Batam trip

clueless about life

::Free trip to Batam::

Went batam last sat, actually it's just my dad and my sis going... it was the GRC grassroot leader retreat.. the members need to pay $80 and the family members $140.. for just 2 day 1 night TRIP!

It was damned expensive.. I went on a trip earlier in april to genting highlands and it's just $63 for 4 days 3 nights.. even if i just go there and sleep in the hotel room all day also worth it... will talk more about it in the next post..

Now, back to the Batam trip

Peizhu aunty(unofficial "god mother" of my bro), is having a family trip so she booked the trip for 4 person. Her son got called back to navy, so there are one more extra space. Both my bro and mum were unable to make it, left me who is available and free.

So there i was. My sis was there to tae care of my dad if he's feeling unwell. Me- there for fun. First time to other countries except malaysia and thailand. But when i arrived there, I was like looking around for anything that will be fun.

Found:

1. A gift shop (like provision shop with tourist stuff)
2. A games room (thought it was arcade, it's all jackpot machines. played on one, lost $10 within 15 mins.)
3. playstation corner ($5/hr, the games aren't fun and luckily is that we manage to get the money refund. Although we played a bit, but the person didn't see. So we act as if the play station is spoilt cos the game seem a little slow and we just sit around and wait for the game to start.) Prefer a arcade which is much more easier to play - fewer buttons.
4. A spa cum gym(spa have a indonesian massage for S$25/hr , gym is $6/3 hrs) My sis went for the massage and got aromatherapy oil rubbed all over her. She had to take a shower again to get rid of the sticky feeling.
   
5. A man-made lagoon with canoning, wakeboarding, snorkeling. The water there was clearer than that of singapore. But the weather conditions of the day wasn't good so no snorkeling.. Save $$$.

To say the truth, it's downright boring. There isn't any stone available at the lagoon to playing skipping stones with. But the good news is that at the water was clear.(not blue, just clear).

Have all meals provided at the resort's restaurant. The food was okay, not fantasic. We have our shopping time planned on the second day. Went to the temples there and then local product shops for the tourist as it can be seen by looking at the price tags which shows both the rupiahs and the sing dollars.

The last stop that we went to was a shopping centre which is better, it have all kinds of shops inside.. There are carts that sold french fries and they have flavoured powder provided. It's just 5000 rupiahs= 0.90 dollar. Me and my sis bought a total of 4 packets during the time when we were at the shopping centre.

We were desperate to use up all the rupiahs that my sis had exchanged, as the currency will be render invalid as soon as the president die or no longer in the post of president. The good thing is that we had only exchanged S$100. No more, no less.

popcorn making

My mum just bought a packet of dry stuff from NTUC. It's dry corn. One of the regular shoppers at the outlet recommended her to make her own popcorn and said that it was easy. What she didn't say was that it's hard to scrub the pots if the popcorn get burnt. Below is a recipe i found on the web. Do it if you wanna try out popping your own popcorn..

::How to make perfect popcorn::

There is only one true way to create perfect popcorn, and it doesn’t involve a microwave. The old fashion way of using a saucepan on the stove produces the best tasting popcorn, try it for yourself…

1. Coat the bottom of a saucepan with about 1 Tablespoon of vegetable oil. You should use just enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan, that way every kernel gets some. Too little and the popcorn will be dry and might burn, too much and it will be more greasy.
2. Turn the stovetop burner to medium-high heat.
3. When the oil is hot add a ¼ cup of popping corn. Remember to put the lid back on the saucepan, unless you want to make a huge mess!
4. Let the kernels cook; shake the saucepan occasionally to stop the popcorn from burning. The whole batch will pop up in a surprisingly short amount of time.
5. When the popping slows to 3 to 5 seconds between pops, remove pan from burner.
6. Pour the popcorn into a bowl. If you like you can add salt or butter or any other flavour that takes your fancy.
7. Sit back and start munching!