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BATAM - Singapore is just some 45 minutes away by fast ferry from Batam. An easy target for a day of shopping, a return trip 'new visa' or a lunch. From Singapore Batam is also seen as place to shop as prices are lower there while choice is still not that bad as well. Furthermore people can enjoy themselves with alcohol from early on the day until the early hours of the next morning.
This time I went to Singapore with a friend. Of course not just for lunch because that would be somewhat silly if you ask me. At seven in the morning I was picked up for the short trip to Harbourbay. From there we would take the fast WaveMaster ferry to Singapore. However I had a few days overstay on my visa, this did not result in any problems. I was not the cause of it, but the imigrasi (immigration) itself and things like that are negotiable here.
At exactly 07:40 the ferry departs for Singapore and with several turns the 'promised land' soon appeared through the remainders of the early morning fog. As an island-state, the free Singapore is locked in between two Islamic countries of which one acknowledges it is Islamic - Malaysia - while the other doesn't - Indonesia. When arriving in Singapore you suddenly see what the free world (well, not entirely) looks like, and it's just 26 'Sing' ('Singapore dollar') return trip.
From the harbor directly to the visa agent that arranges everything for just 90 'Sing' extra. You only need a passphoto with a red background and your passport of course. We could pick up my passport again at two in the afternoon, which meant a lunch of some four hours. Too long, but there is more to do than just that here in Singapore.
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The lunch was not a five-star lunch in a luxury hotel, but just in a food stall in a small food court in the area of Chinatown. Chinatown here is not really a Chinatown if yo ask me, way too clean and static. Kuala Lumpur is much better as a Chinatown. I tried to buy a memory card for my camera, but when the price dropped from 125 to 50 'Sing' in just four minutes, I feel cheated and I don't want to buy anything anymore.
Shortly before two o'clock we were back at the office of the agent, who arrived at two exactly - hard to assume when you have spent some time in Indonesia. Within half an hour we were on the Harbourfront terminal to take the ferry back to Batam again to pass imigrasi and kick off some other processes there.
Orchard Road in Singapore. © indahnesia.com
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