can bargain,some cannot. Some i say here cannot bargain,but if i see another OKT in those that cannot,it becomes can bargain. A regular booking joint player will be able to tell if there is a mark up from the usual pricing of the same girl.

I have also direct book before,at 500k for an overnight girl from Gold Bird in 2014 and the joint still earns (2pm onward till next morning 9am).

[JayF]

Hi everyone.

For those who have been to Atalanta and Octopuss Spa just checking to see if they take credit cards. I know Delta does. How about this two? Have some rupiah on me and but i am not planning to change more till i reach my hotel in Baloi

Help appreciated.

[Naka_Timo]

Originally Posted by JayF

Hi everyone.

For those who have been to Atalanta and Octopuss Spa just checking to see if they take credit cards. I know Delta does. How about this two? Have some rupiah on me and but i am not planning to change more till i reach my hotel in Baloi

Help appreciated.

Most of the spa accept but some have a few percent service charge.

[jimfairy]

Originally Posted by Naka_Timo

Most of the spa accept but some have a few percent service charge.

When can I have the honour to tag u along leh.. . Don't forget to intro me girls too.. Lol

[JayF]

Originally Posted by Naka_Timo

Most of the spa accept but some have a few percent service charge.

So i take it both take credit card then? Thanks.

[SibeiNew]

Originally Posted by JayF

So i take it both take credit card then? Thanks.

Altalanta accepts CC , not sure about Octupuss thou , gotta visit next month.

[H0pe1100]

For the convenience of readers, I have tried to summarize the locations posted by Nano1973.

[newyorker88]

Originally Posted by JayF

So i take it both take credit card then? Thanks.

From my years of cheonging, I felt it is better to do by cash. Take whatever you need with you along. pay the gals cash n the counter.

The rates for credit cards are not that great.

[hawkeye007]

Originally Posted by newyorker88

From my years of cheonging, I felt it is better to do by cash. Take whatever you need with you along. pay the gals cash n the counter.

The rates for credit cards are not that great.

Yes, agreed and many of the places (be it massage joints, eateries or shops) charge a 3% transaction fee for payment by credit cards...

Moreover, you never know if they are putting your card through a skimmer machine to steal your card info and use your card illegally..

Best to use cash whenever possible...

[JayF]

Ha Thanks bro. But i only have like 700k rupiah on me and i dun plan to change in sg or harbourbay

[Humlea]

Reporting live from batam...
Today opp Formosa rate is 9500IDR