Fathers' Day in Batam

We went to Batam this weekend to celebrate Fathers' Day (which I suppose is either a reflection of the relative importance of this holiday, or just our family's sexism, since for Mothers' Day we went to Thailand instead). I have written about Batam before: it is a small Indonesian island about an hour via ferry from Singapore, popular with Singaporeans as an easy weekend getaway.

Water play area to the left...

and to the right

Getting there couldn't be easier for an international vacation: take a 20-minute taxi ride to the ferry terminal, buy tickets an hour or two prior to departure (or online if you plan ahead farther than B and I tend to), and then board the ferry after a speedy procession through immigration and security (which takes around 20 minutes). Americans used to have to purchase visas on arrival to Indonesia (for the cheap price of $15), but new regulations mean entry is now free. We used that money to pay for all our transportation and meals while on Batam, which reflects how inexpensive it is there compared to Singapore.

Rooms are large if not especially notable: doorway leads to the bedroom (we stayed in a one bedroom suite this time, since R wouldn't go to sleep alone on vacation anyway) 

Kitchen area with a mini fridge

As usual when visiting Batam, we stayed at the Holiday Inn in Waterfront City. It has a very nice pool, all suite rooms (nice when traveling with children), has a kids' club full of toys and is within walking distance of the local ferry terminal.

R loves the pool

We also dined at the same restaurant we always do, Bella Italia Ristorante, which has better, more authentic pizza than anywhere I have found in Singapore. The rest of the food is delicious too, especially the zabaglione (one of the few desserts I can eat, as it contains no dairy). Since it's in Batam, prices are a bargain (our dinner was around $30, including drinks and desserts).

R appreciated her truly massive serving of pink strawberry ice cream

Surabaya: Trowulan, Ancient Capital of the Majapahit Empire

Wrigin Lawang, the Banyan Tree Gate

The main reason I wanted to visit Surabaya was to tour Trowulan, the ancient site of the Majapahit Empire. Most people have never heard of either the site or the empire (including me until recently), but Majapahit was one of the greatest Southeast Asian empires, ruling over much of Indonesia and Malaysia during its heyday.

It's had an immense influence in the region: Indonesian art, architecture, and literature are all directly traceable to Majapahit, including most of Balinese culture. The Indonesian national flag is derived from Majapahit's royal colors, for example.

The capital of Majapahit was Trowulan, which is located an easy drive away from Surabaya. It was destroyed in 1478, and today only ruins remain, surrounded by rice fields and countryside. Excavations are still underway: the government has submitted the site to UNESCO for inclusion on the World Heritage List and hopes to make Trowulan into a major tourist destination. When I visited, though, I was the only Westerner and even the Indonesian tourists were few, despite it being a Saturday.

Candi Tikus

Candi Brahu

Bajang Ratu

There is a small onsite museum, though English captions are few (and in fact captions/explanatory text is general was rather sparse). The museum as a whole definitely needed some infusion of professionalism: it was not really ready for international visitors despite the sweet staff. Even finding an English map of the site was a challenge.

The museum building

Grounds with reliefs collected from the site

I thought they were quite beautiful

Reconstruction of a typical commoner's house

The ruins themselves, while highly interesting to me, are not spectacular in the way that, for example Borobudur or Prambanan are. Perhaps as the excavations continue, more will be unearthed and a fuller picture of what the ancient city looked like will emerge. More explanatory text or printed guides would also be helpful and add to the experience.

Some of the excavations

More ancient walls

I was happy just to be on the site of the ancient city and to use my imagination to reconstruct the past: if this is not one of your pleasures though, Trowulan currently leaves something to be desired. I hope that the government's efforts result in a more appropriate showcasing of this very important site.

Happy as a clam at my favorite activity, ruin viewing

Surabaya: Hotel Majapahit

I liked Surabaya for its energy: but there is no doubt that it is a relatively ugly city, with all the problems that poor cities tend to have: horrible traffic, overcrowding, chaos...Luckily for my spirits, our hotel was a real gem and the nicest place I saw in the city. I highly recommend a stay to anyone visiting Surabaya, especially because it is reasonably priced (under $100/night).

R likes the hotel too!

The Hotel Majapahit is one of the grand colonial hotels built by the Sarkies brothers (also responsible for the Raffles in Singapore and the E&O in Georgetown) and like the others has wonderful colonial architecture, all-suite rooms, and excellent service.

 The grounds provide a restful oasis from the intensity of the city, and the pool is a great break from the hot, sticky weather.

Classic car in the lobby

I loved the detailing especially

R in the garden with some bronze geese

I felt like our trip was almost worth it just to stay here!

