Batam Info / Interest / Help Thread

[Leoric]

Originally Posted by nono1973

The Batam Food List
(Updated on Jan 2016)

Beginner's Guide for 1st Time Batam Visitor


All My Batam Trip Summaries for 2015
(Jan - Dec)

弱者報仇，強者寬恕，智者忘懷

Batam Places to avoid :
Morena series of joints,Delta Spa & MM

My latest 35th Batam Trip Summary
(on Dec 2016)

Thx for sharing! I enjoyed reading those summaries, brings back good old memories & at the same time learned more than i have traveled there.

From time to time in batam,i visited those temples & yr other posted places of interest too. I guess i must have sin so much in real life,that's why the need to go bathe flower water...lol. (for my family members as well)

You've a batam food list, a batam cheonging list & a newbie batam travel guide on yr signature,hope to one day see a compiled list of all other places of interest too. Your Indian temple post was a real classic. Most likely would pay that place a visit next year.

https://sbfsg.net/showpos...postcount=3181

Keep up all the good works!

[Leoric]

Originally Posted by Nulgath

On my nxt trip,likely in 2017,i'd love to pay a visit to some of these temples there. A new year,& a new beginning,hopefully everything would be blessed to go smoothly.

Thx for sharing those details in yr summary, together with a few good lessons well-taught.

Yes,i agree with you on the part where there are good lessons well-taught!

Has it occur to you the next verse, 地狱不空，誓不成佛 (if hell isn't emptied,he'll not become Buddha)...what will happen if hell is emptied out?

It can either be a blessing or a disaster.

Originally Posted by nono1973

Meaning to say, i can do all the Good Work by appearance that any super duper ultra devoted believers would normally do...but if my own heart is evil, constantly plotting against others, forever trying to stir discord with words/actions, creating trouble etc etc... I will be afterall no better than those who dont do ANY of those so call "Good Work". Thats solely my own understanding of its meaning.

I believe his teaching is more about not to be bound by the appearance of the worldly,be it action or by speech but be more focusing on the good heart and the good spiritual self. Do more good deeds, do less harmful things, have a good heart and bring out goodness in the world.

Writing up to this point reminds me a question i would like to ask, which part of Singapore has the highest concentration places of worship within a 3 km radius? Or put it in another term,which part of Singapore has the highest concentration of temples,churches etc within a 3 km radius?

You may wish to google Temples around Geylang,hehehe...below is my findings :

http://www.picturevip.com/x/clean/im...2/15/hNCsW.jpg

I dont know your answer/s,but my bet is on the Red Light District of Singapore,hehehe...and at 1st i even wonder why so? Then i learned of a little idea when i try to stand on "their" perspective to look at things.

Makes complete sense,right? Why would deities or any good higher sovereign beings be in a place where there is ONLY peace and no evil? Red Light district is the only place in any country where the 7 deadly sins can be found heavily mutiplying in. The rest will up to your own wisdom to figure.

I think u are right on the concentration of places of worship within the red light district of SG.

_____________________________________

[iicycold]

Originally Posted by PigletDiDi

posted so many animated photos.
causing alot data usage
i think those viewing this thread likely to find excuses
frankly speaking why temple is linked to this topic.

Yr full complete post as abv.

At the end of the day, it's yr post tat troublemaker misquoted it partially to mislead the others. Was aldy expecting tat 2 happen since u didn't write wat u reli mean properly. U incidentally started an unnecessary spark, he tries 2 fan a fire out of it. i'm sure u noticed az tis isn't the first time & i'm sure it wn't b the last. The rest no need me 2 say much liao.

(ignore button @ bottom left of each post)

Nw, i'll sit back & relax 2 observe who else wld b addin fuel 2 tat currently small fire & watch if it'd be snowballed into smthg else entirely different.

BEST is 2 jus follow our wise moderator's good advise below.

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

Just leave him alone...dun reply to his posts...serve no purpose...

All samsters have to follow SBF rules...

[nono1973]

Originally Posted by BFOMF5

1st shop offered 9150
Think.. not bad, reasonable.
But still proceeded to 2nd shop
Offered 9200 lagi best...
Tried ask for 9300
she countered 9250(=XErate)
I said: more can or not?
To my surprise she countered 9260.
Rp10 above XErate

Ok,thats what some of my money changer told me (as below). It also really depends on each respective money changer shop.

If you change your money in the earlier part of the money,there is a likelihood that what you are getting is Yesterday evening's last closing rate. So if you compare it with today's XE rate,its usually not-so-accurate.

The theory is the same as changing money in Batam during Sat,Sun and Mon morning. It is usually base on Fri's last rate or Sat early day rate.

Example : XE rate is 9500/SGD Friday evening and if the money changer A ONLY buys from the bank on Friday evening and not on Saturday,the rate in that shop thru out Sat and Sun and up to Mon morning will give their customer the best rate of around 9470/SGD.

But if XE rate on Sat is 9600/SGD and money changer B has buy about that amount from the bank on Saturday morning, they will be able to give you a better rate than money changer A thru out Sat,Sun and up to Mon morning. I haven't count in the part that they were able to average out their amount etc yet.

