Batam Trip 2D1N - KTM Resort - Dinner & Supper

It was 6pm when all of us came out from the SPA Villa. We intend to have afternoon tea but in the end our stomach was fumbling with so much hunger that we decide to satisfy is with our seafood dinner. Yummy! We ordered 4 crabs (2 black pepper/ 2 chili), 4 steam flower crabs, 1 Hong Kong steam style fish, 1 fried sotong & 1 vegetable (Xiaobai). It cost less than S$100 bucks! I think it may not be the cheapest as fresher seafood can still be found in Malaysia, Johor. However, the chef was really not bad to bring us to a different fantasy of tasting. Yum Yum… drooling?!? Hahaha

The day has not ended with the wonderful seafood feast. After a bath Kok Loong & I headed to my family’s cottage. We play card games and drinks. We have very much fun! Can believe it we finished the whole 1litre of Chivas! (p/s: my sister and I always try to make way thru for ourselves haha ;-D). Later at 9pm we ordered our supper at the restaurant again. The staff was nice enough to send the orders (fried sotong, garlic fried chicken & fried seafood beehoon) to our cottage (p/s: there is NO LAN phone available in the cottage), we even request for some ice which they give us a whole tub of it! Hee… Now you see how much my family can eat…HHAHHA

Batam Trip 2D1N - KTM Resort - The SPA

3.30pm the time was like.. finally here (I think we were pretty bored le). So it was SPA time! We headed to the SPA Villa & were greeted by the friendly staff there. We were being arranged for a 2 by 2 combination SPA villa. Of cos I’m with my darling. The SPA villa was so different from the cottage we stayed in, much cleaner and wooden floor was polished. There were flowers displayed as well. Restroom was so much better and well renovated then the cottages. If our cottages could be maintain as refined as the SPA villa it will be the BEST price for the BEST Spa & resort stay.

We changed into the Batik tube dress and short provided. Then the staffs soak our feet into a wooden bowl of warm water, rubbed them with sea salt & clean them. And we were then directed to the Jacuzzi filled with bubbles! Wow! I love… (p/s: I know my mum loves it too, as her comment on the SPA was the BEST she ever been). We then took a light shower and change into bathrobe and the full body massage began… it was so comfortable that I nearly fell asleep! Haha… Ginger green tea was served after the massage. It all ended so pleasantly with the sun setting … how peaceful and romantic

Batam Trip 2D1N - KTM Resort - The afternoon

No beach to play and do sun tanning, we resort to having coconut under the big umbrella shade. After which we get so bore that we decided to have an early lunch, around 11.30am at the resort. We ordered a Tom Yam Soup, Sambal Kangong, Fried chicken wings, Claypot Touhu & Fried seafood omelet. The lunch cost Rp 217800 only for 6 of us. As the resort has really not many facilities … after lunch we had a game of billard.

For more details you may like to visit their website
http://www.ktmresort.com/
http://batamspavilla.com/packages.html

Batam Trip 2D1N - KTM Resort - Family Cottage

For a less than 5mintues walk, I will reach the family cottage which my family stayed. It looks rather more like a villa or a place that could stay. It was furnished with kettle, fridge, stove, cutlery and a living area with 2 bedrooms. The house keeper may not have done a good job because one of the restroom has no shampoo….

Batam Trip 2D1N - KTM Resort - Beachfront Cottage

The resort itself was standing on a rather big area. Sad to say not much facilities was put up for it generally “big” size. Our check in was pretty fast. As our package included a 90mins SPA and a day city tour, the resort has already fixed our SPA to be at 3.30PM. We are glad with the timing thus we checked into our rooms first. Kok Loong and my room was the beachfront cottage with a petite balcony to share. We were rather discontented with it because there were no kettle and fridge provided, and the towels were even damp! Felt like it was not being sent for washing yet! Restroom vitalization was no good at all.

