Batam Info / Interest / Help Thread

[nono1973]

An interesting article (at least to me) i found about Indonesia's culture (and history) from the old 20k rupiah note.

Did You Know That There’s A Ganesha On Indonesian Currency? Here’s Why

Indonesia is a country where 87.5% of the population are Muslims and 3% are Hindus, but you'll find plenty of Hindu motifs everywhere you look. So much so that, when L.K Advani visited Jakarta in July 2010 to attend the World Sindhi Conference, he was left awestruck by the healthy respect the Muslim majority has for Hindus and their mores and vice versa.

Among various examples of widespread Hindu influence in Indonesia, is the 20,000 rupiah note with an inscription of Lord Ganesha alongside a picture of Ki Hajar Dewantara in the front. The backside of the note has a picture of a classroom with children studying.

It is believed that the Indonesian archipelago was under Hindu influence as far back as the first century and the culture has carried forward to contemporary times with native believers of Hindu deities and practices.

While Lord Ganesha is widely regarded as the God of arts, sciences and intellectual wisdom, Ki Hajar Dewantara was a well known Indonesian independence activist and a pioneer of education for native Indonesians when the country was under Dutch influence. The picture of the classroom at the back supports the theme of the note, that of education.

There are plenty of Hindu motifs present throughout the country, the Ramayana and Mahabharata tales are widely prevalent among the natives, there is a Krishna-Arjuna statue at Jakarta square, the Indonesian military has Hanuman as their mascot and the Bali tourism logo is inspired from Hindu mythology and its symbolism. Bandung Institute of Technology, an esteemed premier educational institution has Ganesha as its logo.

There is another theory to this, according to a Quora user, that Dr. Subramanian Swamy once asked the Indonesian Finance Minister about the image of Ganesha on their currency note. The minister explained that in 1997, the currency of several Asian countries was getting devalued. After all attempts to curb the devaluation failed, somebody suggested that they have an image of Ganesha, bringer of good fortune on the note. Luckily, it worked and the superstition has stuck ever since. Since then, the image has stayed on the currency note and natives have accepted it.

In the words of an impressed L.K Advani,
"In Indonesia, the names of places, of people, and the nomenclature of institutions also give one a clear impression of a benign Sanskrit influence."

[Hurricane88]

Merry Xmas to BRO NONO and friends here...

Originally Posted by nono1973

Merry Christmas to everyone !!

[fadinho89]

Bros, Vienna spa got any specials? Or any nearby places from da Vienna hotel? Even though it's Nagoya looks like very far from central nagoya

[Leoric]

If only u read page 1 & page 2,u are likely to know that Da Vienna is abt 5 mins walk to Formosa,& if only u read,u should also know that all u have to do is to pick up the reception's phone to dial for the massage to the 4th floor of 'that hotel' & if only u read,u will also learn that it cost way much less than vienna spa ,whereby u need not opt for vienna, that don't-know-will-provide special service spa & even if they do,they will only do so at a supposing-higher-than-Sinkapore price.

Everything u asked for so conveniently rite to yr very room door step,if only u read. No need to read a lot,just page 1 & 2.

Have a Merry Christmas!

PS : i didn't provide the number,bcs i don't feed, u can still find it on TS's signature.

[hawkeye007]

Originally Posted by Leoric

If only u read page 1 & page 2,u are likely to know that Da Vienna is abt 5 mins walk to Formosa,& if only u read,u should also know that all u have to do is to pick up the reception's phone to dial for the massage to the 4th floor of 'that hotel' & if only u read,u will also learn that it cost way much less than vienna spa ,whereby u need not opt for vienna, that don't-know-will-provide special service spa & even if they do,they will only do so at a supposing-higher-than-Sinkapore price.

Everything u asked for so conveniently rite to yr very room door step,if only u read. No need to read a lot,just page 1 & 2.

Have a Merry Christmas!

PS : i didn't provide the number,bcs i don't feed, u can still find it on TS's signature.

If only........... Then pigs can fly liao.. Hehe

Merry Christmas to you bro...

[Ninja_Assassin]

Originally Posted by nono1973

An interesting article (at least to me) i found about Indonesia's culture (and history) from the old 20k rupiah note.

Long long time ago when I was in school...... we were taught during history lessons that Indonesia was a Hindu Kingdom in ancient times. It was only in the last couple of hundred years that the Islam religion took roots and grew following the arrival of traders from the Middle East.

[Leoric]

Originally Posted by Leoric

Nono,since u often use apple & pineapple so descriptively in your postings,i think u are going like this video on Ryuk,the Shinigami in the upcoming Death Note movie.

PPAP（Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen）

Love it?!

How much u say u pay for that apple in batam again?

Merry Christmas to all in this thread...

Here's a X'mas version of the PPAP song dedicate to all of u.

Originally Posted by nono1973

Merry Christmas to everyone !!

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

Merry Xmas to BRO NONO and friends here...

Originally Posted by hawkeye007

Merry Christmas to you bro...

[geong]

Going to Batam tomorrow based on Bro Nono's guide posted. Wish me luck.

[grey82]

Originally Posted by geong

Going to Batam tomorrow based on Bro Nono's guide posted. Wish me luck.

all the best

[tcss000]

Its so easy! A new batam-ster is born. Merry Xmas!

