Batam is the largest city in the province of Indonesia, together with Bintan. The city administrative area covers three main islands of Batam, Rempang, and Galang (collectively called Barelang), as well as several small islands. Batam Island is the core urban and industrial zone, while both Rempang Island and Galang Island maintain their rural character and are connected to Batam Island by short bridges. It is connected to Singapore by 5.8km, and the closest part of Indonesia to Singapore.
At Riau Islands, there is also Loola Adventure Centre where there is an adventure camp for Secondary 3 students in Tampines Secondary School, in 21 - 23 May 2012. There is also a town at Tembilahan, where it is home to the MTR Corporation. And also, there is even a hotel at Batam - which is Harris Hotel at Batam.
Transport[]
Ferry[]
Ferries connect Batam into Singapore. There are ferry terminals at Batam Center, together with Harbour Bay. Connections to Singapore are more likely going in to Singapore Cruise Centre, which is located at HarbourFront and Tanah Merah.
Buses[]
There are several buses in Batam area, these include:
- Nissan Diesel U31SCN (finally phased out)
- Sunlong SLK6121UF14H Hybrid
Trans Batam is the most reliable and the cheapest public transportation in Batam. It began to operate in 2005. Trans Batam is the second BRT system in Indonesia, after Jakarta's TransJakarta. The price for one ride is Rp2,000 for students and Rp4,000 for the public. Trans Batam operates from 05:30 to 19:00.
Trans Batam serves 5 corridors of route:
| Corridor # | Origin-Destination |
|---|---|
| 1 | Batam Centre-Sekupang |
| 2 | Batam Centre-Batu Aji |
| 3 | Sekupang-Jodoh |
| 4 | Sekupang-Batu Aji |
| 5 | Batam Centre-Tanjung Piayu |
Taxis[]
Taxis in Batam are available almost anywhere, at ferry terminals, the airport, shopping malls, hotels, etc. More than 3000 taxis are in Batam. In the early 2000s, Batam commonly had Toyota Corolla taxis. Starting in late 2013, more than 95% of taxis are brand new using the Toyota Limo and Chevrolet Lova.
Airport[]
Hang Nadim International Airport is the island's main airport, and has the longest runway of all airports in Indonesia. The airport was the largest airport in the Sumatra region from 1995–2012 with a capacity of six million passengers annually, and is now the second-largest in the Sumatra region after Kuala Namu International Airport in Medan with a capacity of eight million passengers. Hang Nadim is also the main base for Lion Air and Malindo Air. It is developed as an alternative for Changi Airport (should emergency force the landing).
Language[]
Indonesian is the common lingua franca of Batam in daily use. Malay, Minangkabau, Batak, Javanese, and Chinese ethnic dialects like Hokkien and Teochew are also used. The usage of Mandarin and English are trending due to Singaporean influence, especially by expatriatess living in Batam.
Hotels and Holidays[]
Timothy Mok has been staying in The BCC Hotel & Residence from 3 to 4 August 2019. Notable shopping districts are Batam Grand Mall (of which there is Payless ShoeSource, eventually the shops at Singapore were closed down by 2015), Harbour Bay Mall, Diamond City Mall, Nagoya Hill, The Grand Batam Shopping Centre, IT - Laptop Mart and BCS Mall. We have went with Philip Koh, Rose Chan and Murphy Chan, the brother of Dave Chan and Rose Chan. In addition, two computer chairs were thrown away at the same time as it is already broken, those are the older designs similar to my room that was being thrown in the TMMP in 2017.
In addition, there is a restaurant called Ichiban Sushi which is different than Singapore, due to the ownership. Ownership in Singapore is under RE&S Enterprises. There are several other shops in the Batam Grand Mall, of which it is Uniqlo and H&M.