Monday 3 January 2011

Batam Day 1: Where the Year Turned 2011

I'm back from vacation yesterday afternoon after a fun-filled 3D2N at Batam.

On the morning of the last day of 2010 three days ago, we boarded a ferry (Batam Fast) at the Singapore Cruise Centre at Harbourfront bound for the Waterfront Jetty.

On the Ferry, all ready to go!

On arrival to Batam, we boarded the free shuttle service to our resort Harris Resort Batam.

Beautiful decorations at the entrance and lobby

We were warmly greeted by the resort staff and taken to the front desk to check in and register. The place was crowded with other like-minded Singaporeans who were also there to celebrate the arrival of the new year. Because there were more guests than usual, we only managed to get our rooms late in the afternoon.

We stayed at Harris Trendy, the extension building behind me

I loved the facilities that Harris had to offer. The pool was large and there was a ton of things to do there from swimming to seasports to shooting to bowling. But since the first day was all about partying, we decided to relax in our hotel rooms until it was time for cocktails and dinner.

Harris promised a fun-filled, Hollywood-themed night of performances, entertainment and fireworks as we countdown to the new year.

Hollywood Night!

I have to say that the performances were really not entertaining. It was like getai (Chinese live stage performances during the 7th month of the lunar calendar) gone horribly wrong. The same can be said of the food, which really wasn't appetising at all.

Anyhow the best part of the whole thing was the never-ending fireworks we saw the whole night through. I think I have never seen so many fireworks so up close before.

Beautiful fireworks!

You can even buy some to shoot yourself!

Fireworks we bought from the supermarket which we didn't get to use eventually

Small fireworks, big fireworks, fireworks everywhere! We could even see Singapore's fireworks at the Marina Bay from our hotel room (we know it's Singapore because we compared the ones we saw with those shown on channel 5).

View from our window where we saw Singapore's fireworks

We also got to light the traditional Kongming Lantern and sent our wishes to the sky.

Lighting the Kongming Lantern..

And then the clock finally struck 12!

Welcome 2011!

The whole sky was littered fireworks and lanterns floating around. It was an incredibly awesome sight!

And that marked the end of the first day =)


Continue to >> Batam Day 2: Shopping & Seasports

P.SFor the rest of my Batam posts and other travel itineraries, please visit my travel page! =)
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