Cavana Chicken Rice at Sun Plaza, Sembawang

Some of you might have been wondering why we went all the way to Sembawang, an area north of Singapore which we seldom visit. You might be surprised to know that the reason why we went to Sembawang is to hunt for chicken rice. :) Cavana chicken rice, to be exact.

Our favourite Cavana outlet at Marina Square has closed down. :(  This means that there's no more outlet around the south and west area of Singapore, although I understand that they are going to open a new outlet at Jurong Point soon. So, the closest Cavana outlets to our place of residence are the two on the north area of Singapore, one in Causeway Point, Woodlands and the other one in Sun Plaza, Sembawang. The rest are located east of Singapore, namely Tampines and Pasir Ris.

At that time, we decided to go to the Cavana outlet at Sun Plaza since we seldom go to the shopping mall and would like to know what other things it offers. Nothing much, though.

I really hope that the new outlet in Jurong Point will open soon.

GoThere

Learned about this new site from Tomorrow.SG, and I found that GoThere.sg is really helpful for both motorists and commuters in Singapore. Not only that we can search for any addresses in Singapore, we can also easily put two addresses in Singapore and the site will automatically calculate the best route from point A to point B under three main categories: "Train + Bus", "Bus" and "Drive".

Its map is powered by Google and the recommended route will be marked on the map. And the best thing I find on this site is that we can easily drag the point A and/or the point B markers to anywhere within the map and the route -- be it driving route or public transport route -- will automatically be recalculated. Estimation time for each leg of the route (bus, train and even the walking time) is given. For driving routes, option to avoid ERP gantries is also given. Searching can be done by entering the partial address, building name or the postal code.

For me, this site is currently the best replacement for the Street Directory site, which is still offline until don't know when.

Sembawang Park

Date: Sunday, 27 July 2008
Location: Sembawang Park, end of Sembawang Rd, Singapore

Yesterday evening, on our way back from Sun Plaza, which is located in Sembawang, we dropped by at Sembawang Park, which is located at the northern end of Sembawang Road.

The park has a short strip of sandy beach along the Johor straits, overlooking the shore of the eastern side of Johor Bahru. The distance between Singapore's shore and the Malaysian side of the shore is very close. That's why we also saw a police boat patrolling the area, perhaps to deter those swimmers who want to enter Singapore illegally.

There's a jetty, which is very popular as a fishing place, giving a view of the straits of Johor and the nearby Sembawang shipyard. There are BBQ pits near the sea shore and a playground area in the middle of the park.

Petrol Prices Going Down Again

I got a very sweet and delighting news from PetrolWatch's Twitter updates earlier today, petrol prices in Singapore is going down again. And for this time round, the prices are being adjusted down by 10 cents. This would be the fifth time petrol stations in Singapore has adjusted down the prices after the first reduction of petrol prices early this month.

This reduction of the petrol prices in Singapore is due to further reduction of the global crude oil price to a near 7-week low, which is now around US$123.26 per barrel.

This is really a great news for us. Let's just hope that the price will continue to slide down, not only for a greater relief to motorists, but also to further slow down the inflation rate and the rise of prices of goods and services in Singapore.

Rock Concert at Esplanade

Date: Saturday, 26 July 2008
Location: Esplanade, Singapore

On a nice Saturday night, I took Inka and Irza to the Esplanade, specifically to the Stage@Powerhouse outdoor stage, which is located along the Marina Bay shore, to watch the free and live "Rawk Out III" rock concert show.

We reached there at around 9pm plus, and local rock band Stentorian was on stage. Their performance was just OK and not really that good, and after their performance, there was a 30-minute break so we proceeded to nearby Makansutra Gluttons Bay food center, which is located just next to the stage, for supper.

Irza ordered a set of chicken satays with rice cakes and he really enjoyed his food very much. The satays were supposed to be shared among us but he finished nine out of the ten sticks of the satays. :) I have to admit that the satay is very very nice, it's much nicer than those found in Lau Pa Sat, Clarke Quay or even Al-Azhar. Highly recommended.

After supper, we went to the stage again. Another local rock band, Flybar hit the stage and their performance was much better than the previous one. Irza also enjoyed their songs and performances very much so that after the show, he asked me to buy their CD ($15) which was sold on-site near the stage.

We left Esplanade at around 11pm.

