Monday, September 24, 2007

Singapore Lantern Festival 2007





Last Saturday, 22 September 2007 we went to Chinese Garden to see the Lantern Festival 2007. The ticket is S$12.00 for adult and S$8.00 for children 3-12 years old. If you come at about 5.30 pm, you will receive free mooncake, and everybody can get free lantern.


We purposely came earlier before the day dawn, so we can see the lantern clearly and compare it with when the lanterns already light up.


Happy Lantern Festival and Moon Cake Festival...


Monday, September 17, 2007

Mouse injury.....



Yesterday morning, suddenly I felt that my right arm were pain if turned to certain angle. I asked Bagio to give a light massage and once he massaged me, he gave comments that I got the injury because of using the mouse's computer too long (hihihi... sok tau ah!!!, but). I admit that last Saturday I was sitting in front of my computer for a couple of hours to do some photo project...
Yesterday afternoon/evening, my right arm getting swollen (in the photo the right arm is the one with bracelet), and the numbness is there..
This is my second time I got it... Few years ago I got it and much2 serious than this time. At that time, not even can hold a spoon on my own because the pain was very severe.... Have to see mr. doctor to get the pain killer, and could not work for a few days. This time not that serious (see.. now I still can typing this posting...!), maybe because of the bracelet that wear also, the magnetic bracelet.. Maybe???
Anyway... for you who is using computer a lot and longer time.. pls follow the following advise from the expert, that I copy from the internet (http://ergo.human.cornell.edu/cumousetips.html).

Or.. any other advise that you can share with me and others, so this thing will not happen to me again!!!!!!!!

Cornell University Ergonomics Web
10 Tips for Using a Computer Mouse
The following tips should help you avoid a mouse-related musculoskeletal injury. The same posture principles apply to other input devices (e.g. trackball, touchpad, pen, digitizing puck etc.). Postural variation is a key factor for good ergonomics. Try to regularly vary your posture when you work with a mouse, and in this way you will help to minimize the risk of ergonomic problems. remember, the best ergonomic mice are designed to allow you to vary your posture while working with the mouse.
Mouse Grip - don't throttle your mouse (it's already dead)! Hold the mouse gently to move it over a mousing surface.
Mouse from the Elbow - don't skate or flick the mouse with your wrist. Make controlled mouse movements using your elbow as the pivot point and keep your wrist straight and neutral.
Optimal Mouse position- sit back in your chair, relax your arms then lift your mousing hand up, pivoting at the elbow, until your hand is just above elbow level. Your mouse should be positioned somewhere around this point. Don't use a mouse by stretching to the desk or out to the side of a keyboard. With a flat mouse platform, position this 1-2" above the keyboard and over the numeric keypad if you are right handed - you can easily move it out of the way if you need to access these keys. With a downward sloping mouse platform, position this close to the side of the keyboard so that you can use the mouse in a neutral wrist position. Position adjustable mouse platforms are commercially available (e.g.
Humanscale, Proformix, Flexrest, 3M etc.)
Protect your wrist - if you look at the anatomy of the wrist it is curved away from any contact surface (you can easily see this by resting your hand/arm on a flat surface - you'll see light under the wrist and can probably even pass a thin pen under this). The forearm is shaped liked this for the wrist to remain free of surface pressure contact.
Avoid restricting circulation - For may people there are exposed blood vessels near the skin at the wrist, which is where the pulse is often taken. Any pressure in this region will disrupt circulation into the hand and this will increase the risks of injury.
Don't use a Wrist Rest - research has shown that using a wrist rest doubles the pressure inside the carpal tunnel, because the floor of the tunnel is a more flexible ligament that transmits external pressure changes directly into the carpal tunnel (the roof of the tunnel is bone so the pressure doesn't get transmitted on through the hand). Indeed, one test for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), know as Tinel's sign, simply involves tapping on the palmar surface of the wrist, which is enough to cause tingling and numbness in someone developing CTS.
Avoid Restricting Arm Movement - with a softly padded wrist rest, especially one that is rounded, or a soft chair arm rest the forearm becomes "locked" into position and this encourages people to make mouse movements by flicking the wrist, which also increases intracarpal pressure.
Keep the Mouse Free Moving - The base of the palm of the hand is the part of the body designed to support the hand when resting on a surface. For keyboard use a broad palm support is best. However, mouse use is different from keyboard use. With a keyboard the best posture is for users to float their hands over the keyboard when typing and then to rest on the palm support in microbreaks between typing bursts. You can use rest-breaking software (e.g.
Magnitude ErgoManager, Break reminder etc) to help track and advise on your mouse use. With mousing this doesn't happen. A mouse is used by moving its position over a surface, and resting usually occurs when mouse movements stop but with the mouse still being held in the hand. Mouse movements should be made using the elbow as the pivot point, not the wrist. Anything that impairs free movement of the forearm/hand and mouse will increase injury risks.
Mouse shape - choose a mouse design that fits your hand but is as flat as possible to reduce wrist extension. Don't use a curved mouse. Use a symmetrically shaped mouse. Consider a larger mouse and there are several new interesting products on the market , such as the
Whale mouse or the Perfit mouse, that encourage arm rather than wrist movements or that encouirage postural variety and one or two-handed use. Pen-based mice designs also allow a more comfortable grip.
Load sharing - if you want to load share between your right and left hands, that is using the mouse for some of the time with each hand. For this you need to choose a mouse platform that can easily be configured to the left or/and right, and a symmetrical shaped mouse that can be used by either hand.




