Upon reaching Batam on board an air-con ferry, we had a great lunch at the local seafood restaurant.
After lunch, we visited a Batik outlet and watched a Batik wrapping demonstration. Two of our pupils were selected to be the models of the day! Afterwhich, we did a little shopping of souvenirs.
Then we visited a local temple. It is a quiet place and all of us behaved well to show respect to the worshipers there.
We also visited a Fishing Village at Batam. The condition of living and housing there are very simple and run-down. It was an eye-opener for many of us. We have learnt to cherish what we have back home in Singapore and to be contented with what our parents have provided us with.
Below are 2 photographs showing the source of drinking water for the villagers at the Fishing Village. We are so thankful that we are able to drink clean water directly from the taps at home. We must learn to count our blessings.
On Day 2, we learnt to do Batik Painting at a Batik Centre. We did it the traditional way with melted hot wax. We used a tjanting (a wooden handled tool with a tiny metal cup with a tiny spout, out of which the wax seeps) to outline our drawings before filling them in with coloured dyes. It was great fun! Many of us were great artists!
The highlight of our Batam trip was the visit to orphanages. We brought board games, stationeries and books with us to give to the orphans there. We taught them how to play the games. We read to them and performed a dance for them. We were very happy to be able to bring joy to others and to make friends with them despite we had language barrier.
On the last day of the trip, we visited the Taman Mini and saw many interesting designs of Indonesia houses. We also tasted the famous Batam Layer Cake. Before we departed from Batam, we had a wonderful meal of Nasi Padang. In short, this has been a memorable and amazing learning journey.