Related link:
My Saturday Evening

Nge-Kron Sekaligus Nge-Twit dan Nge-Plurk

 

Satu lagi terobosan baru dari Kronologger. Sekarang kita bisa nge-kron dan sekaligus update Twitter dan Plurk pada saat yang bersamaan, terima kasih kepada script baru yang dibuat oleh Kukuh TW, "otak" di belakang Kronologger. Teman saya sejak jaman BemoNet ini memang kayaknya tidak pernah "kehabisan bensin" untuk terus menuangkan ide-idenya dalam banyak proyek-proyeknya, seperti Kumpul Blogger dan Lokasi Jakarta.

Saya dari dulu memang "mendambakan" untuk bisa melakukan microblogging ke beberapa layanan sekaligus. Dari beberapa situs microblogging yang ada, saya paling sering menggunakan Twitter dan Kronologger. Saya biasa nge-twit dengan menggunakan bahasa Inggris, sementara nge-kron dengan menggunakan bahasa Indonesia. Tapi ya karena kadang males dan tidak ada waktu untuk posting ke kedua situs tersebut, akhirnya saya lebih sering posting di Twitter saja. Yang di Kronologger jadi agak sedikit terbengkalai.

Belum lagi, sekarang lagi musim plurking. Hampir semua pada nanya: "are you plurking yet?". Iya, saya udah daftar ke layanan Plurk, tapi ya belum aktif nge-plurk. Lha wong update Twitter dan Kronologger aja udah repot, apalagi kalo musti nambah lagi yang harus di-update. Micro-blogging itu kan biasa dilakukan on-the-go, jadi kadang waktu yang tersedia tidak memungkinkan untuk itu.

Dari mas Budi Putra, saya sempat mendapatkan informasi tentang ping.fm, yang katanya bisa melakukan update ke beberapa layanan social network sekaligus, seperti Twitter, Jaiku, Plurk dan Facebook. Sayangnya karena masih beta, saya membutuhkan beta code untuk bisa daftar ke layanan ping.fm tersebut. Ngga jadi daftar, deh…

Oleh karena itu, fasilitas all-in-one baru yang dibuat Kukuh ini serasa menjadi air segar di tengah gurun pasir untuk saya. Dengan sekali posting di Kronologger, saya bisa nge-kron, nge-twit, nge-plurk dan sekaligus meng-update status Facebook saya, karena Twitter saya juga sudah tersinkronisasi dengan status Facebook saya. Walaupun memang, saya harus memasukkan username dan password Twitter dan Plurk saya, setiap kali saya melakukan all-in-one posting ini. Tidak mengapa, saya merasa metode ini lebih aman dibandingkan kalo saya harus menyimpan data password Twitter dan Plurk saya di database Kronologger.

Eastern Part of East Coast Park

Date: Saturday, 12 July 2008
Location: Eastern part of East Coast Park, near Carpark E1

We have been to East Coast Park for countless of times, but most of the time, we would visit the areas around McDonalds and Marine Cove. I have been to the western end of the park (near Tanjong Rhu) while cycling with the kids, but not to the eastern end.

So, about two Saturdays ago, we decided to venture the eastern part of the park. There's a big lagoon, which is being designated as a cable-ski park, where people can water-ski and being pulled by an overhead cable system, not by a boat.

There's also a very big hawker centre called East Coast Lagoon Food Village serving satay and seafood BBQ (and some of the stalls are halal since it's owned by Malay muslims), but it's very, very packed.

Changcuters di OB

Wah, alamat saya dan Irza tidur malem lagi nih malem ini....

Lagi iseng nyalain RCTI dan lagi ada sinetron OB, lah kok ada the Changcuters jadi bintang tamu....

Nonton dulu aaahhh....  racuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnn.......

Sentosa and VivoCity

Date: 20 July 2008
Location: Imbiah Lookout, Siloso East beach, VivoCity

Yesterday evening, I took Inka and Irza to Imbiah Lookout in Sentosa to search for ferns, for one of Inka's school assignments. We took the Sentosa Express monorail train from VivoCity.

Although the garden around Imbiah terrace is quite big, we only managed to find one type of fern plant there. Or, it could be due to my lack of knowledge with regards to ferns and plants... :) :)

We also took the opportunity to ride the luge. This is the first time for Irza to ride his own luge, while Inka is still not confident in riding the luge herself since she's afraid that she would not be strong enough to hold the luge's wheel.

