Have Perut Will Travel...: BTH Day 1 │ BTS to Pasir Gudang • Harbour Bay • Batam!

You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, publish, display, perform, modify, create derivative works, transmit, or in any way exploit any such content, nor may you distribute any part of this content over any network, including a local area network, sell or offer it for sale. You may not alter or remove any copyright, watermarks, or other notice from copies of the content on this blog. Copying or storing any content is expressly prohibited without prior written permission of the blog owner. For permission to use the content on this blog, please contact harrycath@gmail.com.

Saturday, 10 October 2026

BTH Day 1 │ BTS to Pasir Gudang • Harbour Bay • Batam!

Away Day Excursion Begins

Tonight marks the start of our away day adventure to Batam, Indonesia, joining my officemates for a quick cross border escape. Cat and I left home at 10:00pm, the neighbourhood already quiet and dim, and hailed a Grab car straight to Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS). The ride cost RM33.00 (≈ USD8 / EUR7) — smooth, quick, and familiar, bringing us to the bright, modern terminal in Bandar Tasik Selatan where the night’s journey truly begins.

At TBS, we met the full crew — Hafazil, Suzianah, Arif, Adrianna, Tasha, Tan, Rajan, Wong, Syaiful and Sunil. I handed out all twelve tickets for Super Nice Express, priced from RM55 (≈ USD12 / EUR11) for the 11:45pm departure to Pasir Gudang. Reviews praised the comfy VIP seats and good fares, though punctuality and onboard amenities were said to vary. We scanned our tickets at Gate G13, waited at Platform B7, and boarded once the delayed bus finally arrived. At 12:22am, we pulled out of TBS for the overnight ride south.

Dawn in Pasir Gudang

The journey was quiet and uneventful, and we reached Pasir Gudang at 5:20am. After a short discussion, we walked to Lepak Corner PG Bistro for breakfast while my Muslim colleagues performed dawn prayers at a nearby mosque.

Pasir Gudang Ferry Terminal

We then booked several Grab cars to the Pasir Gudang Ferry Terminal for our 8:30am Dolphin Fast Ferry, which required us to be there ninety minutes earlier. Rajan, Wong and I were picked up first at 7:00am, arriving by 7:15am. After enquiries at the Dolphin counter, we printed our boarding passes at the self serve kiosks. The rest arrived soon after, and by 7:30am everyone had their passes. At 7:50am, Immigration opened and we cleared the checkpoint before boarding.

Crossing to Harbour Bay

The ferry slipped out under a soft morning haze, the straits glowing like brushed silver. The one hour and thirty minute crossing felt breezy yet cinematic — cranes fading behind us, barges drifting past, fishing boats carving confident lines across the water. Midway through, Batam’s coastline rose from the horizon, Harbour Bay’s jetty sharpening into view as the sea shifted from steel grey to tropical blue.

We docked at 10:22am, and because Cat felt a little seasick, we were allowed to disembark ahead of the rest. We regrouped with our colleagues and headed to the Immigration autogates, only to be redirected to manual counters when none of our passports were approved.

The All Indonesia App Lesson

Cat called out just in time — an Immigration officer spotted the tiny step we’d missed in the All Indonesia app. After receiving the QR code, we had to tap “apply visa on arrival” and select the non payment option. One quick fix later, the autogates turned green. A sharp save, and a solid lesson learnt.

Boarding Passes for the Return

After scanning our QR codes at Customs — and navigating past the laid back security checkpoint — we regrouped for a quick potty break. I called Pak Syakri, our driver, who met us shortly after. Instead of leaving the terminal, he suggested we collect tomorrow’s return trip boarding passes immediately to avoid long queues.

I gathered all twelve passports and followed him upstairs to the Dolphin office, where we collected each boarding pass. A surcharge had increased, and Pak Syakri helped settle the IDR360,000 (≈ MYR110 / USD7 / EUR6) due — later graciously absorbed by our tour operator Pak Wandy. Bless you.

Ready for Batam

Back on the ground floor, Pak Syakri headed out to get his van. After a short wait, he pulled up in his comfortable 14 seater Toyota HiAce Commuter, helped us load our luggage, and we settled into our ride — Batam now properly under our feet.

Stay tuned for the next video as our guided tour of Batam begins!