Part 2 of a mini-series of my short getaway to Batam.

By the time the ferry arrived at Batam, I was only half seasick as I managed to head up to the deck for some fresh air after serving (shakily, I must add) a number of rounds of Bacardi coke/orange juice. (And let me just say that it was quite a challenge serving drinks onboard while the ferry was going really fast.)

When we arrived at the lobby of Turi Beach Resort (Nongsapura), two resort staff greeted us (along with the rest of the guests onboard the private ferry ride) with trays of warm towels and cool ginger honey drinks. I was never a fan of any ginger stuff. No gingerbread man (or people), no ginger drinks—not even ginger beer. But this ginger honey drink was really good. The initial sharp taste of ginger landed on my tongue at the first sip—but as I swallowed, the coolness of the drink just soothes the throat. Not too fond of the aftertaste, I must say. Still, one should try it.

There goes one whole chunk on just that ginger drink.

Anyway, I thought we could at least check into our rooms and settle down before having a look at our working area. But one of the organizers, Mr. Softie*, just had to bring us—as we dragged our heavy duffle bags—around The Island Bar (which was located at the end of a 220m jetty) which was where the drinks reception would be held at.

The nice part about the checking-out-the-reception-area-before-checking-into-our-rooms part was that the sun was slowly setting along the horizon of the sea and it was a lovely view from the jetty. After an hour or so of debriefing, pasting of posters, transporting of alcohol, arranging for more glassware to be brought out and meeting Moe Alkaff (who was the emcee for the event), we finally brought our bags and checked into our rooms.

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* Okay, so he’s not called Mr. Softie. But I have no idea what his name is. Furthermore, I have my reasons for calling him that. He’s rather… soft, if you know what I mean.