Happy New Year 2012

I spent the New Year’s eve in Bintan, Nirwana Garden Resorts in Bintan Resorts, Lagoi, to be exact, and spending the last day of 2011 shuttling (islands hopping, to be exact) between Bintan and Batam. Going through the change of year with mixed feelings, here’s the story.

Towards the end of 2011, I was informed that my brother’s family would be spending New Year’s eve in Bintan Resorts, and that my parents are going with them. And my mother specifically requested me to join them to celebrate the new year there. I then decided to go with my son Irza, while my wife and my daughter Inka are staying in Singapore.

My brother and his family and my parents arrived in Bintan on Friday (30/12). They took a flight from Jakarta to Batam, and then caught the speedboat from Telaga Punggur in Batam to Tanjung Uban in Bintan. There used to be a direct ferry from Telaga Punggur to Bandar Bentan Telani (BBT) ferry terminal in Bintan Resorts, but for some reason, the ferry service was not operational.

I and Irza left Singapore for Bintan on Saturday morning (31/12). We took the 9am ferry from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal (TMFT) in Singapore, and arrived in Bandar Bentan Telani ferry terminal at 9am Bintan (WIB) time. This was when the bad news came in.

When we boarded the shuttle bus which would bring us from the ferry terminal to the resort, my brother called. He said that my mother fell off the electric bicycle she was riding, and she fractured her arm. When I and Irza arrived in the Nirwana Resort Hotel where we are staying, we immediately went to the hotel’s clinic to check my mother’s condition.

Going back to the hotel’s clinic reminded me of another unpleasant experience I had couple of years back there. When I was swimming on the sea with the kids, my foot was bitten by some kind of a poisonous fish, and I needed to spend couple of hours in the clinic to get the venom taken off my foot.

While the hotel doctor has tried her best to put a bandage for my mother’s arm, it’s not sufficient. The hotel clinic doesn’t have X-ray equipment, so my mother needs to go to the nearest hospital which has the equipment, as well as the specialized doctor who can further check her condition. Luckily, she has a friend in Batam who can arrange for an orthopaedic doctor to check my mother’s condition in Awal Bros hospital in Batam.

I then accompanied my mother and my father to go to Batam, after leaving Irza in Bintan under my brother’s care. We took a pre-arranged taxi to Tanjung Uban, from where we took a chartered speedboat to Telaga Punggur in Batam. From Telaga Punggur, we took another pre-arranged taxi to go directly to Awal Bros hospital’s emergency department.

My mother had her arm being X-rayed and the result was not good. She had three bones fractured on her left arm, and most probably would need to undergo operation. I was prepared to spend the new year in Batam when my father decided that he is bringing my mother back to Jakarta so that she can have better treatment (including operation, if necessary) there.

My parents’ Lion Air tickets to Jakarta was for the next day (1/1)’s flight, and I tried calling Lion Air hotline in Batam in a hope to change the tickets to the current day (31/12), but there was nobody picking up the phone. So we decided to go to Garuda Indonesia office located in i Hotel Batam, located near Nagoya Hill, to purchase new airline tickets to Jakarta so that my parents can fly to Jakarta on the same day.

Since my parents decide to go back to Jakarta on that day, I then had to go back to Bintan, and I needed to go back fast since the speedboats from Telaga Punggur to Tanjung Uban only operate during daylight. After sending off my parents at Hang Nadim airport in Batam and had a quick (very late) lunch at Singgalang Jaya padang restaurant there, I took a taxi to Telaga Punggur (Rp 65k). Finally I managed to secure a seat on a 4:30pm speedboat to Tanjung Uban (Rp 30k + Rp 7k tax). It was a bumpy ride to Tanjung Uban with choppy waters and a full-house boat with standing passengers.

My brother had arranged for a taxi to pick me up at Tanjung Uban jetty back to Nirwana Gardens, although I needed to wait for around 30 minutes until the taxi arrived. We had a brief stop in a sate Madura stall in front of the At-Taqwa grand mosque in Tanjung Uban, before arriving in Nirwana Resort Hotel, in time for the gala dinner and the new year’s countdown party.

