dim sum breakfast

Typical breakfast place in Hong Kong. This one is just opposite our hotel - Traders Hotel. The Son and mother were sitting there seemingly waiting for another person since there was another table setting on their table. The son was reading the newspaper while talking to the old lady and he appeared to be very annoyed and raised his voice at the old lady at times. I watched him walked away with his papers and left the old lady behind. She took her time to walk away from the table towards the exit. They did not have their dim sum breakfast. Oh dear!

view from 58th floor

Sketched this from my son's 58th floor apartment at Hong Kong west. There are three peaks and the far end is the Victoria Peak. On the right is the Hong Kong University which is very modern with roof gardens and wind turbines on the rooftops.

Results of April Sketchwalk

From National Parks Board website:

"At 62 hectares, Bishan - Ang Mo Kio Park, with its ponds and bridges, colourful shrubs and lush greenery, is one of the largest and most popular parks in Singapore. Divided by Marymount Road into two plots, Pond Gardens (formerly Bishan Park 1) and River Plains (formerly Bishan Park 2), the park caters to park users of all ages. Some interesting features include three exciting playgrounds, a community garden, a vantage point on a hill that gives one a landmark view of the park, and a Riverside Gallery.

One of the highlights of the park is the stretch of Kallang River that used to run in a concrete canal but is now a naturalised, meandering river teeming with life. The result of a joint collaboration between NParks and PUB, under the latter's Active, Beautiful and Clean Waters Programme; this river brings park users closer to the water to enjoy its beauty and serenity, and to appreciate the flora and fauna that flourish in the park because of the waterway.

It may be of interest to visitors to note that the transformation of the canal into a river involved a series of bioengineering techniques and the use of a combination of natural materials such as vegetation and rocks. Civil engineering techniques were also used to stabilise the slope and control soil erosion.

The water quality in the ponds and river is maintained, without the use of chemicals, by a cleansing biotope located in Pond Gardens. It consists of carefully selected plants which filter out pollutants while absorbing nutrients from the water."

Quote and unquote.


Everyone loves the park although it was hot and humid at 12.30pm. By the time Andrew and I arrived at the park, I did a quick third piece with just a few strokes and simple washes. The format was long at 160mm X 300mm. The first piece on top left was done at Bishan Block 513 near Junction 8. You can see CPF Bishan Branch at the back. Andrew and I were sitting and chatting and we both did opposite view. He was sketching the Bus Interchange view. Second smaller piece was located at the junction of MRT Train Depot and Bishan Park when Andrew and I walked from Junction 8 to Bishan Park. There were three MRT tracks at this view on the left and they formed a very powerful visual lines in composition.

Size : 160mm x 160mm (1st and 2nd pieces)
Size : 160mm x 300mm (3rd piece)
Media : ink and wash

April Sketchwalk

Here is the plan for this saturday's sketchwalk:

At 9.30AM, We will meet outside the Toastbox at Junction 8 (just outside the Bishan MRT station).
We will draw around the Bishan central area. You can draw the Junction 8 shopping mall, the bus interchange there and the Bishan library with its cubby holes.

At 1030AM, let's start to fan out in the general direction of Bishan Park (See map below). Feel free to form your own small groups and form your own trails through the neighbourhood. You are encouraged to spread out and not cluster together so much. If not, everyone will be drawing the same thing. Explore freely.

From 1030 - 1230PM, take your time to explore and sketch Bishan Park which has been renovated. See the site here: Bishan Park.

At 1230AM sharp, let's meet outside the McDonald's at Bishan Park, circled in the map. We will find an open space there to view all our sketches there and end the sketchwalk.

This is just a recommended time plan. If you'd like to head to Bishan Park earlier because you are tired of drawing HDB flats, please go ahead.

If there happens to be a thunderstorm on that day, we will stick to drawing around junction 8 and the areas around.

If you are in Singapore, your are invited to join us. No joining fee or attendance. Just bring your drawing tools, paper and show up. Travel light.

If you get lost, please call 91070735. But please only call if you are seriously lost so that I won't need to keep answering my phone when I'm sketching. We will not be deviating from this mapped out route. So if you are late, please find us along this route. Thanks!:)

No Monday blues

A wonderful Monday night spent with a few sketchers at Muffinry with the talented Mexican band. Certainly no Monday blues and we had so much fun eating, drinking and sketching!

Good food and good beer

Brotzeit German Bier Bar and Restaurant at Vivo City serves very good pork knuckles, beer and sausages. The pork knuckle is very crispy, deep-fried on the outside and juicy on the inside. We ordered different types of beer too. The guy sitting in front of us was wearing a shirt with the big word "SWE10" and I had to sketch him. The table next to him had a baby and a stroller blocking the passage but it was OK, the place was very crowded anyway and I did see a few babies and their strollers. It was quite a complicated scene for a sketch but I liked the challenge.

Tiong Bahru Heritage Trail

This morning the sketchers were sketching at Tiong Bahru on the invitation of National Heritage Board to take part in the launch of the Tiong Bahru Heritage Trail. I did two sketches with my like-minded fellow sketchers, interviewed by the media, talked to Ms Indranee Rajah, the Member of Parliament, also Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Law and Ministry of Education. What a day!

