Was rather disappointed when we came out from the ferry terminal at Batam Center. It was clean and rather well-developed like typical Malaysian towns. Rows and rows of private housing littered along the road between Batam Center and Nagoya. Reached Nagoya (a.k.a. Lubuk Baja) after 25mins. Tough the taxi fare was Rp45,000 or S$6.08, I somehow have this feeling that we been ripped off even though it was a price obtained from the official taxi counter in the ferry terminal.

If Batam is the administrative center of the Riau Islands, then Nagoya would be the administrative center of Batam. Not to be mistaken for a certain city in Japan, the town was given its name when Japanese soldiers were homesick during the Japanese Occupation in World War II and thus gave this town its Japanese name. Checked in at Panorama Regency Hotel at S$100 per night (come to think about it, it must be expensive by Indonesian standards); a rather nice hotel that offers the standard comforts of a sterile business hotel, not to mention its close proximity to good eateries.

Nothing really eventful happened for the next 3 days apart from me who almost got pick-pocketed. Was walking along a busy street in Pasar Nagoya Baru and suddenly traffic came to a halt (realised afterwards this might had be caused by the accomplice). A well-dressed man then barged in and tried to reach for my rear pockets. After he realised that there was nothing to steal (my wallet was in my front pocket), he tried to reach for the front and I caught him red-handed. Asked him sternly what he was doing though he just stared at me not knowing what to say. I let him off in the end. If I knew enough Bahasa, I probably would have given him a piece of my mind right in that busy market!

Batam was hardly a location for a quality break though there was not a better place that fitted our schedule and budget. If there was a choice, it would probably not come tops in my list of travel destination. My experience with Batam would probably be very similar to what was between those men and their weekend girlfriends (whom I saw in gigantic shopping malls). In short, it was short, bubble-gummy sweet and yet leaving me high and dry (as always).