Batam Trip 2D1N - The Journey There

This is not my first trip to Batam, however, was the first time to go with my whole family. It was a 2D1N package SPA trip with KTM Resort, SPA Villa in Batam. We have to collect tickets before 8.10am at Harbor Front Ferry Terminal. Thus, we woke up early on Sat, 1st Nov, 2008. Our ferry is at 9.20am, and we have to check in half an hr earlier. We hade some extra time so we went for our Mac sausage and egg breakfast at Mac. Carrying a full stomach we happily board the Ocean Rider…. and about an hour journey on sea we reached Sekupang International Ferry Terminal. Batam time is an hour before Singapore time. Not too much of a harsh to clear the custom. However after which we had to look out for KTM Resort Mini Bus to take us to the resort. It comes on a first come first serve basic.

Batik Marie

Batik Marie

250g butter(1 cube)
1 cup sugar (if don’t like to have it too sweet personally I think half cup is enough)
1 can evaporated milk
4 eggs(beaten)
1/2 cup milo powder
1/2 cup cocoa powder (Van Houten)
400g Marie biscuits (1 packet) (break in quarters)
1 tbsp vanilla essence

1. melt the butter over heat.
2. pour in sugar. stir.
3. pour in evaporated milk + eggs. keep stirring so tt the eggs dun get cooked in the mixture.
4. pour in the cocoa powder + milo powder slowly n stir till the mixture thickens.
5. after mixture thickens, pour the vanilla essence. it'll give a sweet aroma to the mixture!
6. once mixture thickens, roughly abt 15-20mins, can off the heat and pour in the biscuits.
7. mix it well then get ready a normal cntr, put the biscuit mixture in and use a flat metal to press the whole mixture down(tt creates the batik design!).
8. voila! let it cool before storing it in the fridge.

Your batik marie can be served the next day!before cutting it, make sure u defrost it so tt cutting wud be easier!batik marie can last for quite long, u can eat the whole mth!

Cheese Cake!!

Ingredients Set A

1. 24pcs Marie biscuits (MUST be Marie biscuits (马利饼) hor! – Round biscuits in Red color packaging)
2. 125g butter (Buttercup brand – Golden color packaging)

Ingredients Set B
1. 1 tin of pineapple rings. Cut up. (Pleasant brand – Red color packaging)
2. 4 tbsp pineapple water
3. 1 can Nestle Cream
4. Half packet (1 packet = 250g) Philadephia chesse (Silver packaging)
5. 5 - 7.5g Gelatin
6. 2 and a half tbsp sugar

Instructions for Ingredient set A:
1. Rub butter into finely crushed Marie biscuits.
2. Make the cake base by pressing the mixed biscuits into a big plastic-disposable container (about L: 27cm x B: 15 -17 cm or round container diameter: abt 24cm).
3. Refrigerate for 1 hour (at least).

Instructions for Ingredient set B:
1. Put ingredients set B No. 2, 5 & 6 to melt (keep stirring) then mixed in No. 1,3 & 4 and bring to a boil. Not too long or the mixture will be oily.
2. Let the mixture cool for about half hour and then spread evenly onto the cake base.
3. Refrigerate to firmness. (IT'S V IMPORTANT for the ULTIMATE PRESENTATION OF CAKE!)

-THE END-

P.S All ingredients stated above can be brought from NTUC. Follow the
brand(s) above closely. Any other brands used, will change the overall
taste of the chessecake. If you face any problems, feel free to contact
me ya? AND YES, after you have done it, tell me about it ok?

Below is a photo of the above stated ingredient… put creativity in works, try with some other fruit … my friends & I have tired blueberry… taste super nice too… see the 2nd photo….

We will be BACK!!! - Sipadan

So much dive till we get a few candid shots here during the drift dive & also group photo with our diving gang! =D This was a fantastic 4D3N with Kapalai Dive Resort in Sipadan & Mabul Island.
The staff and dive master are friendly and helpful. Videography is available too. Our group had one taken at RM290/CD (consist of 2 dives). The experience was such a terrific & memorable one that we sure will return to this amazing island!

Anemone Crab!

These were the two photos that I personally love a lot! =D The tiny crab found among the sea anemone. We were facing a bit of a current when we took the photo. The tiny one doesn’t seem to be affected by us. Kok Loong was keeping his ground by holding one hand to a rock and the other with his camera over her and took a few quick shots. The photo turns out to be really great!

