Michhysaurous Travelogue - BATAM 3D2N December 2014 (PART 1)

Travelling has always been enjoyable for me and I look forward to my next adventure everyday. Living in Singapore and with the advancement of technologies, I'm glad that we could travel to our neighbouring countries easily by Ferry or Car. This time, I'm heading to Batam for the first time!

Booking of Ferry Tickets and Hotel was relatively easy with online booking systems, all I had to do was to remember to print out my confirmation email.

Ferry of Choice: SINDO Ferry

Hotel of Choice: Venesia Hotel Batam

Date of Travel: 12-14 December 2014

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Breakfast at Harbourfront Center before taking the Ferry to Batam!

The ferry ride was about 45 minutes and here we are! My First trip in Batam! *waves*

First Stop, A&W at Mega Mall just across the Batam Center Ferry Terminal.

Since we were early, we went to the arcade for some games first! They have Timezone there. But a point to note is that the game card that you purchase at this Mall's Timezone is not transferrable to another Timezone outlet. Which means you can only use your card at the outlet you purchased it from. Unlike in Singapore, 1 Card play all the outlets. hahaha!

Visited Venesia Hotel on 12-14 Dec 2014, Although Hotel was not near any shopping centers, I like that it was quiet and relaxing during my visit. It is a small hotel and I was in the Deluxe room, but there were no windows in my room. Booked the room for 2 Nights at SGD$98 in total.

 Breakfast was included. Simple fare of mee goreng, fried rice, some cereal, fruits and live station eggs! Pretty good in my opinion!

Since it's out of the way to most shopping places, but also not too far la. You can ask the receptionist for a hotel Taxi to send you to places and they have a standard rates to the different places, ranging from 50,000Rupiah to 200,000 Rupiah depending on your travel location. 

Nagoya Shopping Mall

Went to walk around, and settled in at Warung Cobain for dinner. Their menu is very unique and I even saw grilled Catfish and I was so stunned. In the end Ed made the ordering and the food is very yummy and pocket friendly too!

(L-R) Chicken Satay, Beef Curry thingy, Sambal Fried Rice

After dinner, we went to shop at the supermarket and I went crazy at the instant noodles section. But I wasn't the only one, I saw many singaporeans buying cartons and cartons of Indomee too! Hahaha!

After that, we got hungry again, so we went to try out the famous Ayam Penyet Ria. A little pricey for the size of the meat offered. But the chilli super good! Yeap, that cabbage looks like a crumpled tissue paper. hahaha!

This is the end of part 1, will blog about part 2 soon! My first experience in Batam has been a great one! Love the delicious food there! Stay tune to part 2! Bye bye!




With Love, M♥

Michhysaurous Travelogue - Osaka & Kyoto Trip March 2015 (Part 1)

There will be a series of post about my first trip to Japan (Osaka & Kyoto) and this is the first of them all. Starting from my first time flying Non-Budget and going on a Tour Schedule and my 5-Star Accommodation and many more experiences. This trip was made possible with Thanks to my Aunt! I am very sorry that I can't advise you on how much the flight & hotel was because mine was paid by my aunt, but the shopping and food, I will try to answer to the best of my memory. haha!

Let's Get Started Shall we?

My first flight on a non-budget airline, I'm taking Cathay Pacific - Economy Class.

Took off at about 9, Reach Hong Kong 12+ Midnight, waited for about an hour for my transfer flight to Kansai Airport and I finally arrived at 5AM-ish SGTime. Didn't manage to sleep on both flights. 

Ate Supper and Breakfast on my flights.. First experience on In-flight food as well. I was pretty excited deep inside. Everytime it was meal time, I was very excited and anticipating what would be served. Hahaha! Like I'm talking inside my mind "OMG OMG Its Meal Time! YAY! What will I get this time??" But on the outside, I act like I've had so much experience already. LOL.

My Hotel was at Hilton Hotel Osaka - Twin Hilton Room. Clean and spacious room with a Bathtub in the bathroom and Yukatas (Japanese Cotton Kimono) for guests, It's really great! They are using Thomas Sabo toiletries and the Toilet Seat is Heated one!! Almost all toilets in Japan are Heated Toilet seats, Ahhhhh... Shiok!

First Stop: Kuromon Ichiba Market (黒門市場)

 (2-4-1 Nipponbashi, Chuo Ward, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture 542-0073, Japan)

A 600M long market with over 170 stalls which offers fish, fruits, Vegetables and other foodstuffs. The market has been called “Osaka’s Kitchen” since it opened in the mid Taisho Period (1921-1926) and many cooks in Osaka came here to get the ingredients. 

Deliciously Fresh Seafood and Fruits are available at Kuromon Ichiba Market. Giant Scallops Grilled on the spot, Freshly fried tempura, Creamy Uni and also Fugu(Pufferfish), a deadly Japanese delicacy if not treated well. I only had 45minutes there, therefore there wasn't much time to explore. But a good tip is to go during weekdays, I was there on a Thursday morning, not much crowd.

Beancurd Skin and Fishcakes

FUGU ( Pufferfish)

Next Stop: Osaka Castle
(1-1 Ōsakajō, 大阪市中央区 Osaka Prefecture 540-0002, Japan)

Yeap, That's the face of no sleep for more than 24 hours.. and my aunt who brought me on this trip!

The Osaka Castle has been demolished and rebuilt twice before it has finally been safe and protected. I forgot the whole story that my tour guide told me but it was once demolished by a powerful man in history, but after that rebuilt by the people of Osaka where they pooled money to rebuild the castle, a castle to call their own.

It's a pretty long walk in, but take your time to enjoy the view.. Come during Sakura season and be drown in the beauty of it. Too bad I was there in early March, so no sakura, only botak trees. :(

A cute couple that was having their wedding photos taken, became a tourist attraction. lol.

Right opposite the entrance of the castle, is a row of food shops! Think about Ice Cream, Hot soups & Freshly baked Japanese sweet potatoes!

OSAKA CASTLE.

You are advised to climb up to the top level first and then slowly make your way down to visit the different galleries to understand the history of Osaka.

I have already fallen in love with Japan and it has only been half a day! The beautiful scenery, the delicious food and the cool weather. Be sure to check back soon on my other adventures! Next up in like pipeline would be my night at Osaka's famous Food Street/Place - Dotonbori!

See you then!




With Love, M♥