Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal
Majestic Ferry Service
Although you can book their ferry service online, there was no where to indicate our voucher number for the redemption. However, a simple email settled the booking. The service personnel replied fast, and asked for our details, selected ferry timing, and also our voucher number. Another email, and the service was booked. Thanks for the prompt response.
Batam Centre Ferry Terminal + MegaMall
So we took the 1030 ferry, and we arrived at around 1100hrs (Indo timing). Immediately, we went to Majestic Ferry Reception and booked our return trip. Everyone was doing the same thing, and i guess you should as well to avoid disappointment in inability to secure your desired ferry timing back to SG.
Lunch + Shuttle Bus
After booking the return tickets, we went to search for the Harris Barelang's service personnel. For your note, the service personnel will stand/ sit near the arrival gate, and they are wearing orange. We saw and approached them, and our names were made on their list of patrons. We were told that the bus would only left at 1200hrs and hence, we made our way to the Mega Mall for our breakfast. There is a walkway at the level 2 of the Batam Centre Ferry Terminal that directly links to the Mega Mall. Since we only had about 30 mins or less left, we decided for the favourite fastfood that we could no longer find in Singapore, and that's our All American Food, the A&W.
The food aint really cheap in Batam Shopping Mall, it costed us about 160k for the two sets of food. And honestly, i think the next day lunch (Wendy's chicken) tasted better than the A&W. Nonetheless, quick lunch and we were back to the ferry terminal, and was ushered to the shuttle bus.
The shuttle bus was kinda small, with about 13 passengers capacity, and the seats are FCFS. If you are slow, you could end up sitting separately, or taking seats that the leg rooms are smaller. So you might want to take note of this! The journey was 30mins, and the journey was kinda smooth after the initial heavy traffic after the ferry terminal. Along the way, not much scenery and you can see the famous Barelang Bridge just before you enter the Harris's compound.
Harris Barelang Resort
Reaching at around 1245hrs, the room wasn't ready and we were told to take a walk around. As the lobby was kinda empty then, took the opportunity to take some of the memorial scenic shot of mamaTan!
The lobby itself had a bar (you have to pay for the drinks) and a mini-mart. The mini-mart is not very well-equipped, but you could find your necessities if you have forgotten them at home. Together, it sells cigarettes, ice-creams, titbits, swimming toys, and most importantly the beer. You should buy the beer from here instead of ordering from the room service. The beers are selling at the range of 20k to 35k whilst papaTan ordered a beer through room service for about 85k. So yea, do remember this if you are going to drink.
There is a counter located just directly opposite the reception, and we were able to redeem our spa voucher there. The timeslots were surprisingly taken up fast, and you should book your spa right after your check-in. We captured the menu for your quick reference. For PapaTan, he took the Rejuvenating Therapy, and MamaTan took the Relaxing Therapy. We must say that the massage was good. The strength was consistent throughout the session, body parts were massaged in balance, and the ambience was good. Despite the price, we still recommend you to go for the spa and massage.
- took a walk at the surrounding while waiting for the room to be ready.
- huge area with alot of nice places for photo
- was hot, walked for about 20minutes and went back to lobby to wait for the room.
The weather wasn't forgiving that day, and we didn't walk too long and returned back to the lobby for our wait.
Room 316 - Probably the best view room
The porter told us that buggy rides are only for check-in, check-out, and rainy days. The rest of the time, we will have to take bus 11. He showed us a short cut way down the resort, towards the pool area, which is to cut through in between resort 310 and 308 (hope i did not remember the number wrongly). It will take about 5 mins to reach to the pool, but just imagine the return trip which you have to make your way up. =/
The room itself also has a connecting door, meaning that you could book two adjacent rooms, and open the connecting door to join them. But this also means that you have to close your door well, if not it is accessible from beside.
Was kind hungry when we arrived at the room, and we decided to order room service. Note that room service is not 24/7 as it closes at around 2330hrs. The pricing is normal, ranging from 100k onwards. Scanned through the menu, and we decided on the pizza as we felt it was the most value for money. PapaTan ordered a can of beer which he regretted as it costs 3/4 the price of the pizza, and as shared earlier, you can purchase beer at 25k at the mini-mart. Nonetheless, the pizza was tasty, and its worth the comfort to enjoy the food and relax in the room.
