Anggana's Birthday Party at Waterina

Date: Saturday, 19 April 2008
Location: Club House/Function Room, The Waterina, Geylang, Singapore

On Saturday, 19 April 2008, we went to The Waterina for Inka and Irza to attend Anggana's 6th birthday party.

Unfortunately, the camera was having technical difficulties resulting in blurred images on almost all of the pictures. :( After consulting my friends at Indo-Sing Photographer's mailing list, only then I found out that the so called "technical difficulties" was because the camera's lens is dirty... *sigh* :(

Related link:

Happy Birthday Anggana!

Indo-Sing Photographers' Lighting Workshop

Date: Saturday, 26 April 2008
Location: Club House/Function Room, Valley Park, Singapore

Last Saturday, I and Irza went to Indo-Sing Photographers' lighting workshop. This event is hosted by Andre, one of the active members of the mailing list. The workshop itself is conducted by eRBe.

As some of us might have known, my presence there was just a "penggembira" :), since I don't consider myself as an avid photographer. I believe I was the only one who came to the event with a pocket camera. :) :)

That's why, while the others were busy attending to the workshop and trying all the various lightings to take pictures of the models (who are actually Andre's friends who volunteered to become the models for this workshop event), I chose to bring Irza and his friends (Wawan and Ahmad Dasuki's kids) outdoor and create our own photo sessions. :)

We went around the swimming pool area, as well as to the water fountain area and the BBQ pit area and I took their pictures while they were happily playing and running around. The result? Beautiful Wina and Marsya, as well as handsome Rafli and Rifqi, together with Irza, really look good in front of the camera. And the most important thing, they were really having fun! :) :)

Related links:

IndoSing Photographer Lighting workshop - 26 April 2008
Lighting Sharing Session
Andre's photo results
Ahmad Dasuki's photo results

Sedap Corner, Bukit Batok

This hainanese chicken rice stall is located inside the S11 Food Court in block 640 Bukit Batok Central, not far from Bukit Batok bus interchange and the MRT station. It has a halal certification from MUIS.

When I went there earlier this afternoon for lunch, this stall has the longest queue compared to other stalls in the vicinity. However, surprisingly the service is quite fast and efficient, and I didn't have to wait for long to get my chicken rice set.

The price is also, surprisingly, reasonable. Normal chicken rice dish will cost you only $2.50 to $3.00, while more "complete" set with egg, tofu and gizzard like what I had earlier only cost me $4.00.

Apologise for the lack and the low quality of the pictures, I took them using my mobile phone.

Side Trips in Johor

Date: 12-13 April 2008
Location: Jusco AEON Tebrau City, Danga Bay and Gunung Pulai

During our weekend getaway trip to Johor last weekend, we were not only making use of the hotel's facilities, but also made some side trips to couple of locations in and around Johor Bahru, either for food or sightseeing.

On Saturday (12/4) afternoon, we went to AEON Tebrau City and had lunch at the JUSCO food court located on the second floor. This was our third visit to this biggest shopping mall in Johor, and other than the food court, we also went there for the amusement centre for the kids (which is located just next to the food court) and, of course, the Breadtalk bakery shop and its popular spicy chicken floss buns, which is halal in Malaysia.

In the evening, we visited Danga Bay and had dinner in one of the BBQ seafood restaurants there. The food is superbly delicious, and the price is surprisingly reasonable.

We had our dinner in an alfresco seating environment, with trains passing by giving amusement for the kids. We actually could ride the train however we were not able to find the location of the station where we could buy the ticket and board the trains. :( The kids were disappointed for not being able to ride the train. Will have to find the exact location of the station when we go there again. Anyone knows? :)

On Sunday (13/4), after checking out of the hotel, we went to Gunung Pulai and since the main recreational forest park is closed, we went to a less-visited attraction spot located south of the main park. My GPS told me that there is a waterfall on that spot as well, however when we went there we couldn't find it. Just saw some parked cars and some food stalls, and some locals having a bath in the river there.

Another thing I would like to share is that now we do not have to fill in the Malaysia immigration cards when we pass through their immigration, making trips to Malaysia much easier now.