Originally Posted by BFOMF5

Lesson:
you don't try, you fail immediately,
You tried, you might achieve or at least closer to your goal.

This is one of the BEST given advise. And I sincerely thank you.

Originally Posted by BFOMF5

Note: Applied to bargaining only!
OM didn't ask you to try illegal things

Bargaining is part of Indonesia's business culture. The Indonesians will almost always mark up a higher price for one to bargain down. Bargaining is not invented by Nono1973,hehehe...

When I read this part of your post, the 1st thought that comes into my mind was you take a big knife to a money changer shop and then demand for a good exchange rate,hehehe...*joking here*

Originally Posted by Black Page

Well said. That is the key, which not everyone understands.
Overspending, just because one can afford it, is just plain STUPID, where "stupid" means really a lot, as it was theorized by the economist C.M. Cipolla with his "Basic Laws of Human Stupidity".
If one does not want to read the 25 pages easily available on the web, there is the summary of Wikipedia.

Cipolla's five fundamental laws of stupidity:
1) Always and inevitably everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.
2) The probability that a certain person (will) be stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person.
3) A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or to a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses.
4) Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals. In particular non-stupid people constantly forget that at all times and places and under any circumstances to deal and/or associate with stupid people always turns out to be a costly mistake.
5) A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person.

1. This goes w/o saying. Like I often say,one kind of rice feeds hundred/thousand kind of men. Stupidity applies to all men at some point of their life.

2. Different people from different parts of the world with different brought up and living within different cultures do things differently. Plenty of examples all over the news.

3. I do not like to brand another person stupid, they were at most time just not-wise-enough. My dad used to tell me when I am younger, if I do not know anything, its ok. I ask around, i learn and then grow with what was taught to me. I may be stupid for that few mins or for that few days, but once I got my answer/s, i will be forever clever (on that topic).

To err is human, however to repeat the same err few folds (after recognizing it) is plain stupidity.

4. I agreed with your point number 4. Hence since a certain day/s onward, i try to mix around with friends who shared similar frequency I had in Batam,and till today many of them were good friends with me as we kept in contact mainly via SBF's PM,hehehe...

5. Hmm...true to some extend. I have been with my part time boss for a while and over a period of time,i have seen a fair bit in the entertainment scene (he runs several night clubs in Sillypore). However I notice at most time,the wiser ones hold the leash while the not-so-wise one were at most time being held by it (being leashed up).

The wiser man don't try to win over nothing too.

Originally Posted by Black Page

We should not be stingy (i.e., bargain to excess) when we are with a girl who earns little money and have problems to sustain her baby and life, but also do the opposite is wrong (that is, stupid).
One thing is having a generous hearth, another is being stupid.
Finding the appropriate balance is not always immediate, but that is what one should aim at.

Your words above reminds me, whether egg come 1st or chicken come 1st. I choose to think egg come 1st and you might choose to believe chicken come 1st,hehehe...everyone has their own perspective of a good balance.

Example of the above :

a) I donated a few juta to temples and the charity organization monthly in Batam,and i am a generous man?

b) I set a fix on overnight girl's tipping to a maximum of 200k,i don't pay more than 400k per pop in Batam and I am a stingy man?

c) I refuse to give to children who came to beg rotatingly when I am having my meal or thru a vehicle window in the middle of a busy traffic and I am a stingy man?

d) I buy packets of food from stores to give them to the children (next time I may buy boxes of curry puff instead,hehehe..can feed more of them), buy several indo newspapers which I cannot even read from kids who sells them at 5k each and I am a generous man?

Answer to my above example is an obvious NO,hehehe...egg come 1st or chicken come 1st? Everybody is going to have a different perspective.

[AsuraWrath]

Originally Posted by nono1973

If you change your money in the earlier part of the money,there is a likelihood that what you are getting is Yesterday evening's last closing rate. So if you compare it with today's XE rate,its usually not-so-accurate.

The theory is the same as changing money in Batam during Sat,Sun and Mon morning. It is usually base on Fri's last rate or Sat early day rate.

Bingo!

Today's rate in Btm abt 4pm

[Black Page]

Originally Posted by nono1973

4. I agreed with your point number 4.

Please note: that points are NOT MY POINTS. They are NOT MY opinion (although I definitely agree with the overall theory, because it is well elaborated and substantiated).

Those five points are the famous "Five Fundamental Laws of Stupidity" theorized by the economist C.M. Cipolla with his essay "Basic Laws of Human Stupidity".

He did a lot of work in his field (economy), of course, and this essay is just a half-humorous short text. It is readily available on the web (a PDF of about 25 pages, translated to several languages). However, there is a nice short summary on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_M._Cipolla

Originally Posted by nono1973

3. I do not like to brand another person stupid, they were at most time just not-wise-enough.

It is not good to brand anyone "stupid", because we all may have a different concept of "stupidity", not to mention the fact that some others might consider also us as "stupid". Also Wikipedia refers to stupidity as a "controversial subject".

