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Singapore Trip: Day(2)

We were so tired from our trip yesterday so that we left the hotel at 10 AM. We decided to try the MRT. Newton (NS21) was the closest MRT station to our hotel. So, we walked over there. We were going to travel a lot, so we bought ez-link cards. (Note: I am going to scan the card and post it here. I am on the road right now.) These ez-link cards were prepaid cards that can be used for MRTs and busses. The cards were preloaded with S$10. We tapped them at the entrance and it opened the gate.

Newton station was empty. Only the three of us and another passenger were waiting. There were flat TV screens with information about the MRT. The next MRT to Marina Bay (going South) was going to arrive in 2 minutes. We waited by the sign that shows where the MRT door is going to be. It arrived on time.

The MRT was clean and relatively full with people. All the chairs were taken. We had to stand up. Information about the direction was announce through the speaker, but I couldn’t hear it clearly. There was no screen or display information to show where we were. In Japan, the train shows where we are in a map with dots. But, since we knew where we were heading, we just looked at the stations we passed.

We arrived at City Hall station (NS25). Our target was Funan Digtal/IT Mall, which was located at North Bridge Road. This is supposed to be the place where they sell electronics (IT) stuff. We walked a block from the MRT and found the place. It was a bigh building with a lot of computer and IT-related shops. The shops were clean (what do you expect?) and sparkling with new gadgets, computers, notebooks, digital cameras, LCD screens and the like.

I took my Fujitsu Lifebook out and searched for a hotspot. It found two hotspots. One of the was free. It said that I can use "guest1" for the account and password. So, I used it to check my Gmail emails. The speed was not that fast. I’ve got faster speed at home. But, for the price that I’ve got (free), it was a bargain. Can’t complain. Too bad the battery of my Fujitsu was not good. It was good only for around 50 minutes. After 45 minutes, I decided to logout and powered off my notebook. I should have brought my iBook instead. I left it at the hotel because it was heavier than my Fujitsu Lifebook.

There was an interesting IT bookstore in the second (or was it third?) floor. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to browse. You know how I like books and could spend hours and hours in bookstore. I'll do it later some day. My son was hungry, so we dicided to have lunch there. We went to Pastamania, although my son bought a Mc Donald’s burger instead. I remembered that usually Mc Donald has a WiFi connection. I should have tried it. I saw a man using his notebook with PCMCIA wireless card sticking out. Next time, I am going to try it.

We took the MRT back to Orchard Road and walked around there for a bit. After we were tired, we walked back to our hotel.

At the hotel, I decided to try their Internet access in the lobby. There were three coin-operated computers. The cost of Internet access was $1 for 15 minutes. It was expensive, but I had to try it. It locked the screen after the time ran out. The computer was still running, but the screen was locked. That was how they control the usage. I think that is a good idea. Otherwise, I would have used the computer to type reports [smile]. I was not ready to access the wireless in our room.

Comments

Anonymous said…
pak budi lagi di singapore?? wah, bisa ketemuan gak pak? kalo bapak ada waktu, saya ingin ngobrol2 soal perkembangan IT di indonesia sama bapak. thanks. (BIMA - nomor di singapore 9740 4365)
Budi Rahardjo said…
Dn, the school in Singapore went to various schools in Indonesia to do the recruitment. (My daughter went to Taruna Bakti in Bandung.) So that was the original story. My daughter took the exam and passed it. The school in Singapore is Singapore Chinese Girls' School (SCGS). Their web site is at http://www.scgs.edu.sg/
Budi Rahardjo said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Budi Rahardjo said…
To BIMA, wah saya sudah kembali lagi ke Bandung. Cerita perjalanan ini merupakan cerita minggu lalu. Kapan-kapan kalau saya ke Singapore lagi saya akan announce deh supaya bisa ketemuan.
Rani said…
hallo pak budi, saya di singapore dan alumni taruna bakti juga lho. coba kita ketemuan dengan keluarga anda, pasti seru ;>

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