It was one of the great countdown parties ever. Great gala dinner, and we also won one of the lucky prizes. Awesome live band, and great fireworks over the sea off Bintan during the countdown. But still, we celebrated the new year with mixed feelings, since at the same time, my mother arrived in Jakarta and directly checked-in to Fatmawati hospital.

The next day (1/1), I and Irza took the 2:35pm ferry back to Singapore, while uncle Arief , auntie Via, Alif and Kayla went back to Jakarta via Batam using the same route: taxi to Tanjung Uban, speedboat to Telaga Punggur, taxi to Hang Nadim airport and then the Lion Air plane back to Jakarta.

At the moment, my mother is still warded in Fatmawati hospital, and currently is undergoing pre-op examination. She might be undergoing operation on her left arm in 3-4 days.

Mohon doa dari rekan-rekan sekalian untuk kesembuhan beliau.

Happy New Year to everyone!

F*cking Bad Service from Swensen’s Jurong Point

Last Wednesday, I went to Swensen’s in Jurong Point (located in the B1 floor of the new Jurong Point 2 shopping mall) to have dinner with my wife and daughter. As usual, the queue is long, which is the norm since Jurong Point is one of the busiest shopping malls in west Singapore. I ordered an Arabiatta Penne while my wife and daughter ordered other dishes in the menu.

I noticed that the restaurant was understaffed, it was full house but only a handful of staff were servicing the customers. My problem started when my Arabiatta Penne never reached our table, even after my wife and daughter have already finished their meals! And it was very difficult to call the staff, we had to raise our hands several times just to get their attention.

Finally I managed to get a staff to attend to us, and I informed her that my Arabiatta Penne was not served yet. She then went back to the kitchen to check, and after another 10-15 minutes of wait, then my Arabiatta Penne arrived.

Another problem surfaced when we wanted to pay for the bill. Again, it was very difficult to get the staff’s attention for us to request for the bill. After more than 5 minutes without avail to get their attention, then I took the initiative to go to the cashier directly to settle the bill. When I arrived at the cashier, the lady was attending to another customer so I waited patiently until my turn to be served.

Another customer, a lady, came to the cashier, stood right next to me and immediately told the cashier her table number, and the cashier processed her bill and served her first. I was very irritated but still waiting patiently, presuming that the cashier would processed my bill after processing the lady’s bill.

And, guess what, the cashier simply ignored me and attended another lady, who stood on my left. I was angry so I decided to walk back to my table. The cashier seemed to notice my anger and she informed her manager, who then came to the table. I simply informed the manager that I wanted the bill, and then she processed the bill and I left the restaurant.

That’s it? No. Several steps after leaving the restaurant, I examined the bill and noticed that they have double-charged the Arabiatta Penne, it was listed as two instead of one. What the f*ck??? It seems that when I informed the staff that my Arabiatta Penne was not yet arrived, the staff thought that I wanted to order another Arabiatta Penne!

I went back to the cashier and asked them to fix this. At the same time, the manager and the cashier were both there so I informed the manager about the earlier incident. And the cashier still wanted to defend herself, saying that the lady on my left was actually coming first, so she had to attend her first. Then what about the lady on my right, which definitely arrived in the cashier later than me? Why the cashier attended to her first?

I didn’t want to argue further, so I just tried to keep myself calm and let them process the refund. They said they can only refund by cash, which is OK with me. After getting the money, then I just left.

And I will never visit this Swensen’s outlet again. At least, until they fix the queue management issue on their cashier, and until they hire more staff for the outlet.

Eid Mubarak

It’s been a long time since I updated my blogs. :)

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my Muslim friends a very happy Hari Raya Idul Fitri 1432H. Taqabalallahu mina waminkum, shiyamana wa shiyamakum. May everyone has a blessed Eid festival.