I also noticed that the new east extension of Siloso beach is now open. It's located just next to the Songs of the Sea, near the lower station of the Skyride. But I still find the Palawan beach to be much nicer with more attractions and amenities nearby.

Going back to VivoCity, we had dinner at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf before going back home. Since it's now halal certified, we tried some of the dinner meals in the menu such as the salad and the pasta, but we found that the meals are not really that nice.

We are still fans of their drinks and cakes, though... :)

Glued on the TV...

Even after quite a long day today, I and Irza are still awake now and glued on the television, specifically the RCTI channel programme.

Yes, you guessed it right. The Changcuters, our favourite band, is performing live on TV right now...

I love you.. bibeh...

BBQ at Regent Heights

Date: Saturday, 19 July 2008
Location: Regent Heights, Bukit Batok, Singapore

Earlier this evening, my wife hosted a BBQ event for some (not many) of her friends and their families, at a BBQ pit in our apartment's complex. This is the first time we hosted a BBQ event here after we moved into this new apartment on March.

Inka and Irza managed to get a dip at the swimming pool together with Aidan (albeit at different pools) before joining their other friends such as Iffah, Marsya, Fazil, Naira, Fauzan, Kevin and Dante to play at the playground.

Unfortunately, the weather was not really cooperating with some light showers just before and after the event.

Related links:
Sate Sore

False Alarm

Hari Sabtu dua minggu yang lalu, 5 Juli 2008, keluarga Iko dan Hera, tetangga dekat waktu kita masih tinggal di apartemen yang dulu, datang mengunjungi apartemen tempat kita tinggal sekarang. Wah, Inka dan Irza senang banget dengan kedatangan mereka, apalagi mereka bisa bermain dengan Abhy dan Aya.

Hanya saja, ada sedikit "kejadian" pas kedatangan mereka. Entah kenapa, pagi itu, fire alarm gedung apartemen bunyi. Berbeda dengan testing alarm biasa yang dilakukan setiap bulan, alarm tersebut bunyi terus-terusan, tidak berhenti. Kami yang berada di dalam rumah lalu keluar dan menekan tombol lift untuk mengecek. Ternyata lift mati, jadi confirmed itu bukan testing. Segera saya mengambil kunci rumah/mobil dan paspor, lalu kami sekeluarga turun ke bawah melalui tangga, sesuai prosedur jika ada kebakaran.

Pas lagi menuruni tangga, eh ternyata ketemu sama Iko, Hera, Abhy dan Aya di lantai 4. Mereka lagi menaiki tangga dari lantai 1 (dasar) keatas. :) Dari mereka juga kita akhirnya tahu kalau bunyi tanda kebakaran tersebut ternyata adalah sebuah false alarm, yang disebabkan oleh seorang petugas mover yang tidak sengaja men-trigger alarm kebakaran.

Akhirnya kita kembali sama-sama ke atas. Naik tangga juga, mengingat lift yang masih tetap mati. Wah, kembali dari lantai 4 ke lantai 9 menggunakan tangga, ternyata lumayan bikin capek. :) Saya ngga bisa ngebayangin "perjuangan" Iko-Hera sekeluarga yang harus naik tangga delapan lantai dari lantai 1 (dasar) ke lantai 9... :) :)

Beberapa saat setelah kita sampai ke apartemen kami di lantai 9, lift pun beroperasi kembali dengan normal. :)

Munajah Cinta dan The Changcuters

Apa hubungan antara sinetron "Munajah Cinta" dan grup musik "The Changcuters"?

Tidak ada. :)

Hanya saja, ini adalah fakta menarik setelah saya dan keluarga pindah ke apartemen baru, sejak bulan Maret yang lalu:

1. Istri dan Inka menjadi penggemar sinetron Munajah Cinta.
2. Saya dan Irza menjadi penggemar lagu-lagu The Changcuters seperti I Love You Bibeh dan Racun Dunia.

Alasannya cukup sederhana. Di apartemen baru kami ini, alhamdulillah, televisi kami bisa menangkap siaran RCTI dan SCTV dengan menggunakan antena dalam. Sewaktu kami masih tinggal di apartemen lama, yang sebenarnya lokasinya tidak jauh dari apartemen baru ini, kami sama sekali tidak bisa menangkap siaran RCTI dan SCTV, kalaupun bisa, gambarnya tidak jelas dan banyak "semut"-nya.

