:: Alex's World! ::

STOP! and Ponder...

Alexander Tan — Friday, 27 Jan 2012

I've been rushing pass this place every time I visit the University's Main Library. I never really stop to notice its surroundings; it is quite tranquil surprisingly. This time I did and see what I managed to capture! Grounds in front of John Rylands University Library, The University of Manchester.

For more sky watching, enjoy the beautiful skies from all over the world at

Crossing The Road

Alexander Tan — Thursday, 26 Jan 2012

This was a shot taken on a cloudy day when I was crossing the streets in Hang Zhou, China. Very pretty city thou, and lots of expensive cars too!

For more sky watching, enjoy the beautiful skies from all over the world at

Cool Bicycle Designs

Alexander Tan — Thursday, 26 Jan 2012

I think the Montague folding bikes are cool and stylish. Surprise I was, when I saw this guy setting up his all white Montague SWISSBIKE X series folding bike during my trip to Shanghai, China! Since we are talking about bikes, I would take this opportunity to blog about the Lunartic Hubless Wheel bike.

I came across Lunartic Hubless Wheel bike while browsing for cool bikes. This is a hub-less rear wheel bicycle designed across the Atlantic, in England, at Loughborough University. At the moment, I would really like to see this bike being taken into production. You can have a look at the prototype of the bicycle in the video below.

Can Coffee Help Relieve Constipation?

Alexander Tan — Thursday, 26 Jan 2012

Recently, I had been facing with constipation issues for the past few days. I remembered the last time I had this problem I had a cup of coffee and I managed to resolve the issue. So I tried it again today, and it really works! This is the second time this has happened to my system and I am amused by it. I would like to declare that I am not a regular coffee drinker, but I do consume coffee whenever I need it; such as when I need to burn the midnight oil, may be now even constipation!

I did some research on the Web about my problem and found that there are mixed opinions on this issue. Some suggest that you should avoid liquids containing caffeine - i.e., coffee or cola drinks. Others also reported the same experience that I do.

There is definitely a contradiction in suggestions from the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NDDIC) and the reports of Health effects of coffee on Wikipedia. So what is happening to my system? Why some others and me have these experiences, while some professional institution suggest differently? I would like to hear your views about this matter, and experiences you have with constipation and coffee, and if you are of a medical profession, I also would like to hear your input on this matter.

Last Summer?

Alexander Tan — Friday, 30 Sep 2011

You may think that we are well into Autumn, however today's weather in Manchester is nothing but SUNNY, SUNNY, SUNNY Is this the last summer of the year?

For more sky watching, enjoy the beautiful skies from all over the world at

Cleaning Or Baking?

Alexander Tan — Tuesday, 06 Sep 2011

Recently when I shifted to my new place, I realised that my shower drainage emits a foul smell. I’ve tried clearing the gunk I found inside and flush it with hot water, but the smell keeps returning.

So I did some searching over the Web to see if there are other alternatives to kill the odor. I realized that commonly there are a few things people suggest that seems to refer to the same thing or may be I am just confused. Hmm…? There seems to be suggestions to use baking soda, bicarbonate of soda, and sodium carbonate. A little searching around these terms caught my attention that baking soda is not the same as baking powder, and bicarbonate of soda is not the same as baking soda. Hmm… now this sound complicated – huh? Then another article I found claims that both baking soda and bicarbonate of soda are the same where the former is the American version of the latter. I’m totally confused!

I’ve tried searching for these items in a popular supermarket here in Manchester and I found all these items on sale. So it seems like they are all different things. I am even more confused now.

To think of it, this sounds more like the ingredients for a baking recipe rather than eliminating the odor problem I had. So should I ask, how long do I bake it for? Lols…

If you are reading this and you know the answer to my problem, I would like to hear your comments. May be you can point out to me in particular, how do I use them; both to clean my toilet and to remove the odor for good. I will really appreciate it.

Do You Hang Glide?

Alexander Tan — Friday, 02 Sep 2011

In a recent visit to the Peak District, we saw a Hang Glider gliding around Mam Tor peak.

Caught you this time! I've got to try Hang Gliding some day.

For more sky watching, enjoy the beautiful skies from all over the world at

Old Friend 500

Alexander Tan — Monday, 29 Aug 2011

A loyal friend - apartment 500 at The Grand in Manchester has served me well for the past 2 years. Packing up and clearing this place brought back many memories for me; thus this is a special place for me. I've never felt so much for a place before, so I hope 500 will stand strong for many more years to come.

Everything has to come to a close at certain point in time, and I've reach the time to move on to another place and another chapter of my life. Do you have such a place in your life that you have feelings for?

Beach Time...

Alexander Tan — Friday, 26 Aug 2011

A man made beach in the middle of Manchester city centre, Castlefield, UK.

For more sky watching, enjoy the beautiful skies from all over the world at

Love Shopping?

Alexander Tan — Wednesday, 24 Aug 2011

If you love shopping you will like Manchester Arndale. After the riots that spread from London in August 2011, many places around Manchester have setup different activities to show their love for the place. The UK's largest inner-city shopping centre - Manchester Arndale - has also started its Love Manchester Arndale wall - A colourful display of post-it notes.

Lyme Park

Alexander Tan — Friday, 29 Jul 2011

A day out at Lyme Park in Disley a town near Manchester, UK.

For more sky watching, enjoy the beautiful skies from all over the world at

Penmaenmawr

Alexander Tan — Friday, 08 Jul 2011

It's been awhile since I last blog because work just keep piling up. But fortunately I managed to find some time over the weekend to do a bit of hiking. This time I'm hiking in Penmaenmawr. The hills that runs over from Snowdon that reaches the sea is stunning. I would say this is one of my favourite hiking route and one of the easiest too!

