Monday, August 27, 2007

Melbourne City, 26 August 2007

Minggu, 26 Agustus 07, aku naik train ke kota (karena selama di sini, aku tinggal di rumah boss ku di Hoppers Crossing, salah satu suburb di dekat Weribee). Rencananya mau ke gereja dulu, ternyata kereta jurusan ke Jordanville untuk ke gereja, berangkatnya baru pukul 10.00, terpaksa aku ponteng. Jadinya malah langsung jalan2 aja.

Federation Square - Woman in Red in the Box - weekly performance.

Patung "THREE MEN" selalu berdiri di ujung Bourke St. sampai kurus begitu.. :)
Lho.. ini dompet siapa?? Bertahun-tahun dompet ini selalu tergeletak begitu aja di pusat perbelanjaan kota Melbourne tanpa pernah berpindah tempat (karena berat boh...!), di Bourke St. Jangan salah.. dompet ini merupakan salah satu landmark kota Melbourne lho dan terkenal sebagai "THE BIG PURSE".
Flower Clock di Queen Victoria Garden, dekat Royal Botanic Garden.

Dari Flinder Street Station (gambar berikut), aku ke Southbank, Yarra river, dan jalan kaki sampai ke Crown Tower, yang terkenal dengan casinonya.... Juga ada jembatan yang bercerita tentang history Melbourne di Australian's History on Sandridge Bridge, yaitu cerita tentang penduduk Australia itu datangnya dari mana aja, diantaranya ada Indonesia dan Singapore.. Penduduk Australia datang hampir dari segala penjuru dunia (sekitar 60-70 countries).
Setelah itu, aku naik tram ke St. Kilda, salah satu suburb yang terkenal juga. Tiap hari minggu ada bazaar art & craft yang cukup menarik. St. Kilda juga terletak dekat dengan pantai, jadi kalau mau jalan santai menikmati angin laut, cocok deh. Karena diajak makan siang di kota Melbourne bersama dengan uncle George, dari St. Kilda aku naik tram balik ke Melbourne. Makan siang di Singapore Chom-chom, salah satu restaurant yang menyajikan menu khas Singapore. Siang itu aku makan Baykut Teh.. Yang lain order kwee chap, chicken rice, cwee-kwee, dllnya.. Banyak orang Singapore & Malaysia yang makan di sono, meski ada juga beberapa bule yang datang.
Setelah makan siang, aku dengan uncle George jalan sendiri. Karena mau beli bandeng presto, uncle ngajakin aku ke tempat yang jualan banyak barang Asia, diantaranya Indonesia, Korea, Jepang, Thai, dll. Banyak banget barang Indonesia yang bisa didapat di sini lho... diantaranya bumbu sate, aneka sambal, bandeng presto, petai dalam kaleng, teh kotak, teh sosro, buavita, susu ultra, aneka krupuk, bahkan sabun B-29 (yang ini bener2 bikin aku kaget, apa iya masih ada yang pake sabun colek ini ya??), minyak bimoli dan filma. Harganya juga tidak mahal2 amat lho... kalau dibanding dengan barang yang sama, harga di Singapore banyak yang lebih mahal (aneh tapi nyata!!!).
Setelah itu, aku juga sempat ke Victoria State Library dan Fitzroy Garden, untuk melihat-lihat.Sempat beli ice cream, gak terlalu enak sih.. tapi okelah sekedar penghilang rasa haus.. (A$4.00 per cone, mahal juga ya.. padahal harga ice cream di supermarket murah lho, waktu itu sempat liat harga normal ice cream Peters yang 4 liter sekitar A$7.00, tapi waktu promosi cuman A$3.78, sampai pingin aku beli dan bawa pulang untuk oleh2 Bagio yang demen banget makan ice cream!!!
Tiket kereta di sini bisa beli yang satu hari untuk unlimited ride, baik train, tram, maupun bus. Jadi, kalau berangkat pagi, bener2 worthy. Tinggal naik-turun tanpa perlu bayar2 lagi dan gak usah bingung cari tau berapa duit, dll. Omong2 tentang tiket, mestinya tanpa beli tiket juga bisa naik kereta lho, cuman mesti siap2 aja kalau ada pemeriksaan. Juga di station tertentu (terutama yang di kota, seperti di FLinder St. Station), untuk keluar masuk ada mesinnya seperti mesin MRT di Singapore. Untuk yang di daerah suburb, kebanyakan bahkan tanpa pintu masuk untuk naik keretanya.. Mungkin karena tingkat kesadaran dan kejujuran penduduknya yang tinggi, sehingga pemerintahnya tidak merasa perlu masang pintu segala ya.. Coba kalau di negara Asia.. hehehehe.. bisa bangkrut pemerintahnya, karena banyaknya commuter yang tidak atau pura2 lupa bayar...