GPS Receiver

Sempet senyum-senyum saya pas membaca kalo tetangga Iko dan Hera kadang suka nyasar pas nyetir di Singapura. Kota kecil gini, kok masih bisa nyasar? Walaupun kotanya kecil, tapi disini memang agak susah nyari jalan kalau kita belum hapal jalan, karena jalan utama dan expressway yang kadang membingungkan, apalagi dari satu titik A ke titik B itu bisa ada beberapa alternatif jalan yang kelihatannya sama dekatnya. Lebih lagi, lalu lintas yang teratur membuat kita agak sulit untuk menepi dan mencari jalan (atau melihat peta) tanpa menghalangi lalu lintas, beda dengan di Jakarta yang tinggal minggirin mobil keluar jalan.

Makanya disini, planning rute itu sebenarnya perlu. Kecuali kalau kita udah hapal, lebih baik kita cek dulu ke peta mengenai jalan yang akan kita ambil ke tempat tujuan. Jangan berangkat dulu baru bingung cari-cari jalan. Sekali belokan atau putaran yang kita akan gunakan terlewat, muternya bisa lebih jauh dan waktu 10-15 menit pun akan terbuang untuk setiap belokan yang terlewat. Apalagi kalau waktu peak hour yang kadang macetnya sudah menyaingi Kuala Lumpur atau Jakarta.

Nah, bagi yang males atau kurang mahir baca peta, penggunaan GPS bisa menjadi alternatif. Apalagi, kalau kita udah punya smartphone atau PDA, baik yang berbasis Windows Mobile maupun Symbian, kita tinggal beli GPS receiver yang di-pair ke handphone kita dengan menggunakan fasilitas bluetooth. Jadi tidak perlu beli GPS device yang harganya selangit itu. Karena saya sudah punya handphone Dopod 818 Pro yang berbasis Windows Mobile 5.0 (belum sempet upgrade ke 6.0 nih), saya memilih GPS 10x receiver merk Garmin yang memang merupakan market leader-nya di bidang GPS. Harganya S$190, saya beli di toko Perfect Watch di Sim Lim Square lantai 1. Kalau mau GPS receiver yang lebih murah, katanya sih merk Holux juga bagus. Salah satu model GPS receiver Holux yang popular adalah tipe M-1000, harganya S$129 dan bisa dibeli di East Gear. Walaupun demikian, model tersebut adalah model lama yang sekarang sudah digantikan oleh beberapa model baru seperti M-1200 dan M-241 yang juga berfungsi sebagai logger dan katanya harganya sekarang juga sudah semakin murah (saya belum sempet cek harganya). Jadi sebenarnya, kita hanya butuh biaya sekitar S$100-S$190 saja untuk menjadikan PDA kita sebagai alat navigasi GPS.

Setelah GPS receiver tersebut di-pair ke handphone kita dengan menggunakan bluetooth, baru kita install software untuk navigasi dan peta-nya. Karena saya menggunakan GPSr Garmin, saya memilih untuk menggunakan software Garmin Mobile XT yang bisa kita download (walaupun tidak secara utuh) di website-nya Garmin. Tadinya saya menggunakan software Garmin Que, tapi ternyata software ini kurang stabil dijalankan di PDA saya, sehingga saya akhirnya memutuskan untuk menggunakan Garmin Mobile XT.

Kalau software navigasi-nya pakai Garmin, maka peta-nya juga harus pake peta versi Garmin. Untungnya, peta versi Garmin ini banyak tersedia dan merupakan versi standar kebanyakan peta yang digunakan oleh pengguna GPS. Peta versi Garmin untuk wilayah Singapura (dan Malaysia) saya download secara gratis dari situs Malsingmaps. Bagi rekan-rekan yang membutuhkan peta Jawa, Bali dan beberapa daerah lainnya di Indonesia, peta-nya juga bisa di-download secara gratis di situs Navigasi.Net. Selain versi Garmin, software navigasi dan peta lainnya yang cukup terkenal adalah versi Mapking. Tapi sayangnya software ini tidak gratis, kita harus membeli software Mapking-nya dulu walaupun peta-nya bisa kita dapatkan secara gratis.

Perlu diketahui bahwa software Garmin Mobile XT hanya bisa digunakan dengan GPS receiver merk Garmin. Kalau kita menggunakan GPS receiver merk lain (misalnya Holux), kita harus menggunakan software Garmin Que ditambah software GPSProxy supaya Que-nya bisa berkomunikasi dengan GPS receiver-nya. Nanti kalau sempat, saya akan tulis lebih detail mengenai step-by-step bagaimana saya melakukan instalasi Garmin Que dan Garmin Mobile XT beserta peta-nya ke PDA saya yang berbasis Windows Mobile. Saya banyak mendapatkan informasi berguna mengenai serba-serbi GPS dari situs wiki-nya Malsingmaps.

