Weekend shopping at Pekanbaru

Every weekend, we visit Pekanbaru to buy things which are not available in Commissary. Actually the true reason for this trip is to get out of the camp to see the real world, new faces, have outside food and to break daily routine. Vrush does her shopping for cloths & Adi looks for his toys / books. We generally use pool car & travel with other friends like Sanjay, Bharat, Rajesh & Tony.

Generally everyone’s preferred place is “SKA Mall”, which is the biggest mall of Pekanbaru. I prefer to visit “Pasar Bawah” (traditional market). Friend Devi introduced me to this place in March. This is a roadside market, spread across two small lanes. Typical to the ‘bazaar’ of any small town in India. We can find the things which are not generally available in other supermarket (Eg: Okhra, coriander leaves, freshly grated coconut etc). Also we found the vegetables & fruits are very fresh here, lasts longer compared to the ones bought from supermarket / Commissary.

I found this a great place to buy fresh fish / prawns. Specially the Pomfret ‘s (known as “bawal putih” locally) & king size prawns are very good. The price is cheap compared to Mumbai. Lately I am a regular visitor in this place, I made friendship with some vendors & get a good deal (I believe) every time.

Some of my colleagues got surprised to know that I visit Pasar Bawah regularly, since expats generally don’t go there for shopping. They were concerned about my safety. However, I never felt unsafe in pasar bawah. Instead, I feel like I am in my home country.

Trip to Duri

During my project, many times I had to visit to Duri, since most of the users based in Field. By road, it takes 3 hours from Rumbai to Duri. We often travel by helicopter too since it takes just 20 minutes flight from Rumbai to Duri. Chevron Chopper flies between Rumbai and Duri twice a day.

Previously the entire region between Rumbai to Duri was rainforest. Now most of it has been cleared (by burning the forest) and converted to Palm Plantations. All we can see from the helicopter is ocean of Palm Plants for miles & miles. However, we can have a glimpse of Rumbai / Duri Camp on take off & landing.


















Flying in helicopter is more fun than airplane. Since helicopter flies very low, one can enjoy the beautiful landscapes. We can also see how pilots control the helicopter.


If any expat traveling by company bus, or by car after 4pm, it is mandatory to travel with a armed guard or police. Since I am an expat here, this rule applied to me too. However, this caused un-necessary delays few times.

For me, Duri is no fun, except the food court. They serve variety of food there, not just Padang food like in Rumbai food court. Duri Camp is much bigger than Rumbai and look lively with many people moving around.