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Cuaca di Australia

Australia adalah benua yang paling kering di dunia dan termasuk negara 4 musim.
Cuaca di Australia sangat bervariasi meski sudah masuk ke musim tertentu. Kayak sekarang ini, mestinya late winter (musim dingin di Australia adalah Juni/Juli/Agustus), tapi udaranya tidak terlalu dingin, berkisar antara 8-20 degree C. Matahari bersinar cukup terik di siang hari, bahkan semalam di daerah tertentu turun hujan. Beberapa tahun yang lalu (tahun 2002) waktu aku ke sini di musim panas (bulan Desember), malah bisa langsung merasakan seolah-olah mengalami beberapa musim sekaligus: udara dingin (pake baju berlapis2), panas terik, dan juga hujan lebat.
Sedang 3 tahun yang lalu (tahun 2004) aku ke sini bulan January, juga musim panas. Saat itu aku harus ke Adelaide untuk mengunjungi salah satu customer di sono. Aku pikir, woah.. ntar di Adelaide pasti panas, soalnya waktu kami booking hotel, ditanya mau yang pake SPA (bathtub kayak jacussi, gitu lho) di dalam kamar gak? Aku pikir, ngapain ada SPA segala? Karena customer yang booking-in hotel ngotot, ya udahlah... aku bilang OK. Alasannya ternyata karena minggu2 sebelum kami tiba, udara di Adelaide berkisar 42-44 degree C.. jadi dia ketakutan kalau kami kepanasan dan gak tahan. Kami juga bawa baju2 ringan aja, dengan bekal info tadi. Untungnya (hehe.. dasar orang Indonesia, segala sesuatu selalu UNTUNG, gak mau rugi!), pagi hari sebelum berangkat ke Adelaide, cuaca di Melbourne sangat dingin (sekitar 10 degree), jadilah kami (aku dan Bagio) pake jaket segala. Ternyata waktu kami sampai di Adelaide, udaranya juga sangat dingin... Huh........ kami bersyukur karena bawa jaket, kalau gak kan harus beli lagi.
Makanya kalau ke Australia (ihh.. sok ngasih nasihat ya!!), pada musim apapun, sebaiknya selalu bawa baju dingin, karena udaranya bener2 gak bisa dipercaya.
Kecuali kalau ke Perth, Brisbane/GoldCoast, dan Northern Territory, udaranya cenderung agak stabil, meski musim dingin tapi tidak terlalu dingin.

Sekedar pamer beberapa foto yang aku ambil 2 hari kemarin:
Chicken Schnitzel dan potato cream (nama sebenarnya apa, aku gak jelas, yang pasti ukurannya besar dan rasanya enak), harganya sekitar A$6.50-7.00


















Langit biru, pohon2 banyak yang berbunga (meski ada yang masih kering tanpa daun sama sekali), bener2 gak kayak musim dingin ya..

Gambar tersebut di atas aku ambil dari mobil di pinggir jalan. Bunga kuning berbunga lebat, katanya sih kalau tanaman ini berbunga sering menyebabkan orang kena Hay fever... Makanya aku gak berani terlalu mendekat.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Melbourne, Victoria, 22 Aug 2007

Thank God, that after about six hours journey to Melbourne from Singapore (eventhough I couldn't sleep well), I reached Melbourne at 5.51 am. Passed the immigration and custom clearance without any problem.

By taxi I went to Hoppers Crossing (the taxi cost me A$85.50!!!!, luckily I can claim it back from my boss). After some chat and light breakfast, I followed May to the office (since Nov 06 my boss moved the office to the Graham court, no longer at the same place with his house). I just walked around the new office and take a light rest.
Now is late winter in Melbourne, but the weather is very nice. In the morning was about 6-8 degree C, afternoon at 1 pm the degree is at 15C. Evening about 13C. Not very cold, I like it.

And I found a few 'Sakura' trees full bloom between office and my boss' house .. very pretty.
Have an early sleep tonight... as tomorrow I will start to work... This time trip is mainly for work, not for holiday.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Victoria... here I come!!!

21 August 2007

Ntar malam dengan SQ aku terbang ke Melbourne....... Aku tinggal di sana selama 2 minggu, tgl 5 Sep balik.

Sebisanya aku apdet blog ini dari sono...

Grrrr.. BBbrrrrr... udah kebayang dinginnya udara musim dingin di sono.
Koporku penuh dengan baju tebal dan oleh2....
(mudah2an gak sampai overweight!)

Doakan, semoga semuanya lancar ya teman2.......

Monday, August 13, 2007

Polusi...... Haze.......

Mulai hari ini sampai 10 September, kalau jalan2 di seputar kota Singapore, pasti akan merasakan apa itu yang namanya polusi asap.. bener2 kayak HAZE!!! Buat nafas sesak, baju dan rambut bau asap... belum kertas2 bekas bakaran yang terbang melayang-layang....
Polusi ini dikarenakan banyaknya orang2 yang membakar kertas sembahyangan beserta dupanya... karena hari ini berdasarkan penanggalan Cina adalah tanggal 1 bulan 7. "Bulan 7" menurut kepercayaan mereka adalah bulan Hantu (Ghost month).