TGIF buffet

TGIF. I had a very rough week in the office and two sketches after a good dinner was therapeutic. The top one was the second sketch at Carousel which is an expensive halal buffet restaurant with very good spread on the menu from Chinese, Indian, Italian, Greek, Middle East to Japanese. The cheese platter was one of my favourites and we were often spoil for choice. From the first sketch below, it was funny to have a long fish tank with live fishes swimming above the sea food section with sashimi, crabs, prawns, crayfishes, oysters and other sea creatures. The ladies opposite our table grabbed at least 2 big crayfishes each on their plates when they returned to their seats. From their accent, they were tourists from China.

uncles and cold beer

I sat at the smoking section and sketched these uncles drinking tiger beer bottle after bottle. There were pretty Tiger beer girls going around pouring the beer for these uncles. These girls or sometimes older aunties with heavy make up received commissions by the numbers of bottles they sold, so they happily poured away!

my other passion - wood firing at dragon kiln

Please watch and tell us how to save Thow Kwang Dragon Kiln in Singapore. Its fate is uncertain at the moment.

Join us this Sunday

We are very privileged to be invited by National Heritage Board to assist in launching the Tiong Bahru Heritage trail. Using our sketches, we will demostrate our very unique way of recording and interacting with heritage and culture.

Ms Indranee Thurai Rajah, Ministry for Law and Ministry of Education, Member of Parliament for Tanjong Pagar GRC will be the guest of honor. She will launch the event and even watch us sketch on-location. 

Bring a friend along and we hope to see you this Sunday at Tiong Bahru with your sketching materials.

back to Tiong Bahru

There will be an ad-hoc sketchwalk this coming Sunday from 9am to 12nn to coincide with the launch of the Tiong Bahru Heritage Trail organised by National Heritage Board. Urban Sketchers Singapore are leading the community to sketch the area and we are also given a booth to display our sketches at Tiong Bahru Community Club. I realise I do not have any loose sketches of Tiong Bahru as all of them were sold during the two exhibitions in the past two years. So I went down after my office hour to sketch again. I did two pieces in the long sketchbook which I bought in Bangkok for only 100Bht or S$4.00. Very cheap and the paper quality is good that no problem for heavy washes.

Size : 160mm x 300mm
Media : ink and watercolour

late dinner

At Coffee Club, while the group with baby and kid was enjoying each others' company, the two younger men on the right were always typing and reading on laptop and smartphone. They did not talk to each other at all.

Sunday dinner

Speed sketching before they left at one of my favourite dinner places; the corner of Joo Chiat Place and Still Road. Although I have sketched at the same place before on the bottom right, I have not been sketching much lately on Muji Sketchbook.

Masons at Gillman Barracks

Second piece at Gillman Barracks on a Saturday morning. People from Masons were very nice that they came out with free scorns with jams for us and invited us to have lunch at the restaurant at a special price. Before lunch, a group photo at the huge carpark shaded by the banyan trees near Masons.

Gillman Barracks

We explored Gillman Barracks for our Sketchwalk on last Saturday of March. The complex was first built in 1936 as an military camp but it went through a few changes. I remember one my my engineer friends invested in this entire place and converted it into a eating and entertainment enclaves in the late 80s. We tried to support by having parties and visited the famous "Kar Soh Fish Head Soup" a few times. However, the location was too remote for people like us staying in the east. I heard it was really tough for the operators then. Now, this place has transformed yet again into a latest contemporary art destination in Singapore.

We were there at 9:30am in the morning and the place was totally deserted although it hailed to create a vibrant arts scene made up of museums, galleries. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the vast space, the lush greenery and the great company sketching together. I did two pieces on my newly acquired sketchbook bought in Bangkok for only 300bht or S$4.00. One sketch was done at block 22 overlooking block 9 and the other piece was done near the big banyan trees outside Masons, block 8.

Size : 160mm x 300mm
Media : ink and watercolour

Coastal Settlement

this is my third time at the same restaurant within a short span of two weeks! love this place, food is good, decor is cool, ambiance is cozy. Village or kampong living with a modern twist!

March Sketchwalk

Hi all, sketchwalk this saturday March 30th, will be at Gillman Barracks. This is a former military camp which has been converted into a place for art galleries and eateries. I've not been there myself, but sketchers who have been there recommend it.

The closest MRT station is Labrador Park (Circle Line Station CC27.) From there, it is just a short walk up along Alexandra Rd to the Gillman Barracks at 9 Lock Rd. A clearer direction and map can be found here: http://www.gillmanbarracks.com/visit.php

We will gather at Gillman Barracks (9 Lock Rd) at 930am to start our sketchwalk. So please have your breakfast before coming. Sketchwalk will be free and easy so you can draw whatever catches your interest there, be it buildings or bugs. At 12.30pm, please return back to the start point (9 Lock Rd) where we will gather, look at everyone's drawings and take photo!

Everyone in Singapore is invited. And if this is your first time, we encourage you to travel light as you may have to do some walking. Bring a hat in case it gets hot. Bring a foldable stool if it will make you feel more comfortable. All drawing levels are welcome so don't be shy. You are also free to use any drawing tools and technique you wish. In fact, this is a good time to try techniques and art tools you've never tried before because it is all just for fun!

The place is relatively easy to find and it will be easy to spot the sketchers. But if you are seriously lost, you may call 91070735. (But please call only if you are seriously lost or else I will have to keep answering my phone will I'm sketching. Thanks!) See you all there!

Mini Anagama Firing

We had the mini Anagama firing over the weekend. It started on Saturday 16 Mar for a 48-hour firing, the longest that we have ever done. The mini Anagama was built by the resident potter Steven Low from scratch. He had experimented after a few rounds of firing and this is the first time the group is firing with this small wood kiln.

Size : 250 x 250mm (top) 254 x 178mm (bottom)

my youngest son is 18

My son's 18th birthday, the family went to Les Bouchons for his favourite steak. It is located at Tyler Print Institute at Robertson Quay. It is a very cozy steak house with very good collection of wine. This was drawn on the table paper and I just torn the paper and brought home for a scan after the meal.

Size : 300mm x 260mm
Medium : ink