Jadilah, sekarang saya menggunakan GPS untuk bepergian keliling Singapura. Minggu lalu saya juga mencoba untuk menjajal GPS-nya ke Johor, Malaysia, dan ternyata peta yang saya dapat dari Malsingmaps cukup akurat dan bisa diandalkan.

Cinta Ayu All Suites Hotel, Pulai Springs Resort, Johor

Date: 12-13 April 2008
Location: Cinta Ayu All Suites Hotel, Pulai Springs Resort, Johor

Last weekend, we drove up to Johor for a short weekend getaway, to celebrate our 9th anniversary as well as testing my new GPS receiver to Malaysia.

We stayed at Cinta Ayu All Suites Hotel [ note: Cinta Ayu, not Cinta Laura :P :P ], a nice apartment-type hotel located in the vicinity of Pulai Springs Resort. This resort is located on the outskirts of Johor Bahru, along the main road leading to Pontian.

Although the resort is meant more for golfers (since it's surrounded by two 18-hole golf courses), it also provides quite good facilities for families as well. Other than the hotel's swimming pool which is located on the second floor, we can also use the main resort's facilities, including the swimming pools which have nice views over the golf course and mount Pulai. One of the swimming pools is also equipped with a slide, which Irza enjoys very much.

We chose a 2-bedroom type of apartment for S$170 per night, which is booked online from AsiaTravel and includes breakfast for 4 persons. The 1-bedroom type is also available for S$128 per night. The breakfast is provided at the Cinta Terrace restaurant and the food is quite nice. There's also a spa facility at the sports centre, and the price is quite reasonable.

Quite worth the value for money, in my opinion.

Yahoo! Messenger

Terus terang, akhir-akhir ini saya jarang nyalain Yahoo! Messenger (YM), biasanya sih lupa nyalain karena kesibukan (YM saya ngga di-set auto start pas boot up). Inilah yang terjadi pas saya kebetulan inget untuk nyalain YM pagi ini.

xxxxxxxx xxxxxx: pak..
xxxxxxxx xxxxxx: bisa minta bantuan ga.. :D
Indra: ada yang bisa dibantu?
xxxxxxxx xxxxxx: hehe
xxxxxxxx xxxxxx: mau minta tlong unreg hp temen sy dr 3636 :P
xxxxxxxx xxxxxx: nomornya 0815xxxxxxx
xxxxxxxx xxxxxx: boleh ya pak :P
Indra: unreg? maaf ngga ngerti...  :) maksudnya unreg itu apa
Indra: ini ngga salah kirim pesen kan?
Indra: maksudnya ngga salah orang? :)
Indra: soalnya saya ngga ngerti unreg dan 3636 itu apa  :) :)
xxxxxxxx xxxxxx: pak..
xxxxxxxx xxxxxx: ga bisa yah :(
Indra: bukan ngga bisa tapi ngga ngerti :)
Indra: 3636 itu apa?
xxxxxxxx xxxxxx: ow
xxxxxxxx xxxxxx: ya udah
xxxxxxxx xxxxxx: ini bukan pak indra betawi ya?
xxxxxxxx xxxxxx: :D
Indra: bukan
Indra:  :D :D
BUZZ!!!
xxxxxxxx xxxxxx: huaaaaaaaa.....ini indra siapa???????
Indra:     lah ngga tau, situ kan yang add saya duluan di YM...  :D :D
xxxxxxxx xxxxxx: *LOL*
Indra: *LOL*
xxxxxxxx xxxxxx: berarti saya salah ketik..
xxxxxxxx xxxxxx: delete aja ya pak
xxxxxxxx xxxxxx: tks
Indra: sama-sama...  :) :)

Uncle Ringo

Date: 4 April 2008.
Location: Pasar malam next to Causeway Point and Woodlands MRT station.

Ticket prices:
- Bumper car, $4/car (not per person)
- Other rides, $3/person (adult accompanying kids also have to pay separate ticket)

Still, very expensive, IMHO. No wonder why it's a bit empty. No queue at all on any of the rides.