Sekedar article yang aku comot dari sini tentang Ghost_Festival:
In Chinese tradition, the seventh month in the Chinese calendar is called the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower world to visit earth. The Ghost Festival is the climax of a series of the Ghost Month celebrations. Traditionally, ancestor worshiping was an important part of the festivals, with activities including preparing ritualistic offering food, and burning hell money and bags containing cloth to please the visiting ghosts and spirits of the ancestors, as well as other deities. Other activities include, burying and releasing miniature paper boats and lanterns on water, which signifies "giving directions to the lost ghosts and spirits of the ancestors and other deities." A very solemn festival of ancestor worshiping, the festival nevertheless represents a connection between the ancestors and the descendants, the living and the dead, earth and heaven, as well as body and soul.
In Singapore (I don't know in other countries), during Ghost month, you will find stage with loud and colourful Getais in the residential estates. A Getai (歌台), is a life stage performance by a group of singers, dancers and entertainers held during the Ghost Festival to entertain the spirits. The performers usually wear glittery and sexy costumes.The latest Loud and colourful 'getai' or 'song-stage' performers are taking the centrestage in MediaCorp Raintree Pictures' latest movie, "881 - pronounce it as ba ba yao". Director Roystan Tan and the actors made a special entrance to the news conference on Wednesday using a lorry that was also featured in the movie.

Want to see a clip of 881? Click 881 Sisters

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Singapore City Tour

Saturday, 11 August 2007 (14.00-16.30):
With some freshmen from NTU and NUS, we went for 3 hours city tours with campus' saints.

VICTORIA THEATRE
The Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall (Chinese: 维多利亚剧院及音乐会堂) is a complex of two buildings and a clock tower joined together by a common corridor and located in the civic district of Singapore.
Victoria Theatre (the section of the building on the left of the clock) was built as a town hall in 1856 to 1862 and provided space for offices, a stage and meeting hall. When the community decided to build a new theatre to commemorate the Jubilee celebrations of Queen Victoria, Architects Swan and Maclaren integrated a new hall with the refaced existing building and joined the two with a 60 metre clock tower. Ground was broken in 1902. Upon completion in 1906, the building - a hybrid of classical and renaissance elements adapted to suit the tropical climate - became a civic landmark and so it has remained. The clock was installed in 1906.

The Victoria Theatre has a seating capacity of 904, with a stage 167.28 square metres in size. The Victoria Concert Hall has 883 seats, and a stage which may be expanded up to 139.76 square metres in area. The concert hall was considered the venue with the best acoustics in the city, and has been the main performance venue for the SSO until the completion of the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay in 2002 whereby the orchestra moved its home base to take advantage of superior acoustics and facilities brought about by technological and architectural advances over the years





Click here to know more about Victoria_Concert_Hall

Stamford Raffles Raffles Statue in Black is located near by Victoria Theatre.

Close up of the inscription on the statue of Raffles:

(this photo is taken from http://www.asiaexplorers.com/singapore/victoriatheatre.htm)

The Arts House at The Old Parliament House
The former Parliament House building, the oldest surviving government building in Singapore, stands on the banks of the Singapore River. This site is where Sir Stamford Raffles first arrived in 1819.

The two-storey Neo-Palladian building was completed in 1827, and reopened on 26th March 2004 as The Arts House at The Old Parliament.

The Old Parliament House once served as a Neo-Palladian mansion, a parliament house and as govenment offices. A bronze elephant statue glows on the grounds as a gift from the King of Siam in 1871.
More details about the Art House...??
Click here...!







"Former" Supreme Court:
The Old Supreme Court Building (Chinese: 最高法院大厦) is the former courthouse of the Supreme Court of Singapore, before it moved out of the building and commenced operations in the new building on 20 June2005. The building was the last Classical architecture building to be built on the former British colony. Built in front of the historical Padang grounds between 1937 and 1939, it was designed by Frank Dorrington Ward of the Public Works Department, and was his last and most significant work. The building is planned to become an arts and cultural centre in the future, with plans to refurbish the building. More information, click here...
Old_Supreme_Court_Building





Padang: With some activities on that day.


CHINATOWN


This is a photo of Sago Lane in the 60's. On one side, you will see the parlour which they have a nick name .... "convalescence centre”. On the other side are hawker stalls.

Taken from http://goodmorningyesterday.blogspot.com

If you wanna know more, click here the (hi)story about Sago_Lane

Kevin, our tour guide for the day!
The bus:
Some participants:

Friday, August 10, 2007

Want to Stay Young..?

JUST TO SHARE WITH YOU ALL.....
1. Throw out non-essential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay them.
2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down (keep this in mind IF you are one of those grouches)
3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain get idle. "AN IDLE MIND IS THE DEVIL'S WORKSHOP". And the devil's name is Alzheimer's!


4. Enjoy the simple things.
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath. And if you have a friend who makes you laugh, spend lots and lots of time with Him/Her.


6. The tears happen: endure, grieve and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life is OURSELVES. LIVE while you are ALIVE.


7. Surround yourself with what you love: whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health:
If it is good, preserve it.
If it is unstable, improve it.
If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.


9. Don't take guilt trips: take a trip to the mall, even to the next country, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guild is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.
And ....
do share this with someone else...
HAVE A NICE DAY!