Places I have been -Kampong in Buangkok

I first heard about this place from Neil Humphrey - Author of book such as Notes from an even smaller island - and have finally decided to pay it a visit a few days ago.

The Kampong itself is pristine in a sense that it retains it most original flavour and culture. What hit you are the transformation of the area from a HDB sub-urban environment to a really lay back Kampong Village that you swear you will never find it in mainland Singapore.

The walk itself was quite great as it bypass small river streams, lovely archways, beautiful scrubs and bushes. The residents there in general are bemused with the folks walking through their Kampong. Be advise thou, from my quick glance, some of those residents own land and big cars that are parked at their doorways! Base on wiki search, these may be the original landlords that rent out the houses situated in the Kampong to people since the 1960s!

Garden Tour - Alexandra Canal

After my visit to Lor Halus wetland reserve, I have visited another similar place that uses plants to purified our water system - allow me to introduce the newly renovated Alexandra Canal along Prince Charles Crescent.

Newly opened by Minister Mentor, Mr Lee Kuan Yew on 19 March 2011, it seeks to clean and purified rainwater collected from the neighborhood before releasing it into Alexandra Canal.

Most of the technical details have already been discussed in the write up on Lor Halus Wetland Reserve page and I shall not bore you further. However, I felt that Alexandra Canal and Lor Halus got very different atmosphere to it. Lor Halus has a wild functional feel to it, while Alexandra Canal is designed for families gathering and morning joggers around a nice neighborhood.

Take a look at both the page to see the difference!

This location will be classified under both Garden and Education categories.

If you need transportation services to visit this place, please refer to our product listing page.

You can also purchase a list of Top 40 Must Visit Places in Singapore with Sample Itineraries at the Donation/Payment Details page.

Opening by MM Mr Lee Kuan Yew



New Platform over the Alexandra Canal



Part of the new Rock landscapped Garden

Some of the plants used to clean the water system

Similar plants are seen in the Lorong Halus Wetland

A water splashing pool for the family

Factory and educational Tour - Green Energy Derivation from Used Cooking Oil (Alpha Biodiesel)

Looking back at the nuclear incident in Japan, looking for cleaner and more sustainable energy sources is of paramount importance. I have just visited an used cooking oil (UCO) to diesel recycling plant and is very impress with work and perseverance demonstrated by the founders.

The process is relatively simple; however the cost of production is not cheap. The process is as followed:-

1) Collect UCO from restaurant and households

2) Mix in a reacting tank with methanol and potassium hydroxide (KOH) at around 60 degrees Celsius.

3) Allow the glycerol (can be use to make soap) which is more dense to settle down and drain out.

4) Heat the remaining mixture to remove excess methanol

5) Filter the mixture(sawdust and resin) and the filtrate is allow to cool of again

6) End product - Diesel

No worries if the above seem quite complex. Participants who join the tour will be given a detail explanation on the whole process through video show, factory tour and lab-scale biodiesel making demo.

This location is classified under both factory and educational category.

If you need transportation services to visit this place, please refer to our product listing page.

You can also purchase a list of Top 40 Must Visit Places in Singapore with Sample Itineraries at the Donation/Payment Details page.
 

By product from the recycling process-glycerin

Cooling tank for the main recycling plant



Filtration column to remove KOH and methanol



Pipe show the condition of diesel

labs testing different type of method of recycling UCO



Micro refinery