This year, I am celebrating Hari Raya Idul Fitri in Singapore. Actually, I wanted to go back to Jakarta for this year’s Hari Raya, especially since the Hari Raya gathering for my extended family and relatives in Indonesia was conducted in my parent’s house in Cinere, just south of Jakarta. Unfortunately, Inka had an examination last Wednesday, 31 August 2011, exactly one day after Hari Raya, so it was not possible to excuse her from attending school during the day. Especially, since she is now preparing for the PSLE examination for her to leave primary school by end of this year.

For the first time, during this year’s Hari Raya, we celebrated Hari Raya Idul Fitri one day earlier than my extended family and relatives in Indonesia. The Singapore government and MUIS (the Islamic council of Singapore), which is using hisab (wujudul hilal) calculation to determine the first day of the Islamic lunar calendar month, decided that this year’s Hari Raya Idul Fitri falls on Tuesday, 30 August 2011, while the Indonesian government, which is using rukyah (rukyatul hilal) system (by sighting the moon), decided that this year’s Hari Raya Idul Fitri falls on Wednesday, 31 August 2011.

We always follow (local) government’s decision in deciding which day for us to celebrate Hari Raya. Therefore, I and my family in Singapore celebrated Hari Raya on Tuesday, together with other Muslims in Singapore, while my extended family and relatives in Indonesia celebrated Hari Raya on Wednesday. I felt very awkward when I couldn’t call my parents and relatives in Indonesia after Eid prayer on Tuesday, because they haven’t celebrated Hari Raya on that day. I called my parents only on the next day, Wednesday, from the office, while my wife was at home and the kids were already going to school (and Inka was having her exam).

Fortunately, we have friends here in Singapore, mostly Indonesians living in Singapore, who celebrate Hari Raya together with us, so we don’t feel much the loneliness in celebrating Hari Raya Idul Fitri in Singapore. After performing the Eid prayer in Ar-Raudhah mosque, which is located just next to our apartment’s complex, I and family attended a Hari Raya gathering for Indonesians staying in Bukit Batok and surroundings, which was conducted in Parkview Apartments, Bukit Batok. We also attended a Hari Raya open-house event conducted by one of our friends in The Trevose, Dunearn. Actually, there was another Hari Raya gathering for Indonesians in Singapore, which was conducted in Woodlands, however we couldn’t attend the gathering due to time constraint.

The pictures during the Hari Raya gathering event in Bukit Batok can be found here, while the pictures during the Hari Raya open-house event in The Trevose can be found here.

An Indonesian Minister’s Analysis on Singapore

Indonesia’s Communication and Information Technology Minister, Tifatul Sembiring, shared his analysis on Singapore and its relationship with Indonesia, through his Twitter account.

According to Tifatul, Singapore’s history is inseparably related to a figure of Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first prime minister and current minister mentor. On year 1959, while Singapore’s gross national product (GNP) was US$400, Lee had a vision of the GNP to have a 60-fold increase to US$24,000 by 1990. And in 1995, Singapore’s GNP was US$20,000, nearly reaching the target.

Tifatul said that he had the opportunity to have a direct discussion with Lee twice, and at the age of nearly 90 years old, Lee is described by Tifatul as “still smart”. Tifatul asked Lee on how he built Singapore, how is Indonesia’s future competitiveness, the role of China, India, Japan and South Korea, and Lee answered his questions with excitement.

Singapore is like a mini-Indonesia, multi-ethnic with Chinese majority, and Lee said, they are being “engineered” to interact with each other. As a small nation without natural resources, they have to invite people to do business in Singapore. That’s why they must have an airline with the best service, referring to Singapore Airlines (SQ).

According to Lee as quoted by Tifatul, the society have to be disciplined, there have to be certainty on law, which is enforced strictly. No smoking by law, a ban on spitting, and death penalty for drug traffickers are just the examples. There’s no democracy in Singapore, opposition is just a complement. As what Lee said, they don’t want to take the risk of political turmoil, they have to be stable. As a result, investors are streaming in.

