Trail and Re-tries

Photo taken many years back...

Recap - Hort Park (2010)

Didn’t realize just how much photo I took when I started my photo taking journey. 

The lost and found shots in my hard disk storage.

Stack of stones

The purple flower

The look-a-like ginseng

The seeking attention flower

Artscience Museum Singapore （12 years ago）

Woah Woah Woah....!

I was looking through the photos I took when I got my DSLR, I found this! 
A picture of the Artscience Museum Singapore 12 years ago!

 
Amazing~~ 

Didn't realized it was such a long time ago. 


Time flies!

I like to take photos

 Since young, I had always been a happy snapper.

Back then, taking photo was expensive. Having to buy the film and to have it developed. So I wasn’t allow to take photo “for fun”. It was very much later that I got the chance to be the happy snapper.

Nowadays, I can take as much photos as I like, as well as taking videos. Anyone with a mobile camera phone or a digital camera can do the job.

Few years back, I bought an beginner series DSLR (Nikon D40) but soon, I was blown off by the many accessories that followed. The camera lenses, the lenses filters, tripod, camera bag and the list went on. And the most crucial part was, I wasn’t a learner, I relied so much on my friend that I was just the one to do the snap, while the settings were all setup by him. After a year then I realized I only enjoy taking photos but like what the professionals or expert does… going into the setup, the framing etc.

And when the Olympus OM-D camera came, I quickly jumped right into it as I thought it would be more “idiot proof” for me. And once again, I let it become yet another white elephant.

And from then on, my mobile phone was my camera (and still is).

I definitely enjoy taking photos for my memories sake.

Photo taken with my Nikon DSLR D40

Photo taken with my Olympus OM-D (can’t remember the model)

Photo taken with my mobile phone

Arab Street

At the suggestion of good makan (food) place, we headed to this place at Arab Street (near Bugis). Well, the very first thing before we even met was me praying that it won't rain when we are there. (And days ago, I was praying it will rain because of the hot and stuffy weather where there wasn't any wind at all.) Anyway, it stopped raining by then we yes, we made it to the place.

At my friend's recommendation, I tried this indonesia dish called Sate Padang. Everything looks similar to Singapore delicacy - Satay but the meat that this eatery used is beef (which I was trying to convince my friends it's mutton but I was wrong) and the sauce is toward curry flavor gravy. 

Sate Padang 

Pricing is $6.00 for a set (7 sticks of satay + lontong)

For big eaters like me, of course I was complaining that I am still not full! Thus, while walking around to look for photo-taking spots + more FOOD!, I was brought to this eatery full of dishes. In the end we settled for kuehs only. (Per piece costs $0.50). Sugar coated kuehs, so sweet and so nice.. But I prefer the donut shaped (it is not the normal donut, the texture is more chewy) to the balls shaped (the filling taste like sticky rice + grated coconut). The black piece of kueh is made up of rice as well and it has a fragrance which I like a lot. Hope to revisit this place for more kuehs. (A pity we didn't get to try Tahu Telor)

Moving on... there were a lot of shophouses building and also a Malay Heritage Centre but it was closed for renovation for the time being. In the end, our plan for photo-shooting became a wander-less walking around arab street. It's amazing that I have never been to those place before.

A Quick View

In used?

Nice view out there?

(. . . . . . . . . . )

No more photos! We kept walking and walking and walking. (But my legs wasn't aching though.)

First we passed by store selling tin robot which does not requires battery to move! It is controlled by some mechanism designed within and operated with a key and has a on and off button but it was going at SGD $20  and the uncle told us it is going at SGD $40+ elsewhere. It's tempting... but I didn't buy it.

And there is this Tuo Luo which I thought I won't find it in Singapore as well, but the uncle was also selling it. And the "5 stones" and "Go Lee" (Marble), the bubble blowing toy shaped in different form such as the Aladdin lamp... And that's not all...

There was yet another mega toy store selling miniature cars, boardgames, etc (occurs 6 shop houses in total). There is this game called "Pickup Stick" which the stores sells a similar one but it uses satay sticks instead of the plastic type one (which I will buy for sure)

Along the way, you can see many stores selling stuffs ranging from clothes to beads to handcraft items. With fading interest in wander-less walking, we were back to square one -> Bugis. 

But it's a weekend! And it's crowded! So... next destination...

Swirl Yogurt.

(No photo again)

$0.30/10g

My friend paid $8 for his yogurt. Thus, you can expect how much yogurt that was. 

There were 8 flavors to choose from, and you decide the amount you want to eat because it's D.I.Y style. 

1. Choose cup size

2. Choose flavor

3. Control the handle to get the amount you want

4. Time for toppings (self-service, self-select)

5.Weigh 

6. Pay

7. EAT!

(But I will still stick to Yami Yogurt for now)

Dinner Time!
Yes, finally more food.

Queue Number 22!

The drink is nice, I liked it. Never knew that cucumber and lime can made such a nice blend.

(Oh, I forgot to take a snap of the Teh Botol)

This was Lele Penyet, which is Catfish! Don't know how it taste like. Maybe I shall try it next time.

What I had, Ayam Panggang (Grilled Chicken)

Like the chicken, like the sweet soya sauce with chilli but portion is small. But thanks to my friend who was too full from the $8 yogort from Swirl Art, he gave me a portion of his rice and in the end, I was bloated! 

