[brightbluesky]

just came back from Tg Balai trip...

here are the essentials for first timers,


01. during departure from Tg Balai, prepare RP$60k to pay to the indon customs. They do not give out change, so remember to give the exact amount.

02. if you ask the hotel staff to book the departure ferry ride, add RP$15k per pax to the hotel fees.

03. There are many chinese money changers in Balai. You can wait till your arrival then change the SG$ to RP$.

There is one chinese money changer... located just outside the ferry once you exit. The rates are better marginally, SG$1 to RP$6800 in Singapore, compared to SG$1 to RP$7050 in Indonesia, Tanjung Balai.

04. do not give money to the street kids, failing which, if you do... you would experiment a real-life cloning right in front of you. The whore gave one street kid some money and immediately... another one cloned out from nowhere and requested for money...

05. sitting on the blue van "bus" costs you RP$3000. it does not bring you to the whore houses, namely, Villa and Rukko, both located at the same place.

06. the motorcycle "taxis" costs you RP$10k to RP$20k per trip.

07. the majority of the chinese on the island are teochew... so if you speak teochew or hokkien, it works. not all of them speak mandarin.

08. the ecstasy pills costs about SG$30 per pill... almost all, if not all, the whores consume them as a form of leisure. Fun fact : almost all of them suffer from rotten teeth...

09. maxi hotel costs SG$38 and it's pretty ridiculous if you are a cheap charlie like me. I was putting up at a hotel which costs RP$150,000, which is about SG$21.42 per night. It has 1. air con, 2. warm water shower, 3. bed-bugs free bed.

apparently, there's many hotels littered on the island. if you don't mind exploring on foot for 10-20 minutes, it is a good idea to walk around, get a feel of the island and you would probably find another hotel that costs a princely RP$150k.

10. the whores at rukko look like the maids in singapore which... i won't set my eyes on. they costs RP$300k to 400k. the whores at villa... 60 - 80% still look like the whores in singapore... which i won't set my eyes on. the remaining of the whores at villa are somewhat younger, about 20 years old. you can get them at RP$550k. on a weekend, expect to buy them for their whole day service at RP$700k though.

RTF ? probably not.

I am trying to erase the whoring aspect of the trip from my memories actually.



the highlights of the trip

1. cheap lodgings... i am pretty delighted that i can pay for lodgings per night at sg$20+ a night.

2. the hotel should provide a safe at the counter which allows you to place your money at the safe. it requires 2 sets of keys, one held by them, the other held by you to access the contents of the individual safes.

3. the fish is awesome. expect nothing but superb freshness... i mean, fish as in the creature that swims in water... not the sex with the whores.

the seafood on the island are pretty good.

as usual, i avoided the places that are popular. 1. hotel : maxi... avoided that, as i felt sg$38 a night is over-priced and i can live with cheaper rooms which provide the 3 essentials, 1. air con, 2. warm water, 3. mattress without bed-bugs.

2. I also avoided the Long Beach seafood ( no relations with the singapore branch... ) Why? from the field reports from samsters, the prices doesn't seem very cheap.


interesting facts

correct me if i am wrong, but there doesn't seem to be a shopping mall there.

the whole island is branded with shops named after companies such as... IMM, Yeohan, Long Beach, Rasa Sayang, ... and they have no relations with the real thing...

they got one pasar malam ( night market ) littered with many street kids who would hustle you for change.

the locals do exhibit a habit of over-charging even upon prior agreement...
it helps if you speak malay. otherwise, for safety reasons, consider travelling around in the hotel MPV...

here's what I do, I go to the whorehouse in the MPV and then return with the whore together.

here's what they do, they sit on the motorbike taxi ( ojek ) and then return alone and wait for some time for the girl to arrive.

if patience is your thing, do what they do.

if otherwise, do what I do.


CHEAP COMMODITIES

cigarettes are very cheap to us there, about sg$2+ per pack.

beers are very cheap too...

so are the seafood dinners... it costed us slightly less than SG$50 for a dinner for 4, we had
1. tomato sauced fish ( pretty big and tender, fried on the outside... requested by the whore )
2. fried breaded garlic butter prawns ( awesome )
3. vege with belacan ( requested by the whore )
4. 2 X butter crab ( skip the crab... it's mud crab... thin, small and forgettable )

there's a stall that sells dog meat and snake meat... too bad, my buddy wasn't keen.


LOSERS UNITED

before our departure... we reached the ferry and there would be random men at the gates...

DO NOT GIVE THEM your passports... they are faking as the staff there.

at departure, you should only give your ferry ticket to the 2 girls seated in a wooden cubicle. they would request for RP$60k and more... pay the 2 losers 60k and they would furnish you with a sticker.

Then you would go to level 2 where u get the passport chopped by the custom officer.

DO NOT OFFER TO CARRY RANDOM LUGGAGE FROM SAMSTERS... you do not know which of them is a drug trafficker !



hope all these have been informative to the first-timer traveller to balai...