Scorpion Fish

Frogfish is one of the marine life that Kok Loong hope to discover, however, was kind of a disappointed that we did not manage to find. However, found this Scorpion fish. Small size as it might be, I think it has a look of a dinosaur. A tiny one though… couldn't agree more with me? Haha…

The tiny one ~ Nudibranch

Besides these species, we see a number of nudibranch. Nudibranch is a member of one suborder of soft-bodied, shell less marine which are noted for their often extraordinary colors and striking forms. It was amazing sight to see them slugging on the rocks or sandy surface. In the photo are some just some species we found.

Cuttlefish Chase

Cuttlefish, among the intelligent invertebrate species has a real interesting body structure - cuttlebone. With its vision like human, I just can wonder what this cuttlefish thinks when it saw us coming toward her. It cleverly camouflage itself by altering it skin color. Their skin flashes a fast-changing pattern as communication to other cuttlefish and to camouflage them from predators as well.

Flying Gurnard

An interesting flying gurnard also caught our attention on the sandy ground of paradise in Mabul. This marine fish is notable for their greatly enlarged pectoral fins, it "walk" along sandy sea floors while looking for crustaceans and other small invertebrates by using their pelvic fins.

Turtle, Whitetips & Grey Reef Shark Encounter

Turtles and whitetip & grey reef shark could be seen on almost every dive! The largest troop of the grey reef sharks we encountered is at Mid reef, estimated 20 tails swam beneath us. However, we give a miss on the hammerhead shark =(

The Dive - Sipadan / Mabul Island

We have a total of 3 guided dives each day. Evening & night dive is on our own for advance or divers with night dive experiences. Of cos, I get pretty excited because this is the first time I have been here (though Kok Loong is not because this is part of his hometown, he has been here during his childhood) and I have heard so many “incredible tale” of this underwater world that I can't wait to see it for myself.

Indeed every dive here was breathtaking… Big eye jack fish & Barracuda were swirling in huge school like a tornado! Giant humphead wrasse was in matching in big troop for morning breakfast among the corals in shallow waters. Awesome sight! Different type of bat fish, butterfly, angel fish, trigger fish, puffer fish, eels are common sight. It’s not only fish that you see. There’s this super huge giant turtle that was seen staying motionlessly during our night dive at Kapalai Dive Center Mandarin Valley. It stretches a length of about 2M, almost thought that it was a giant rock in the darkness. Haha…

Sipadan Dive June 2008 (4 Days 3 Nights)

13th June, 2008, 7:30pm, we drove off from Singapore Tuas Custom toward Kuala Lumpur, Capitol of Malaysia on my friend’s car. Arriving Kuala Lumpur around mid night and we put up at Kok Loong’s (KL, my hubby) sister house, before taking up the AirAsia flight which departed at 7.20am, 14th June. 2008. It was about 2.5hrs flight journey from KLIA to Sabah, Tawau Airport. We have arrived Tawau on time at 10.05am (Tawau is 1hr behind Singapore time). We are immediately greeted by the personnel from Kapalai Resort and were put on another 70mins (depends on traffic, we took about 1.5hrs!) land journey on a mini bus to the Semporna Jetty. The speed boat took another hr or so… it was a long journey.

In the lazy, warm & humid afternoon, we finally arrived at this heavenly known island, Sipadan Kapalai Dive Resort, in East Malaysia Sabah. The whole resort was built on an island that was shallowly covered under the sea (p/s: No beach on this resort). We were greeted by the crystal clear blue water and baby blue sky. Starfishes were smiling at us, school of jack fish swimming around and blue spot stingray were spying on us. Our fatigue slipped away when greeted warmly by the staff at Kapalai and this magnificent sight!

The 3 mains meals of the days are all in buffet style. Afternoon snacks served after 3rd dive, tea/coffee, cold water and cordial served throughout the day. So we had our first lunch and was check into our “enormous“, non-air condition resort house. Our house was #50, which was the 2nd last unit along the two endless stretches of accommodation. The whole housing consist of a king size bed and a single size bed, with a really huge enough toilet that has both a standing shower and a bath tub that oversee the endless Celebes Sea…cool isn’t?! And not forgetting the baloney for chilling out anytime of the day.

Related links:
http://www.sipadan-resort.com/
http://www.journeymalaysia.com/islandkapalairesort.htm