Tifatul asked Edward Lee, a former Singapore’s ambassador for Indonesia, on what is Singapore’s modern vision. Edward replied: “Vision Hub”. Tifatul asked what does that mean, and it was explained to him that Singapore has to become the central (hub) of businesses. We (Indonesia) might be rich in oil, gas etc, but they have to be sold via Singapore, resulting in the price to follow MOPS (Mean of Platts Singapore). We might have Bali, Lake Toba, Singkarak, Maninjau, Bunaken, Senggigi, Bromo, Sentani, but visitors will have to go through Singapore, using Singapore’s travel agents.

With main businesses on finance, banking, insurance, telecommunications and trade services, and with a population of 4.5 million people, Singapore’s foreign reserves reaches US$ 120 billion. In 2005, Singapore is Indonesia’s biggest foreign investors. They are now harvesting the result of their expansion strategy (Tifatul used the term “tebar jala” in bahasa Indonesia) to neighbouring countries.

Therefore, Tifatul concluded that we have to learn from history. A crisis will not be resolved by simple amok and flag burning. There have to be “smart moves”. He’s referring to the current crisis between Indonesia and Malaysia, pertaining to the arrests of Indonesian maritime officers by Malaysia’s police.

“Older” Hyperlink on Koprol Mobile

If I’m accessing Koprol via its mobile interface and go to Home, when I click the “Older” hyperlink to see the earlier timeline for the first time (to go to page 2 of the timeline), it’s working properly. But when I click the “older” hyperlink for the second time (to go to page 3 of the timeline), I see very old updates (around 7 days ago) instead of the earlier timeline.

The problem only happens if I use my mobile phone to access the mobile interface. If I use my laptop, I don’t encounter the same problem.

Not too sure why. Is it my mobile phone’s browser issue? I’m using Opera Mobile on my HTC HD2.

Update on 27 June 2010, 10:30hrs SGT: I have performed further troubleshooting last night, upon getting some advice from Daniel Armanto, one of Koprol's bosses. It seems that the problem only happened if I'm using SingTel's 3.5G connection. When I switched to my wi-fi connection at home, I didn't encounter the problem, despite it's connected to the same ISP, SingNet in this case.

Thus, I'm convinced now that the problem is not on Koprol's server nor on my mobile phone's browser, but it's most probably my 3.5G Internet service provider issue. Looks like it's SingTel 3.5G's proxy issue?

Xperia X1’s Sliding Keyboard: Design Flaw

Photo: My Sony Ericsson Xperia X1

After almost a year using my Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 mobile phone, I have come to a conclusion that its sliding keyboard is a design flaw. If you really a heavy user of the keyboard, I would not recommend the phone at all. On the other hand, people normally choose Xperia X1 because of the keyboard, otherwise they would opt for other cheaper phones such as HTC Diamond or Samsung Omnia. Therefore, it’s not worth spending your money for that expensive phone. For Xperia X1 wanna-be user, I would suggest you buy another phone instead.

Lousy Phone

I bought the phone on November last year, and after becoming a happy user of the phone for just several weeks, I have started to experience the problem on its sliding keyboard some time on late February or early March 2009, which was just several months after it was bought. I will not go into details on the problem, you can just click the above-mentioned hyperlinks for more info about the problem. In short, the problem was fixed after I sent the phone for repair some time on July 2009. Basically, they changed the keyboard with a new one to fix the problem, although since they confirmed that it was a hardware issue, I had concerns that the new keyboard would eventually have the same problem when the time comes.

And… guess what? My concerns came true. Since last month, again I started to experience similar problem with the keyboard. And yes, it *is* the new keyboard which is having the same problem. And I am not alone, many other Xperia X1 users experience the same problem after several weeks or months using the phone. With even new keyboard experiencing the same problem, I conclude that the problem is due to a design flaw which will cause the keyboard to have the problem after several weeks or month of usage, depends on how often the user uses the sliding keyboard.

Lousy Service

I brought the phone to the Sony Ericsson Service Centre at Wisma Atria again last Sunday (1/11). Since the warranty period is nearing the end, the customer service officer said that the service will be chargeable, even though I brought the warranty card, because I was unable to provide her with the receipt as proof of purchase. She said that she was not able to determine the exact date of purchase because it was not on Sony Ericsson’s database.