And the wait for the final dish, Ayam Penyet (Fried Smashed Chicken)

The above three dishes are ala-carte and does not comes with the rice. Thus, remember to ask for the rice by topping up $0.50 per plate unless you are there on a weekday where they comes in a set (dish + rice at a lower price value)

This is one of the outlet at Bugis. There is 2 other outlets, one at Jurong East but not sure about the third outlet location. Also, I forgot the name of the stall as well. Let me try to find the name and put it here.

Conclusion of today, it's a sinful day of eating food without spending big bucks!

The trip to Tanjong Pagar Railway Station - KTM

Took a trip to Tanjong Pagar Railway Station - KTM before it is officially closed (shifted location). Above is a side view of the entrance.

As you can see, the weather didn't look welcoming. But what do we worry about since we are sheltered in the train station

We were about to left when we suddenly saw this train. For a moment I thought it was there since we got there. But as you can see in the previous picture, it wasn't. So it's just me imagining things. LOL

It's all about food~And I am not going to backdate my post~

Back dating seems a bit difficult so not going to back date my stuffs anymore. Thus, there are photos which are taken some time ago but only uploaded now.

A couple of food shots from several outings.

If you missed the chee cheong fun with sweet sauce, you can still find it at Chinatown.

This is an sweet dessert which has looks like cheong fun wrapped with mango + mango sauce but the white sheet is actually not. Not sure if I remembered correctly it being nata de coco but I was looking forward to a mochi or cheong fun wrap. Anyway, the big chunk of mango is as good as eating the mango itself.

A sweet treat from South Korea. I prefer the Crunky Lotte than the White Chocolate Dice.

And the spicy rice cake bought from NTUC

Hort Park Re-Re-Re-visited!

Yes, I love Parks but NO, I am not a lover of insects and pets. Especially if I encountered it accidentally! But always, I get to encounter them and I think my photography kaki(s) will like to go with me on photography trips because I almost can always get something special. Previously at Botanic Garden (months ago) I spotted a huge size iguana (luckily not kodomo dragon which is not possibly in Singapore (assured by my friend), and when I go MacRitchie Reservoir, I spotted monkeys (A LOT OF THEM!!) And now back at Hort Park, I spotted a lot of different (?) ? I don't know which categories I should classified them under but I spotted: 1. snail, 2. millipede, 3. iguana 4. black centipede(s)! Back to my trip to Hort Park Objective: Close Up shots Outcome: FAILURE! (First, I didn't bring my very very heavy tripod! I want to change to the one that my friend have!! it's SO LIGHT with the head included!!!) In the end, I sticked to what my friend proposed, 18-55mm with Hoya +4 filter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

See this insect? I am trying to recall if I took it with my +4 or without. Nevertheless, isn't it cute? It's like looking at me

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want plate-leave? (I was looking at the spots on the leaf when I took this picture but I realized it look more like a green plate (without a dish.)

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I know I know, the flower looks better than the petal but it's quite unique (imo).

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The best nearest distance I can get before it flew away. I want 105mm! The eyes would be so nice (if it's in focus).

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Stem? Stalk or Spiral? Was trying to capture the "hairs" on it but it didn't turn out as planned so...

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Relaxing my eyes, I looked up. Nothing special, nothing unique, and they are just trees, leaves and branches with no high rise building behind and it's enough to make me appreciate that.

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Is this lalang? That's was the question I had in mind. I have seen the stalk of lalang but this (as shown in picture), it must have been a long time ago (when I was in my primary or secondary where we have a field) where I saw it.

to be cont

Sunset @ Marina Keppel Bay

Oh.. yet another last minute proposed phototaking session. Suggested by my friend, we headed to Marina Keppel Bay Club to try capturing the sunset. A pity is that I didn't manage to get the idea how to take the picture nicely. BUT...I wish This is MINE~~ (sounds like Lord Of The Ring line? lol)

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Sigh.. I thought it look nice... But...

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Anyway, I saw this and was very curious whether is it purely a piece of art work or is it something useful. Anyone has any idea what it is?

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Sunset-ting~ When we reached there, the sun was so bright because there wasn't much buildings (almost none) and you can really see the BIG sun!

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Proof of "I was there"

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Sunset!

Singapore Art Festival

Trying to recall when was the last time I went for such event... It must be none? Haha.. Anyway, my photo taking kaki told me that I should take go and check it out. Although I was quite reluctant initially (because I didn't want to go alone), but in the end, my kaki was "onz" enough to revisit the place with me ah tada! There I went...

Upon reaching, I was already amazed by the "fire" around me.. From the ones that were hanged as shown above and below (continue to read on after the picture)
to the one that was manipulated by people (of course not by anyone) and it's really amazing how the fire was controlled to blast upwards (like rocket high as shown below) ...
...or how dim it can get without being put off. (The below picture is not yet the dimmest because it's too impossible to capture (for me))



If you think that was all, you are wrong. By the trees were again pots of fire (Not the song "Fire" though but it's a nice song introduce by my friend recently)

After "fire"-struck for quite sometimes, we finally moved further into the area and I saw this moving circle (which is so hard to capture in picture).

I think I like the tree better than the charcoal burning inside this ball. Somehow I associated this with Halloween when I first saw it.

And when I turned around.. I see this

Tried my best in capturing the flame

(to be cont. with more photos)