The Walk to the Beach!
As we went on a Friday, there was no crowd at the beach. The undisturbed beach gave a good shot for the day. Walking on the beach, we realised that the sand was harsh and not those fine-grained like Bintan. This was kinda disappointing as it hurts to walk on the beach. In the end, we had to wear our slippers and walked as it was unbearable.
Signature Harris Barelang Swing in the water
Secret walkway in the middle of the water
Wedding Chapel
Pool at Rocksalt Beach Cafe
Kids Facilities
Additional Spots for Nice Photos!
Disappointing BBQ Dinner @ Rocksalt Beach Club
Running into the night time, the "live band" started their performance. You can't expect good quality from the live band, as their singing was so-so. The lady was average, and then the guitarist guy singing was actually, horrible.
Food Review:
Honestly, the food was kinda disappointing. The spread of food was limited, after one round of eating, you probably already tasted all the food. The marination was nothing too fantastic, and if you could not wait, there are "cold" cooked food that they had pre-preparaed for you. As for the dessert, albeit the wide spread of dessert, the quality was so-so.
So the verdict is that, maybe you should dine outside. We regretted not going to PapaTan's local friend recommendation to the nearby seafood - Kopak Jaya 007 Kelong Seafood, which he recommended as decent priced and good food. Hence, if you are going to Harris Barelang, probably you should skip the BBQ Seafood Dinner (I think it is 30k per pax if you did not book a package like what we did), and book a cab (there is a counter at the reception there that allows you to call cab) to dine outside.
*PS. We actually felt hungry late night after dinner, but were unable to get anymore room service (closes at 2330hrs), and we were also unable to order any "grabeat" as the resort restricts outside food delivery.
Chilling at Night
There are limited bean bags placed on the floor for you to sit and relax for the movies. They are really quite limited, so if there is crowd at the resort, you might want to consider coming here earlier to secure your seat, or just forgo this portion.
Snacks are available at a price here, and i recalled they ain't too expensive.
Harris Barelang Breakfast
The popular breakfast spot are the waffle and egg station. You probably should go for these if you observed no queue.
Checking out and Megamall Shopping
So we checked out at 1200hrs and we called for the buggy service. They arrived at our doorstep on the stipulated timing and offered to bring up our luggage. The checkout was smooth, passing the room card to the receptionist and was done within minutes. We lazed around the fruit pub at the lobby while waiting for the 1pm shuttle bus to Batam Centre Ferry Terminal. For the shuttle bus, better be at the bus "stop" earlier to ensure you have the seats that you wanted! During our trip, a married couple with a baby had to sit separately because they didn't wait at the bus stop. |
Once we reached the ferry terminal, we went over to the Eldewiss Snack shop located at level 3 of Megamall, which was strongly recommended by our locatl friend. We bought 7-8 packs of the fishballs as they are really awesone! We also bought a few packs of preserved fruits which are also nice. To note: Once you purchase more than 300k, you will be given a free "LV" bag. The bag was really helpful for us as we travelled light, it helped to store all our final food purchases prior to leaving batam. |
Lunch We chose to take away wendy's to eat on ship back to singapore as we were afraid to be late because of immigration. The quality of wendy is so much better than A&W,m and we strongly recommend you to have this. We ordered the beer burger and 2 piece chicken, and both were nice. There is also JCO at the megamall, but the stuff were mainly sold out, and also a long queue there. |
Kueh Lapis We chanced upon this bakery and decided to buy kueh lapis back for our families. We chose this bakery as the rest of the kueh lapis in the ferry terminal were actually sold by souvenir shops. So we decided to trust a bakery store than a souvenir shop. Apparently, this should be some good brand as there are newspaper articles there on the wall, and the original kueh lapis was sold out! We were told to make reservation earlier next time! So we had to settle for the premium kueh lapis (345k in total), and they really tasted good. |