She advised that I can try calling SingTel Mobile’s customer service and get them to fax the copy of my mobile contract to Sony Ericsson. When I called them, they said that they can provide the service, however it would take 5-7 working days and it costs me $30. The SingTel’s service officer advised that I might be able to get the copy of the mobile contract from the shop I purchased the Xperia X1 from. Sigh, I ditched the idea and decided to search for the contract on my pile of files at home on Sunday night. Alhamdulillah, thank God, I found it after almost two hours combing my files, and I have faxed it over to Sony Ericsson earlier this morning to ensure that I don’t get charged for this service.

No More Sony Ericsson Phones For Me

With such an experience with a lousy phone with a lousy service from the service centre, I have promised myself that I will never buy another Sony Ericsson phone. Well, some might said that since Xperia X1 was built by HTC for Sony Ericsson, that means the design flaw might be HTC’s fault, but I have friends who have HTC Touch Pro and the newer HTC Touch Pro 2, and they are happy users of the phones. My friend Arga suggested me to upgrade to the upcoming Xperia X2 phone which will be released this month, or even the future Android-based Xperia X3, but how can I ensure that similar design flaw will not apply to the newer phones as well?

 
Photo: HTC Touch Pro 2 (courtesy of gsmarena.com)

  
Photo: Samsung B7610 OmniaPRO (courtesy of gsmarena.com)

 
Photo: Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 (courtesy of gsmarena.com)

Photo: Nokia N97 (courtesy of gsmarena.com)

Yes, I intend to replace my Xperia X1 soon, if the problem still happens again after this second round of servicing. But I’m still not too sure which phone I should buy. It has to has a sliding keyboard, and it cannot be another Sony Ericsson phone. :P So, Xperia X2 is definitely out of question. I was considering Nokia N97 before my friends advised me that it’s not really a good phone, since it hangs quite frequently. I am currently considering either HTC Touch Pro 2 or the new Samsung B7610 OmniaPRO (the sliding keyboard type-one, not the Blackberry-alike OmniaPRO B7320). Do you have any other phones I should consider? :)

Kudos to An-Nahdhah Mosque's Management

I was attending a friend's wedding event at An-Nahdhah Mosque, Bishan on Sunday, 11 October 2009 and when I went back, I inadvertently and carelessly left my bag, containing my HP Mini netbook, at the basement carpark, before I went into my car. It seems that I might have left the bag when I needed to put on my shoes, and I only realised it after I reached my home at Bukit Batok.

I immediately called the mosque's management after getting the number from SingTel's directory service (100). While driving back from Bukit Batok to Bishan (which seemed like forever), I had Mr. Jamal on the other line, who patiently listened to my panic voice explaining that I had left my bag in the basement carpark. I even wrongly informed him that it was a blue bag, while it is actually a purple backpack. Mr. Jamal said he would check and advised me to call him back in 15 minutes.

Fifteen minutes later, I was already exiting PIE onto Lornie Road when I tried to call the mosque again, and was nervous when nobody picked up the call. I kept on calling using my handsfree but unable to reach anyone in the mosque, until I reached the mosque itself and went into the basement carpark. I was even more nervous when I couldn't find the bag at the place where I might have left it, and immediately took the lift upstairs to the first floor to go to the management office.

I met the mosque's staff at the office (I'm not too sure whether he's Mr. Jamal or another staff) and, alhamdulillah, thank God, the bag was there and he gave it to me. He mentioned that upon receiving my call, he immediately went to the basement carpark and found the bag near the carpark's lobby entrance. There were some other people around when he found the bag so he asked them whether the bag belongs to them, and they said no, so he brought the bag to the management office and kept it there. Thank God!

I also met some of my friends from the wedding event there, and shared my experience with them. Because of that, I didn't manage to thank the mosque staff properly. Thank you, Mr. Jamal and An-Nahdhah mosque's staff, for helping me to locate and keep the bag for me.