Once upon a time

when i was small and Christmas tree was tall

Photos from Paul Seow’s Workshop

Attended Paul Seow’s food workshop over the weekend. I did not know food photography could be such a pain till I went for his workshop. Food photographers’ attention to details can get really freaky some times. Anyhow, i shall try my best to do good food photographs.

I did not realize the problems in this photo until he pointed ‘em out

• The prawn is upside down
• The chive is not fresh & nice looking
• the part of the lime where the stem used to be should be hidden from the viewers
• there is a piece of ‘extra noodle’ b/t the prawn and the lime
  

Gasp!! Almost outrageous level of attention to details!

The only photo that he was interested is the sushi photo below. “But wait”, he said and after a long pause, “ the spacing between the 2nd sushu (orange) and the 3rd sushi (yellow) is too near, I would have moved it further.” I was UTTERLY speechless.

  

nameless Rojak Stall at Bishan St 24 – it doesn’t get anymore crunchier

Rojak, the Singaporean version of salad, seems to be an easy dish to prepare – Cut up some pineapple, Benkoang/African Turnip, raw mango and ginger flower, toast some deep-fried flour dough (you2 tiao2) and “tau pok”, mix them up in shrimp paste, sugar and chilli. Wahla! You are done!

Maybe not!

Trust me, it’s not! I’ve tried at least 3 other stalls in the recent 2 months or so. Guess what? None of ‘em could even come close to the one at Bishan St 24!

Most Rojak stalls failed miserably in making sure that the fried flour dough and “Tau Pok” is well toasted & crispy. As a result, you end up having Rojaks which are so soft & soggy! This stall does it so well that you could hear the “Tau Pok” being crushed as you chew!!

Another big problem, many stall owners goes way too easy with the minced peanut! This stall is different! The uncle really makes sure that the minced peanut covers at least the bulk of the dish! I’m sorry if you are allergic to peanuts! You just missed something wonderful!

What else? The uncle is nice. He’d remember your preference if you come back every week or so!

Just one last note, never take-away for this Rojak, you will be sure to pass it off as normal or even substandard one!

 

  

del.icio.us Tags: food,Singapore

10 Photography Quotes that You Should Know

http://digital-photography-school.com/photography-quotes
My favourite quote is inside as well :)
“ Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow. – Imogen Cunningham

The Curry Wok – it just tastes like home

As a true blue CHS student & Hwa Chong-ian, Curry Wok is no stranger. In fact, we were most probably the first batch of customers when Curry Wok opened its doors :) No kidding! After being so used to the “Ke3 Ai4 Ji1” Fried Chicken, Thai Noodle House, Prince Cafe Western set meal & a Chicken Rice cum Tze Char stall (for which I somehow can’t recall the name), Curry Wok was a good alternative.

Anyway, in those good old days, it used to be the case that we walk in with school uniform, pay 5 buck for a minimum of 4 pax & the uncle will feed us with around 3 dishes and some lime juice.

Since I have left the college and moved out the such a food haven, my craving for Curry Wok & its food have been building up. Oh, and did I mention? It serves good Nonya food. One day came when we trooped down all the way from Clementi and charged at the food. Well, I hope I made a decent recommendation.

Btw, pay attention to the plates that were used to serve the rice & braised pork, pretty nostalgic stuff.

The big picture (Fried Tofu, Ngoh Hiang, Braised pork knuckles, Otak & Nonya Chap Chye)

 

The Drinks: Grass Jelly in Lime Juice for those who really love sour & wanna ticker their taste buds a little. The lime juice is still good as it was. Fresh blast for the mouth & mind, sure to keep me awake in a lazy afternoon like this.

 

The appetizer(?): Fried Tofu & Ngoh Hiang and the chilli

The Ngoh Hiang is one of their signature dishes at Curry Wok, it was just good as it used to be also. Maybe just a little soft :( I’ll be sure to come during early lunch hours so they don’t get cold & soft. The chilli is shiok too! Goes way too well with the rice that I had to ask for a second serving LOL.

Another close up of the Ngoh Hiang

 

Braised pork knuckles! Another must-try dish at Curry Wok. Contrary to its looks, the pork doesn’t taste oily at all! In fact, it must probably taste less oily than the average KCF chicken.

 

 

Curry Fish Head

The Curry Wok

5 Coronation Road

#01-04 Coronation Arcade

Singapore River Photo Walk

The big bird and small birds

Such a pity that the birds are too small to be seen in the photo.

Happy National Day

From LASALLE college of the Arts

Life is Fragile

 

2 young people committed suicide at the railways near the overhead bridge over at Bukit Timah (King Albert Park) this morning. What connects me with ‘em is the fact that I was there less than 48hrs ago doing a mini photo walk! Never had we thought that we were visiting a would-be suicide ground.

Albeit the fact the place was not as interesting as i expected for photo shoot, I think i’m gonna miss it, for a while. At least, for a while this place will be out of bound to the public. But months later, years later, people will forget about it and move on with their life. This place will be opened again. Dying does no solve the problem. As someone once told me: “Why suicide? If you are not even afraid of death, what obstacles in life will you be afraid of?”

Life is fragile, handle it with prayers & love

Time to relax :)

Enjoy a chilled Heineken once in a while

One more week to school before it restarts, i guess that’s as much rest as i would get.
Time to take more naps, have some decent food and get ready for the new semester.
Anyway, 15 minute is so great! I’d miss it!

view of 15 Minutes from the sofa

untitled

For no reason, I just like these 2 photos. They strike something in my heart. I cant explicitly describe in words. It was just something close to heart.

Hai Kee Chao Guo Tiao

Despite been visiting the queenstown hawker centre always weekly when I was much younger, I was totally clueless about Hai Kee Chao Guo Tiao aka Char Kway Teow there.

The long queue is the best testimony to its popularity. Imagine the time that you have to wait when the boss stir fries each serving on its own. I bet we waited for at least 20 minutes before it was our turn to order.

Probably one of the most sinful and unhealthy local food, this Char Kway Teow, like most of the other traditional Char Kway Teow stalls, serves cripsy deep-fired lard!! Very sinful stuff!