:: Alex's World! ::

Sunrise From The Train

Alexander Tan — Friday, 05 Mar 2010

How often do we see a sunrise on the train and just miss it when we reach out for our cameras? I've got it this time. Sadly the windows aren't really clean.

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

Prawn Noodles Soup?

Alexander Tan — Wednesday, 03 Mar 2010

Do you know what is this dish? Here's some clues, it has prawns, noodles, and some vegetables in a special type of soup. It can only be found near Chinatown in Singapore. Do you know what is it? hahaha...

City Night View

Alexander Tan — Friday, 26 Feb 2010

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Row Houses Along Syed Alwi Road

Alexander Tan — Wednesday, 24 Feb 2010

It was not only until the 1980's did Singaporean realised the importance of conserving their heritage. Luckily, this stretch of row houses were saved and restored. Have a closer look at the finer details of the beautiful façade below.

High Street Centre

Alexander Tan — Friday, 19 Feb 2010

I was wondering when I looked up at High Street Centre the other day. Its façade has changed totally. The upgrading of its exterior has transformed this legendary Singapore's icon into yet another beauty.

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

Mee Pok Tar

Alexander Tan — Wednesday, 17 Feb 2010

Although I am back in Manchester already, I will still continue to blog about my adventures in Singapore. Today's post is about Mee Pok Tar (see photo above). This is one of my favourite dish too! I've just realised that you can't really see the Mee Pok from the above photo. Anyway it is hidden underneath all the goodies. I've also order two additional Fried Fish Cakes to go along.

You can enjoy this fabulous dish at 216-G #01-03 Syed Alwi Road Singapore 207799

Sentosa Getaway

Alexander Tan — Friday, 12 Feb 2010

It's been more than 10 years since I came back to Sentosa and amazing a lot has changed. The beaches are much cleaner and more fun these days. I've also captured some riders trying out the Segway PT in the photos below. Who say you can only operate these electric vehicles when standing. They are great for resting too!

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

Satay Adventure

Alexander Tan — Wednesday, 10 Feb 2010

One of the things on my "Things to do" list was to satisfy my Satay craving. This time I've ordered some pork Satay, and the thing I like about this store is they have prepared it the traditional way! The sauce on the right is the Satay peanut sauce. And of course how can I miss the pressed rice to go along with this dish. Yummy.

I had this wonderful dish at an Ang Mo Kio hawker centre; Block 453a, unit #01-215

What Do Shopkeepers Wish For?

Alexander Tan — Tuesday, 09 Feb 2010

Chinese new year is around the corner and many are out shopping. The photo below was what I've found on the counter of the cashier; A request from the shop owner.

Hort Park And Surroundings

Alexander Tan — Friday, 05 Feb 2010

Introduced to me on Alicesg blog, I decided I should take a visit to Hort Park. This is an interesting concept park that incorporates ideas for transforming the concrete jungle in most cities into greener areas.

Then, since the weather was good, and the sky was clear and sunny, I also did a little detour to Henderson Waves. Look at the stunning architecture of this bridge. On the floor on each section of the bridge, it even tells you how high above sea level are you.

The photo immediately above shows us that I was 60.49 metres above sea level!

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

Saint Teresa Church

Alexander Tan — Wednesday, 03 Feb 2010

In this post, I present some photos taken during one of my visit to Saint Teresa Church at Kampong Bahru Road. I would say simply gracious.

Scissors Cut Curry Rice

Alexander Tan — Monday, 01 Feb 2010

One of Singapore's best kept secret in my opinion is the scissor cut curry rice at Beach road. All the food from this store uses the scissors to cut them into small chunks, and the store's speciality is the curry over rice. Hence, that's where it got its name.

As you can see from the photos above, they do serve other wonderful dishes too. So the next time when you visit Singapore and want to try something special. This is not a miss!

I had my Scissor Cut Curry Rice at Beach Road, unit 229-231.

High High It Flies

Alexander Tan — Friday, 29 Jan 2010

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Chicken Rice Adventures

Alexander Tan — Tuesday, 26 Jan 2010

The thing that I had missed the most about Singapore besides my family and friends is the food. In this post, I'm writing about my adventure with the famous chicken rice dish at Wee Nam Kee Hainanese Chicken Rice Restaurant. The restaurant is located along Thomson road in Novena Ville, opposite Novena Church. The quality of the food is still as good as I remembered, and the Chicken is very tender and juicy. The rice is the part of the dish that I've missed the most, and it was terrific. This time I've also ordered additional dishes like the Sambal Baby Kai Lan shown in the photo below, followed by Deep Fried Tofu as seen in the photo after that.

The nearest MRT station to get to here is the Novena station located along the North South Line.

