Church camp / Batam

It was a fitting start to be whisked away to Batam for a relaxing church retreat that was both spiritually refreshing and intellectually stimulating at the same time. It got me thinking - amongst other things, the futility of human toil and endeavour, versus the true work that needs to be done for the greater purpose, for what is to come in a little while. Am I doing enough? Sadly no. 

Contemplations aside, for which I am still finding my personal answers to, a quick round up about the other aspects of the trip.  

Thankfully, the journey took only 1 hour on the ferry, which was quite smooth sailing (pun intended!) so there were no issues with sea sickness. Harbourfront terminal was packed as it was the start of the long weekend, but otherwise the transit process was rather seamless and easy. 

Given that it was a bible study camp - most of the time (2 full days) was spent on the grounds of the Holiday Inn resort, which was comfortable enough. We had all our meals for these 2 days (plus a breakfast on the third day) at the hotel. The food was nothing to shout about, though the coffee had a distinct nutty flavour that was quite delicious, and unexpected from an automated coffee machine / dispenser. 

Then, it was a few hours of free time at Nagoya mall on the last day. The downside to staying at Holiday Inn (if the intention is to hang out in the city / shop) is that it was about 20 - 25 minutes ride each way. Batam is not exactly a shoppers' haven, though via a search on google I quickly identified 3 to-do activities (in no order of priority): (1) A&W (curly fries! waffles! root beer float!): (2) cheap kueh lapis; (3) cheap groceries.

With the limited rupiah we had (equivalent of S$50), we managed to get A&W lunch for 2, two1kg kueh lapis cakes (not pictured), and lots and lots of Indomie. So much for #eatingclean. I couldn't resist as there were so many flavours to choose from, though I'm not sure what the differences are as I can't read the labels. There were more flavours we didn't get, because we were that disciplined (or truth be told, because we ran out of cash by then).  A&W was disappointing though, so all I've got is a blurry picture to show for the me: the curly fries were cold and a little soggy, the root beer was warm so most of my ice cream had melted by the time it arrived. The waffle fared slightly better.