[MiG27]

Hi Guys,

Glad to see everyone still enjoying Batam!

I haven't made any visits to this lovely island for almost half a year.
I had changed to a night shift job and I find I didnt gain much on extended off days coz I feel very tired most days and my health is taking a beating.
Still, it is all for the money.

Anyway, here's wishing every one here a very Merry X'mas and a Happy New Year!! And CNY is around the corner.....

[norice]

Greetings,

I'm hoping to visit Bantam next year! When does rainy season start and end?

Thanks.

[manonamission]

anyone in batam tonight?
can link up for some drinks...

[xiaovic]

Originally Posted by PowerBenz

Book Hana Hotel..Its just directly opposite new berry...Hotel is cheap and clean...

new berry still have? thought closed?

[nono1973]

My 35th Batam Trip Summary
(8th Dec to 11th Dec 2016)

Reference to my 34th Batam trip summary

This trip seems to have more things to do than I expected (and planned), hehehe...anyway,i already have a feeling that its not going to be good as my 34th trip,and I am suppose to do 'returns' to temple becos year 2016 end as my next trip would likely be next year in 2017.

Touch down on Biz Hotel becos I need to do some reccing over the area around Biz Hotel and as well as a promise that I need to keep to someone at Biz. Formosa's sudden price increase this month also forbids me to stay there too,so I thought it would be a good chance for me to stay at Biz,and as well as to keep a promise to return during beginning of 2016.

(dont worry about Formosa room price,i have manage to bring the price back down again before i left Batam,it will be update in the later part of this summary)

Why Biz Hotel this time round? Reason is simple...

Check in to Biz Hotel Junior Suite,the 1st thing that greets me was a interminent power over-surge when I plug-in the card key (lights on,lights off...no,nothing to do with supernatural stuffs). Ok,fine...someone came and fixed it and after settling down,i begin to set up my "entertainment" system and the next problem I have to face is the internet issue. The wifi totally failed me for the 4D3N. So for this trip, the entire holiday mood was killed by me having to bring the receptionist,the technician, the supervisor and their managers up to my room every single day on an average of at least twice a day. There is totally no way any 'living thing' could have kept their cool,hehehe...

One of the case is,where the in-hotel-room service dinning was over charging me my food order by 66% extra. The menu says 50k rupiah on a certain food my girl ordered, the bill on the receipt turn out 88k+. The rest of the case would be the technicians of the hotel having to come to my room on a daily basis to fix the internet connection.

The hotel stays in this trip seems to remind me something, in Batam if there is anything that start getting messed up, I will have to swallow everything down, hence much often I would prefer to plan most of my things in advance and making sure they are all nicely done. This applies also for all my other travels beside going to Batam. Its a lesson (or reminder) to me in this trip and even at that,i would say that this will not be my last stay in Biz Hotel. The staffs was so apologetic that I hear no less than 200 of the same words "sorry" from them. How do I know its more than 200 times they said "sorry" to me,hehehehe...I counted and I stopped counting at number 200,hehehe...this is an unforgettable stay in Batam hence I have a lot to pen down.

Ok,so much for the hotel I stayed in.

When i 1st touch down Batam,the 1st thing i did was go change my money opposite Formosa Hotel at 9400/SGD. Head to the hotel to make some inquiries there (but the manager isnt in) before heading to Kaha to get my Biz Hotel room at 820k per night. Yes, Junior Suite room from Kaha at Biz Hotel has increase price,the Executive room cost 930k per night (if i dont remember wrong). Since i am not the bill bearer in this trip,i took the junior suite. So 3 nights stay cost me 2460k this time round.

(i know,i know...this could be the 1st time you guys see me as a non-stingy guy)

Next thing,i head to one of favourite booking place to grab a girl. Reach the place,mami isnt in..we head for lunch and then after lunch,heads back to the same place again and the mami is STILL NOT IN,hehehe...so i decide to steal her girl...meaning taking the girl w/o paying,hehehe...until later on mami called my girl and we have to make a detour to pick her up to make payment. After bargaining with Mami,the price for 3 nights came down to 2 million rupiah (mami tells me CNY price will go up by 100k per night and it has to be a fixed price,meaning cannot bargain). Tcss for a bit before heading to TOP 100 to buy groceries and then back to my room again.

After dropping my girl off,told my girl to 'stay',while i head to some pharmacies to help my bosses to buy some medicated stuffs. Spend quite a bomb there and due to the fact that some pharmacy didnt have the stock i need,i pharmacy-hop quite a handful of shops before finally settling my 'last buy' at a 24 hour local pharmacy.

Head over to Tiban Tua Pek Kong thereafter...

Outside the temple
http://tryimg.com/8/2016/12/15/lp5PK.gif

Inside the temple main hall
http://tryimg.com/8/2016/12/15/lplOU.gif

I have been to more than 10 point to point travel in case no one notice.

Harbour Bay >> Money Changer >> Formosa Hotel >> Kaha >> Joint >> Lunch >> Joint >> Top 100 >> Pharmacy 1 >> Pharmacy 2 >> Pharmacy 3 >> Pharmacy 4 >> Tiban Tua Pek Kong >> Back to Hotel (i could have go for dinner out of hotel if i wanted to)

...continue to page 2...