The Sunny City

Alexander Tan — Friday, 22 Jan 2010

For those of you who had guessed that I've visited my family in my previous post, you are right. I'm back in Singapore!

Ahh... nice warm sunset.

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

A Visit To Manchester International Airport

Alexander Tan — Monday, 18 Jan 2010

The guys at the airport are loading the baggage into the aeroplane on a wintry day.

Guess where I'm travelling to this time.

Moments after we take off, we saw a white England.

Shall We Find A Seat?

Alexander Tan — Friday, 15 Jan 2010

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

Emperor Prawn

Alexander Tan — Tuesday, 05 Jan 2010

Recently, I've bought a few emperor prawns from the market to celebrate the New Year. While doing this, I did not actually have an idea how to cook one of these. So this is very much another of my cooking experiments.

I started of marinading one of the prawns with Olive oil, a pinch of salt, squeezed a bit of lemon, grinded black peppercorn, and set it aside for 30 minutes. Then, I shallow fry it in Olive oil with chopped garlic, and just before it was cooked, I added a small portion of mixed herbs. It turned out very delicious. So I thought I better document this.

2009 New Years Eve Celebrations

Alexander Tan — Saturday, 02 Jan 2010

Happy New Year!
May this year be a better one for everyone of us.

These photos were taken during the New Year's Eve 2009 celebration in front of Manchester Arndale and next to the Manchester Wheel. Fireworks were let off with accordance with the music at count down.

Night Shot Tested

Alexander Tan — Wednesday, 30 Dec 2009

Mentioned in my previous post, I've bought my camera finally. It is the Canon PowerShot SX20 IS, and I would like to thank those of you who had gave me your valuable suggestions and recommendations. They had been very helpful when selecting my new camera. I've read a few reviews highlighting that this model produces noisy photos under low light conditions. So I thought may be I should test it.

The photo above was taken today at about 8pm. The settings on my camera were, shutter speed 5sec in ~~AV mode (aperture mode)~~ TV mode (Shutter Priority), with exposure +1 2/3 and ISO 200. Unfortunately it was raining and a few drops of rain settled on my lens when taking this shot. In the photo, this is Manchester Piccadilly road. I'm actually quite pleased with the quality, although may be reducing the exposure slightly, and having a longer shutter speed will achieve better effects.

Last Minute Christmas Shopping?

Alexander Tan — Thursday, 24 Dec 2009

Are you done with your Christmas shopping already? These people sure are getting some last minute stuff. I wonder if this is due to the bad weather, or are we getting busier/lazier, or is it cheaper to leave it till last minute?

Merry Christmas to all of you. Ho Ho Ho...!

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

1st Snow Storm of the Year

Alexander Tan — Tuesday, 22 Dec 2009

Our 1st snow storm of the year in Manchester. Due to the weather I am lazy to blog and I am in the holiday mood already. Hmm...

I've got my new camera already! These two photos were taken yesterday (20 Dec 2009, Sun) using it. Guess which brand/model did I chose in the end? For those who need some recap, click here

This is Manchester!

Alexander Tan — Friday, 11 Dec 2009

I'm back posting on Manchester again, and I've found this creature (a hornet) near Brazennose Street.

This week, I've spent too much time searching for my new camera that I've missed out on blogging. Lol... And I haven't made up my mind in the end. However, I've zoom in on 2 brands, they are Canon Powershot SX1 IS, SX20 IS, and Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35/38. The specifications on these models are attractive and Canon slightly edged over due to the image quality in my opinion. But the balance between the price, specifications, and quality gives Panasonic the edged. Any opinions on this?

Looking Up Always Pay

Alexander Tan — Friday, 04 Dec 2009

I tried looking up again and guess what I saw. This photo was taken in Liverpool's Clayton Square.

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

Is it time to move on and up?

Alexander Tan — Wednesday, 02 Dec 2009

The camera that I'm using to shoot most of my photos is the Canon PowerShot A640. I've bought this piece towards the end of 2007, and it was value for money. However, a few flaws was noticed when using it.

Firstly, because it does not have image stabiliser, thus photos always turned out blurrish in low light, indoors, and when I'm trying to capture moving images. I've tried selecting the night scene, indoors, and kids mode respectively, however, that improves the quality of the photo slightly. Secondly, it takes an awful long time to take a photo with the flash on. A lot of time I just gave up. The longest time I've ever waited was 30 seconds and nothing happened. Overall, this camera has served me well, but looking around things has moved on a lot and may be my expectation just became more demanding now.

I am seeking advice how to improve my shooting skills so that I can overcome the above problems. If I want to get myself a good camera with good video capabilities, which brand and model will you recommend and why? To furnish more about the camera I am looking for, I want something compact and light (<600g), but with much better capabilities than my A640.