Laura Joy Land

Since I last wrote, I had the pleasure of hosting a friend from Germany for a week. It was lovely to reminisce with someone who knew me in Bonn and to show her my life in Batam. Now I have someone far away who understands what I mean when I say "the coconuts are trying to migrate again"...

Before she came, I was worried that she would be bored because I had to work every day and there's not much to do in Batam. As it turned out, we had nowhere near enough time to get everything done we wanted to, or to be bored! The highlight of her stay (for me anyway!) was our mini getaway to Bintan, an island just a 60min ferry trip east of Batam. We looked around some old buildings, took photos of very big statues, and then headed to a quiet beach resort for 24hrs of downtime.... (my apologies for the disastrous layout)

Permission to skip the tedious staff meeting? Check! Lugagge? Check! Happy Travelers ready to get the bleep out of Batam? Check!

Upon arrival in the capital of Bintan, Tanjung Pinang, we headed straight to a local restaurant serving Nasi Padang. Various dishes of increasing spiciness are served all at once and you are just charged for what you eat. My favourite dish is Beef Rendang, which is like beef jerky (dry beef)

but in a unique thick spicy sauce (not pictured).

We stayed the night in Tanjung Pinang and then ventured to a little island about twenty minutes away by boat. Sorry...I'm not the kind of person who cares to remember the names of random places.

These shots were taken from the boat that got us to the island.

This little island is home to many old buildings, which were all yellow. Yes, that is the extent of my intellectual knowledge about this place... oh oh oh, I can also tell you that a king who wrote a poem is buried there.

You're welcome.