Batam 2014

Went to Batam with the folks last Saturday. We woke up at five in the morning and the skies were still dark when we reached the Cruise Centre at Harbourfront.

I was actually not too keen to go as our last trip to Batam was just a few days short to a year. 

However, with the lure of A&W, I decided to go anyway.

Have A Cup Of Cruelty: The Truth Behind Kopi Luwak

Kopi Luwak, or Civet Coffee, refers to a kind of brewed coffee that is made from coffee berries which have been eaten, digested and excreted by the Civet Cat.

The enzymes from the digestive tract breaks down the bitterness of the coffee berries and coffee brewed from such berries are said to have a very distinctive flavor.

These cat-like creatures from Indonesia feeds mainly on fruits and berries; including the coffee berries. Their excrement would fall onto the forest floor and farmers will harvest these fermented berries to further process them for human consumption.

Well, there is nothing wrong with drinking Kopi Luwak because in the beginning, the excreted berries were collected from free-roaming civet cats in the wild who not only selects the best berries to eat but have a varied diet as well.

However, due to its increasing popularity and limited availability, the traditional way of collecting these pooped berries can no longer meet the demands of coffee connoisseur around the world.

The farmers now need to produce alot of these coffee berries in the shortest time possible and this give rise to battery farming methods where captured civet cats are forced into tiny cages specifically for this purpose.

The Worst Haze Since 1997?

Low visibility of the Singapore Flyer

As you would have probably known by now, Singapore has been hit by one of the worst haze since 1997. In Sumatra, farmers slash-and-burn land as it is a fast and cheap process to clear space for palm oil plantations.

This inadvertently causes forest fires that pollute the air. The wind current then carried most of the smog towards our direction, leaving our island republic in a hazy situation.

The plummeting air-quality causes many to fall ill including myself who had had a asthma relapse since a week ago but with no signs of recovering.

Batam 2013: One Day Tour

It has been close to twenty years since I last visited Batam with my secondary school friends. At that time, we went to Waterfront City and the chalet bungalows had only just been completed.

When I learn that my brother had booked us a one day trip to Batam on Labour Day, I was elated to revisit this slow-paced city again!

Early that morning, I brought my folks to meetup with my brother and his in-laws for breakfast at Habourfront where the Singapore Cruise Centre is located on the second floor.

After breakfast, we went up to check in to board the ferry but was told that the gate has already been closed even though we arrived at the stipulated time as told by the tour agency.

The personnel spoke to someone via the walkie walkie and we were given the green light to proceed as the ferry have not departed yet.

We hurried in and was just in time to hear our names being announced over the PA system.