NEVERTHELESS, please note again that this essay is a scientific socioeconomic treatise of the subject. Stupidity is defined objectively, not based on personal opinions: "A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or to a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses."
Therefore, classifying someone as "stupid" (according to Cipolla's Laws) is not a plain offense. It's a scientific, objective assessment of a fact.

There is a lot to learn reading that essay! In short, two factors are considered when exploring human behaviour:
- benefits and losses that an individual causes to him or herself;
- benefits and losses that an individual causes to others.

This allows to define objectively 4 categories of humans:
1) Intelligent people, who contribute to society and who leverage their contributions into reciprocal benefits;
2) Helpless people, who contribute to society but are taken advantage of by it (and especially by the "bandit" sector of it); note, however, that extreme altruists and pacifists may willingly and consciously (rather than helplessly) accept a place in this category for moral or ethical reasons;
3) Bandits, who pursue their own self-interest even when doing so poses a net detriment to societal welfare;
4) Stupid people, whose efforts are counterproductive to both their and others' interests.
Finally, there are also:
5) Ineffectual people (center of the diagram).

Each of us will find lots of practical sound examples of all categories, just looking into his/her personal experience among all people we know.

Originally Posted by nono1973

2. Different people from different parts of the world with different brought up and living within different cultures do things differently. Plenty of examples all over the news.

This is the most interesting Law among the five:
2) The probability that a certain person (will) be stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person.

Of course, people from different parts of the world and different culture will do things differently, but that is not the point.
If stupidity is defined as above, then it is amazing to note that the percentage of "stupid" individuals in a group of people is largely independent on any other characteristic, including for example education, social class, richness, kind of job, and of course gender and race!

That means that it does not matter if we look at a group of university professors, technical engineers, accountants, office employees, seamen, factory workers, farmers, black or white, Chinese or Malay, etc. etc. We will always find the same percentage of stupid people, anywhere we look at. I think we all can recognize this fact, if we just look around us

In our present case, from which this discussion started, "stupid" people are those who overpay a service, without reason and getting no additional service or quality.
They are "stupid" because:
1) they spend more money than actually needed indeed (thus, they incur in a personal loss);
2) they cause the market price for a service (e.g., massage++) to raise, without a corresponding increase of the quality (thus, they cause a loss to others).

I think we will all agree with the 5th Law, also in this case:
5) A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person.

[geong]

Originally Posted by nono1973

,as it might bleach the forum's advertising rules which may result your FR post being totally removed later.

I am only suggesting,no obligation to follow thru.

Hoping for your understanding.

Thank you.

Thanks bro. Noted. Had quickly removed the numbers.

[ttenneb]

Hi.. Am now staying at Harris Waterfront Resort. Any nice massage places i can go to.. prolly with happy ending if possible. first time here. i would like to k ow the market rate for tipping too. hopefully no need to travel to Nagoya as it is quite a distance away thx

[lty1986]

Just had a chat with my local colleagues in office. Traffic might be bad over the weekends at Batam center area especially after the count down. So try to avoid that area.

[lty1986]

Originally Posted by ttenneb

Hi.. Am now staying at Harris Waterfront Resort. Any nice massage places i can go to.. prolly with happy ending if possible. first time here. i would like to k ow the market rate for tipping too. hopefully no need to travel to Nagoya as it is quite a distance away thx

I just left waterfront. Tanjung uncang quite Abit of distance to town area. U can try Wechat or another choice is take a look at the pubs at waterfront. But is mostly Ang moh crowd

[miumiu6464]

Originally Posted by lty1986

Just had a chat with my local colleagues in office. Traffic might be bad over the weekends at Batam center area especially after the count down. So try to avoid that area.

Thanks for the headsup. Noted the best time to use Horizon Fast Ferry plus Business Class. Just $10 extra, but get to be ahead of the entire crowd.

[saxophone]

Originally Posted by AsuraWrath

Today's rate in Btm abt 4pm

seem like only later noon then hv such gd rate,morning was 9270

[SupremeD]

Going Batam on tml afternoon. Wonder how's the queue at the harbour front like...

[hawkeye007]

Originally Posted by SupremeD

Going Batam on tml afternoon. Wonder how's the queue at the harbour front like...

I can say with absolute certainty that the queue will be MASSIVE... At the first scanning point, the queue will likely be all the way till the 7-11 store. When u reach the departure hall, you are not very likely to be able to see the flooring at all. Ferries will all be delayed by 30 minutes if you are lucky; if not, expect the ferries to depart 45-60 mins late.

Be there at least 60 minutes before your stated boarding time and make sure your load your heart with a shitload of patience... LOL...

[nono1973]

Originally Posted by hawkeye007

Yes, it's almost directly opposite the standalone KFC/Harmoni Hotel in NED. So basically if u're standing back facing the KFC/Harmoni Hotel, cross the road and it's around that area. It's situated right next to the Circle K convenience store.

You are right. The description of your post fit in well with the below map.

Thank you.