Weekends in Batam, Indonesia

Running for the pool

So far this year I have been to Batam, Indonesia, twice: once overnight for a trip with my girlfriends, once with R and B as a quick family getaway.

Going to Indonesia for the weekend SOUNDS very exotic and jet-set-esque, especially to an American like myself. However, because Singapore is so small, it is actually less of a trip than say, visiting Tahoe from the Bay Area.

Batam is an island without any features of note: it is not especially physically beautiful (in fact, it's quite built up and resembles a suburb more than a tropical paradise), has almost no interesting monuments, attractions or historical features (though its actual history is interesting, as it has been inhabited for aeons and was once the stronghold of the rapacious and frightening China Seas pirates). While the population is around 1 million, it's still too small to have any of the alluring qualities of a city.

R enjoying the huge pool: the mushroom is part of the water play area

Its reason for being is that it's very close to Singapore, less than an hour by ferry, and yet in third world Indonesia, meaning that everything is much cheaper there. So basically the Tijuana of southeast Asia, including the rather seedy reputation (one of Batam's main industries, at least until recently, is sex tourism: obviously I did not explore this side of things personally).

R and B on the water slide

I had a great time on both trips nonetheless. The first trip would have been great regardless of the location, being the first overnight trip without children or husbands for me and two of my closest friends in Singapore (and actually the first overnight trip away from children EVER for the other two). We ate crab, chatted, got pedicures, and vegetated: it was awesome (and so relaxing I didn't even bring my camera!).

Part of the grounds complete with cheery frogs

The other was really R's ideal of a perfect vacation: short travel trip on a novel mode of transport, time in the onsite playgym, swimming, sliding down the water slide over and over, big buffet breakfast (she loves those), and staying in a two-bedroom hotel apartment with "my own bed and toilet" (we stayed at the Holiday Inn, which gets top points for its child-friendliness). B and I enjoyed it too, though it's a bit dull for my personal taste. Cheap though! so probably we will return soon as a quick-and-easy getaway.

Surabaya 2013

In November 2013, we went on a short trip to Surabaya, the second-biggest city in Indonesia (which means it has a population of over 5 million) for three reasons: 1. it is close to Trowulan, the capital of the ancient Mahapajit Empire (1300-1500); 2. it has a hotel (owned by the Sarkies brothers and thus part of the Raffles Hotel chain at one time) that I particularly wanted to stay at; and 3. airfares were incredibly cheap (like $50/person).

Plus the food is great: here's a typical dinner of Indonesian deliciousness, including satay, gado gado and so much more

Though the McDonald's is pretty fancy if that's more your thing...

While probably not worth a visit if you don't live nearby, for me it was well worth the trip (from Singapore the flight is around 2 hours). The ruins were fascinating, the hotel was fantastic, and the city itself is surprisingly diverse and has a number of interesting places to visit. Surabaya itself is quite unattractive, full of grimy buildings and concrete, but I enjoyed the obvious energy and bustle of the city.

Typical street scene: but it doesn't fully capture the noise/chaos/movement

My favorite section of Surabaya is also the place I didn't take any pictures of: the very traditional Muslim quarter, which reminded me a bit of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul but much less touristy. It was full of small, winding alleyways lined with shops selling everything from embroidered slippers to spices to Korans: all paths eventually led to the Al-Akbar Mosque, the largest in east Java (which as non-Muslims we were not allowed to enter: I had to gawk from the porch area). There is also a Chinatown (now rather defunct, probably thanks to the 1998 riots): the temple remains, however, and was hosting a traditional puppet show during our visit.

Puppet stage

Xuanzang from Journey to the West

Exterior

Interior

Surabaya also houses the House of Sampoerna (recently bought by Philip Morris for $5 billion), a clove cigarette factory where women still hand-roll the cigarettes. The complex includes a museum and quite a nice restaurant, where B and I enjoyed drinks and R indulged in some strawberry ice cream.

Entryway to the complex

Restaurant

Surabaya is not a major tourist destination, especially for international tourists, so a visit here is a great way to experience a bit of "real" Indonesian life. I really enjoyed our trip.

Not very touristy: note the funny mistake in the subtitle (the actual magazine was all in Bahasa, I don't know exactly why they felt the need to have an English name)

One of the many malls: it's a major shopping destination for Indonesians. So cheap compared to Singapore.

R loved the pink pirate boat ride (featuring Ninja turtles as well!)

She loved this probably extremely unsafe one with pink elephants too (the ride nearly touched the ceiling at each pass)