Oppa Batam Style

To know more about it, I wrote this article to introduce the place where I live on the island of Batam Riau Islands, Indonesia. I will not write about Batam city profile due to you can search by yourself on Google, so that will be written this time around Batam is my experience that certainly  different from the experience in my village.

Ok let started. So here are the interesting facts about Batam.

Singapore

As one of the province closest to the neighboring country, it is no wonder Singapore has a lot of influence on the lives of Batam. The distance is usually by a ferry only 45 minutes away plus 5 ferry terminal scattered everywhere so it is not surprising to most people in Batam is certainly ever go to Singapore. I was often so. Go in the morning lurking there into the night and just got home at the last ferry. So not need to pay rent a very expensive hotel there. Ticket prices range from about $ 42 USD. If there is a long public holiday, it can be ascertained Batam city will empty since the many return to their home town (most of citizen in Batam are nomads) or are foreigner such as Singapore, Malaysia etc...

Lifestyle

Lifestyle in Batam also widely affected by Singapore and Malaysia. In Batam TV channels without cable or parabolic antenna also been able to see Singapore and Malaysia TV channel! Because it is close to Singapore then on Batam almost all kinds of Singapore second hand good/junk can easily to get. Starting from HP, clothes, laptops, to boots and sandals. I have a friend who works in Singapore by collecting junk and reselling them in Batam.

So for the people of Batam with insufficient capital also can follow latest trend in Batam. Also because the distances are very close to Singapore can usually be found uncle/oppa (in Korean) from Singapore that lurking around at Nagoya Batam especially in the week end. Well I think the nightlife in Batam all of you already quite familiar. Usually some of these uncle illegally to have a wife in Batam so fitting his weekend to meet his wife and child in Batam although in his native country may only have labor job like cleaning service or taxi driver not a white collar worker. Surely the presence of uncle/oppa also helps increase income for the prostitutes / transvestites in Batam. Then usually also often found in local newspapers Singaporean’ uncle who died while being associated with prostitutes. So tragically...

Colloquial

Many Batam people who can master the average Chinese Mandarin well. Maybe because the TV channels are providing a full mandarin, the surrounding environment and work demands which are established by Singaporeans in Batam. In fact many private school, has taught Mandarin since elementary. Also of course the English language is very important in Batam.

Economy

When I was visiting Jakarta I once asked by my friend if in Batam use Singapore dollars huh? Hah interesting question. Of course not, but if you go to the boutique shopping at the mall and had no rupiah anymore, they still accept dollars. In fact, it was more profitable to use the dollar for clothes bag purse usually imported from Singapore. Therefore the money changer mushrooming in the city of Batam. Batam is also driven by the economies of many foreign corporations from many in Batam shipyard, Electronics, manufacturing etc... They say Batam are job paradise seekers because there are many companies that coupled with the adoption of the Batam Free Trade Zone.

Food

Well that is for food lovers definitely cannot wait. Batam's most famous culinary seafood. Here there are lots of tasty seafood restaurant from the fresh sea. For food with a local flavor is also there. Want to eat Batak; Padang; Chinese; Japanese; Sunda is all around considering your pocket is not empty. There are also many food vendors. Which I kind of regret is nasi Padang here is less chili kick! Quite different from the original Nasi Padang in Jakarta.

Walk

Many foreign tourists come to Batam for spa or massage. If they are keen on beach in Batam, they will stay at the resort. Resort in Batam quite a lot with various water games facilities. If regular local visitors are more inclined to shopping because here bag / branded clothes have many brands and quite cheap.

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Batam Bargirls Love, a Greatest Pretender

Let me share my friend’s experience (he is my colleague). In his early day went to Batam to join my company. He met a cute Bartender who is also a cashier in one of the pubs. She had a reputation for not being a cheap girl. Something stupid hit him and he asked her for a date and the next day they went for lunch. They both expressed his interest in wanting to get married as my friend already more than 30 years old and she was in late twenties.

He has a great fancy for her. He even sometime took half day's leave just to teach her how to use the e-mail or having a lunch and come back in the evening.

On one of they regular dates, she confided my friend and told him about her past where she had eloped from her home with a guy and her family cut all ties with her. The guy whom she was going to marry started beat her up every day and soon he left her and married another woman.

Being a very softhearted person, my friend was so sorry. He said he even saw tears in her eyes. He wishes He could give her the best and never make her suffer ever in her life and also try to restore her connections with her family. He also wanted to bring her to his family and show her the importance and fun of belonging to a family.

My friend later at one of afternoon asked her, if she had any boyfriends. She said, "No”. He asked her what did she think of the thought that one day He will ask her to be his girlfriend and she said it was a good idea but she needed a little time to think over it. She made him think that he was really the better candidate as the other was a lazy jobless guy in Batam who she really did not care about.

They continued their regular dates, sent each other a lot of e-mails and also talked a lot over the telephone. She would confide in him with her problems, He helped her with her little daytime business (she still work in the Pub at night). He would sometimes ask her to visit his home at Singapore and she said she would come one day when she had the time.

One day, He tried to call her to tell her that he want to take her out over the weekend but she was not in till the next day. She told him that she had gone to Tanjung Pinang (also small island near Batam) to sell something. He believed her without hesitation.

Nevertheless, they met during the weekend. During Lunch, she mentioned that she needed to borrow Rp.5 million (about US$470) to get a pre-paid card line and a handphone since her handphone was stolen. He told her to go for a broken down payment scheme and He will give her Rp 1 million a month. She agreed and within a week, my friend ran down during lunch time to give her the first payment and immediately returned to work.

Then, very recently, my friend insisted that she come to Singapore and he was annoyed when she was trying to evade this trip. So she came and said that she had to go back in the evening as she could not get leave from work at night. He said it was o.k.

When she came, she was showing off how she had no problems going through immigration and two weeks chop. While she was showing him her passport, my friend managed to see another chop which was dated the day when she said she had gone to Tanjung Pinang. He started being suspicious and when she was having lunch with him, she said that my friend need not accompany her till the boarding gate at WTC. Despite, he insisting to take her to the end, she became agitated and said he need not. He followed his instinct and told her after lunch that He had just signed up for a degree to upgrade himself and He could not keep a promise of being her boyfriend as He need to concentrate on the course (I forgot to say, that my friend previously had told her to make and decision to be my girlfriend or just say no. She said she just cannot make decision now. Then my friend gave her two months). But one occasion he asked for out. She exhibited little emotions and said she wants to be his best friend and prayed the best for his success.

Much later that night, He call her on her HP and in was out of receiving area, So he called her Pub and they said that she had the day off and had gone to Singapore. He knew it.

Further investigations revealed, through reliable resources that she has a string of foreign boyfriends but she plays the game very well. She calls all these including me as "Friends".

Could you believe it, three days after telling a lie that she was working in one company, she had the chick to ask him for Rp5 million. On one of their first date, she lied about her birth date, saying that it was the day before. But looking at her passport my friend found out it was four months before. Once having made a date, she asked my friend to cancel because she said that had signed up for a course and had to attend a course to upgrade but she actually she had to meet another guy. She always knew that my friend was the nice guy, always soft spoken so she could cancel dates easily call off trips to Singapore till my friend got pissed of last week and look how it became a turning point in his life.

She thinks she has got away with it and does not know that he have found out. She wants to be friends with him but my friend doesn’t think that is possible now. She said she will be sending him an e-mail. I feel like telling her I know the whole game.

The moral of the story is never trust these Batam bargirls. Many of them are playgirl and that is what they are. Just get drunk, and never even for a second contemplate a relationship with them. They are the world biggest pretender.

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