For more sky watching, enjoy the beautiful skies from all over the world at

Is that Spiderman?

Alexander Tan — Friday, 06 May 2011

A grey day at Manchester today as you can see in the photo above. So I've decided to focus more about the surroundings. If you look closely in the photo you will see a man at the side of the building. Zooming in on the man, I realised he is belayed to paint the pipe.

I always thought they always build scaffoldings to carry out this kind of job. But what a way.

For more sky watching, enjoy the beautiful skies from all over the world at

What Have You Been Reading?

Alexander Tan — Thursday, 05 May 2011

Missing out being in Singapore during the current General Elections (GE), I viewed most of it over the Web. However, depending on where you get our information about the GE, the information covered varies. So I've decided to tabulate the past 7 seven days (28 April to 04 May) online articles by the 4 mainstream Singapore media Websites -- The Straits Times, Channel News Asia, Yahoo Singapore and AsiaOne.

The compilation was based on articles published from the party’s perspective. If an article covers more than one party’s perspective, an article count will be given to all parties involved.

I realized that the media coverage do vary quite a bit when comparing The Straits Times (ST) and Channel News Asia (CNA) coverage. Articles covering parties such as Singapore People's Party (SPP) and Workers' Party (WP) doubles in CNA. The results suggest that if want broader and in depth coverage of the general election, CNA, Yahoo Singapore and AsiaOne are better.

Canals in Manchester:Castlefield

Alexander Tan — Friday, 18 Mar 2011

In today's post I'm featuring the canals that cuts across Castlefield in Manchester.

For more sky watching, enjoy the beautiful skies from all over the world at

Wales Millennium Centre

Alexander Tan — Friday, 04 Mar 2011

Towards the end of January 2011 between 28th and 30th, I visited Cardiff, Wales. The photo above shows the Wales Millennium Centre by Cardiff Bay.

For more sky watching, enjoy the beautiful skies from all over the world at

Cleanest Cities In The World!

Alexander Tan — Thursday, 17 Feb 2011

Recently on MSN Travel, Tamara Hinson published an article listing the 10 cleanest cities in the world. The 10 cities include:

Edinburgh, Scotland
Minneapolis, US
Oslo, Norway
Ottawa, Canada
Singapore
Dublin, Ireland
Calgary, Canada
Stockholm, Sweden
Philadelphia, US
Truro, Cornwall, England

Proud to be a Singaporean, my country is in the list! However I found this list uncertain. Breaking down this information, 9 out of 10 countries are from both Europe and North America. What about Japan? Have Tamera miss Japan out? I'm very sure Japan is known by many as one of the cleanest place on earth. May be a more detailed list including, probably, the top 50 cities should be provided to explain how the judging was conducted.

An Evening Autumn Sky

Alexander Tan — Friday, 31 Dec 2010

This photo was taken in autumn when it was still warmer in Manchester.

For more sky watching, enjoy the beautiful skies from all over the world at

No One Should Be Spared!

Alexander Tan — Tuesday, 28 Dec 2010

This winter no one should be spared from the freeze! Not even this gargoyle at the side of a fountain in Albert Square, Manchester, UK. I was on my way to church last Sunday when I spotted this magnificent work of art by mother nature(see below). Then I quickly went back home to grab my camera to capture these shots.

I think the glitter from the ice caught my eyes. Isn't it pretty?

Ouch! My Head Aches...

Alexander Tan — Sunday, 26 Dec 2010

Bad weather, airport closure, warning against non-essential travel and you are due to travel soon(just like me). We have all seen these news surfacing almost daily. So how should you be prepared?

We all have heard of the horrible stories of someone stuck over night at the airport, and you don't want to find yourself in that situation. Should I carry along some snacks just in case I'm stuck in that situation(touch wood I hope not)? If I am travelling alone how can I protect myself as well as my belongings when I need to take a nap? Should I carry more cash? What else should I pack to be ready for that journey. Well let's hope it will not happen to me.

Skies We Dearly Missed

Alexander Tan — Friday, 24 Dec 2010

It wasn't too long ago when we had such lovely blue skies in London...

For more sky watching, enjoy the beautiful skies from all over the world at

Ruby Tuesday

Alexander Tan — Wednesday, 01 Dec 2010

A door with character at Tynemouth, England.
Check out other photos featuring the colour red at Work of the Poet.

Wrestling With Crocodiles

Alexander Tan — Friday, 26 Nov 2010

Recently I've been to United States of America again, and this time its Orlando, Florida. I know that I should be posting about Disney and Universal Studios, but I've decided to do the city instead.

And I really like this statue of a man on a crocodile in front of Orange County Regional History Center.

For more sky watching, enjoy the beautiful skies from all over the world at

Who's KING of Browser?

Alexander Tan — Friday, 12 Nov 2010

Recently I did a compilation of my blog's user statistics to investigate the type of Web users visited my blog. These records were taken between 19 July 2010 and 12 Nov 2010, a snapshot of the last 4 months. The percentages of the types of browsers my visitors use include Microsoft IE (55.19%), Firefox (28.63%), Safari (8.61%), Google Chrome (6.85%), Opera (0.62%), and others (0.10%). Noting that I mainly, interchangeably use Firefox and Safari, so from the data it gives a good reflection of my actual users.

After all the hype about Web browsers wars between Firefox, Google Chrome, and Microsoft IE; which many "tech savvy" users can witness, the data presented here still shows that Microsoft IE is still much ahead than the rest. Though I not saying that their users rate have not fallen, but much of the users of the Web still trust and believe in them.

Evening Reflections

Alexander Tan — Friday, 08 Oct 2010

This is my final post on my Newcastle trip. The photo above are more bridges that span across the River Tyne, and the erratic structure below is The Sage Gateshead.

For more sky watching, enjoy the beautiful skies from all over the world at