Sebenarnya secara lokasi, apartemen baru yang berlokasi di Bukit Batok ini terletak lebih barat laut dibandingkan apartemen lama yang berlokasi di Bukit Timah. Jadi, secara geografis, lokasinya lebih jauh dari antena pemancar RCTI dan SCTV yang terletak di Batam.

Namun demikian, untungnya, apartemen baru ini berada di lantai yang cukup tinggi dan memberikan unblock view ke arah selatan, memudahkan gelombang siaran TV dari Batam sampai ke antena dalam yang berlokasi di dalam kamar. Hal ini berbeda dengan apartemen lama yang berlokasi di daerah yang densitas blok apartemen-nya cukup padat.

Coffee Bean is Now Halal-certified

This might be an old news for some of you, since it's already happening since May 2008. But still, it's a good news for all my Muslim friends in Singapore. Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, one of the leading cafe in Singapore, is now certified halal by MUIS.

My family and I have already been fans of Coffee Bean even before they were certified, since we knew that they are not providing food which contains pork or lard. In fact, we prefer Coffee Been much more than Starbucks. Inka and Irza's favourite is the tiramisu cake, which is superbly wonderfulicious.

Inka enjoying tiramisu cake at Coffee Bean VivoCity

Yes, I know that some people said that Starbuck's coffee is better than Coffee Bean's. But hey, I'm not a coffee lover, in fact, I always order non-coffee beverages at Coffee Bean. :) My favourite non-coffee beverage at Coffee Bean, which is the kids' favourite as well, is the ice blended chocolate. :)

Original article is here.

Twitting in Facebook's Style

To be frank, I have been neglecting my Facebook account for quite some time. I have not logged in to my Facebook account for months. :) Nevertheless, I just found out that for some reason, my Twitter updates are synchronised with my Facebook status. I think this was started when I installed Twitter application on my Facebook account?

So, please do not be alarmed when now you see me twitting in Facebook's style. :) I don't want to explain more on what do I mean by Facebook's style, it's just about grammar, you should be able to see the difference by seeing these two different examples:

Twitting in normal style:

---cut---
indrapr Earlier went to Khatib MRT station to collect my Malsingmaps car decal. Now at IKEA Alexandra. about 5 hours ago from mobile web
---cut---

Twitting in Facebook style:

---cut---
indrapr is at home now. Earlier we visited Satya and Enon's new residence in West Coast. Were served with a sumptuous dinner. :) 15 minutes ago from web
---cut---

Can you see the difference? :)  Oh yes, I also have registered with Plurk. But to be frank, I haven't started to really fully make use of it. Is there a way I can send one update for both Twitter and Plurk? :) :)

Yesterday morning, Iko and Hera, together with Abhy and Aya, came to our house for a visit. This is the first time they visit our new house after we moved in last March. Concidentally, the fire alarm in our apartment's building was activated, for some reason. Although it was a false alarm, it caused the lifts to cease working, so they had to climb the stairs, nine stories high, to reach our apartment.

Before we knew that it was a false alarm, we were also puzzled on why the fire alarm kept on ringing. Normally, during normal test, the alarm would only ring for a short period of time. After realising that all the lifts were down, I immediately grab our keys and our passports and together we all left our apartment and took the stairs down for evacuation. We then met Iko and family at the fourth floor, who were on their way up to our apartment. Only that time then we knew that it was a false alarm, after Iko and Hera informed us.

Earlier today, I saw the Asus Eee PC 4G is being offered for only $398, at an exhibition in Suntec City. The 8G version is being offered for only around $528. Very tempting. The reason why I'm eyeing this mini notebook is to accommodate my needs in checking e-mails, browsing, blogging, twitting and kronning on the go. :) I am very lazy in bringing my laptop while on the go, although it's considered one of Dell's lightest laptop, I still find it too heavy to be carried around. Yes, I can still rely on my Dopod 818Pro PDA phone for twitting and perhaps kronning, but I still cannot rely much on it for checking my emails or browsing the web.

Last but not least, I would also like to congratulate Pangeran Panda and Putri Panda for the birth of their newborn baby, Jamie. Just heard the news from the Indo-Sing mailing list. Semoga kelahirannya membawa berkah bagi kerajaan Panda. :) I would also like to congratulate the Indo-Sing community for getting a new nephew.