Other input devices - whether you choose a different mouse design, a trackball, a joystick, a pen, a touchpad, a multitouch pad or some other input device, make sure that your position this comfortably, and that your wrist is in a neutral position when using the device.



Summary recommendations for mouse position:
If you are using your mouse on a surface then:
Best arrangement for a mouse is a platform over the number keypad and just above the keyboard.
Good arrangement is a pad on an angled platform to the side of the keyboard.
Poor arrangement is a flat surface to the side of the keyboard
Worst arrangement is on the desk out to the side of the keyboard.
Other input options that don't cover the numeric keypad




If you needs to frequently use the numeric keypad consider the following:
an angled mousepad close to the side of the keyboard (e.g.
Humanscale platform; Flexrest platform) a keyboard that has a touchpad built into the keyboard (e.g. Crystal vision; Cirque smooth cat) a minikeyboard with either a built-in pointing device or an adjacent mouse and a separate keypad
More information on our Mouse research studies.
NOTE: Inclusion of links to manufacturer and product web sites is provided for user convenience and does not constitute endorsement of these products by Cornell University.
Send comments or suggestions to
Professor Alan Hedge.

Note that all materials on this page and web site are copyright and may only be copied or distributed for nonprofit educational purposes without permission.
© Professor Alan Hedge, Cornell University, content last updated February 09, 2006 *taken from
http://ergo.human.cornell.edu/cumousetips.html*

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Last days in Victoria (3-5 Sep 07)

Monday, 3 Sep 07
Many people talks about Krispy Kreme... what is that?? Some friends asked me to try, even I received a sms from a friend to buy a dozen doughnuts for her... Woah.......
Last year, during our trip to Sydney, my cousin bought these doughnuts and said very famous at that time in Sydney. As far as I remember, I did not have a great impression of its tastes. Since so many people asked me to buy and try it again, my boss' wife brought me to Chadstone to get it and bring back to Singapore.
The variations quite many... the price is very expensive compared with the price in Singapore or Indonesia. Original cost me A$2.25, with topping A$2.50, and if with filling A$2.75. But.............. if you really like doughnuts, you can buy 1 dozen and the price is slaughtered into half.. yes.. HALF. One dozen of original only A$13.95, Assorted A$16.95 (gila gak tuh!!!).
For the sake of friends... I bought back 4 dozens......
(ooppsss.. before forget, now in Victoria, you can get it from Turramarine airport also, no need to go to city to buy it).
From Chadstone, on the way back to Hoppers Crossing, we stopped by at Altona, Cherry Lake and Williamstown to enjoy the scenery and sunset as pictures below.








Tuesday, 4 September 2007

In the morning, by train I went to Melbourne city to meet up with my new friend, Mutiara at her office. I am so glad to find a new friend again... Blog is really wonderful..... Since she needs to work and I also need to go QVM, we only met for only about 15 min. But... we'll meet again next time.. either in Singapore or Melbourne... Nice to know you, Mutiara..
From Mutiara's office, I noticed that on the roadmany people carry cabin luggage with the hair like in the court in the movies... According to Mutiara, around her office many courts hall, from County Court until Supreme Court. So, those people actually are barister or Queen Counsel in the courts. Their jobs are to represent their clients, either the defendant or plaintiff. I believe, they are so lazy to take out the attributes when go out or go in the court room, and just walk like that on the street with their white wig.... New view for me! (the above info I got from Mutiara...)
Taking tram (no. 55 from Elizabeth St) I went to Queen Victoria Market to get some souveniers and cream... More story about QVM can be read from here.

Queencliff-Sorento, 2 Sep 07

Sunday, 2 September 2007
We departed at about 08.00 from Hoppers Crossing to Geelong. After breakfast at Mc Donald, we proceeded to Queenscliff Harbour to take the ferry to Sorrento Pier. The ferry is depart every hour on the hour from 7AM to 6PM. The view is beautiful. The ferry ride is about 40-45 minutes. The ticket for 1 way adult is A$6.50, Children (5-15 years) A$4.50 and toddler A$1.00.
Car also can across the strait at cost of A$42.00 (off peak) and A$48.00 (peak).
Photo at Queenscliff harbour:








On Ferry and Sorrento town:



If you are lucky, you will be able to see dolphin from the boat... The 'black dot' at the top-right is a lonely penguin.. Maybe this penguin was lost the way and separated from its flocks...







Do you notice the yellow flowers? This piece of land is full of yellow wild flowers. Very beautiful. But be careful for those who has sensitif nose and hay-fever... can be very irritating if you keep sneezing and sneezing.



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.