another demo

A quick demo piece in A3 size to a group of students in my drawing class at the campus.

shopping therapy

I don't like shopping but I like the coffee break when I go shopping. This is a sketch after my favourite Kueh Lopes and the brewed coffee at Oleh Oleh Teahouse at Parkway Parade in the afternoon.

Kueh Lopes is one of the many popular Malay desserts made from glutinous rice wrapped in individual triangle using banana leaves and left to boil for a few hours. They are served with grated coconut and palm sugar syrup.

The Plain at Craig Road

Went to this cozy, designer look cafe called The Plain at Craig Road after Saturday sketchwalk at Duxton and Neil Road. A very hot day for outdoor sketching. It was nice to chill for a while at The Plain. The beautiful young Asian lady noticed I was sketching her and whispered to the American or European boy friend who was having egg benedict that looked so inviting. But I was not hungry so I ordered the coffee and ice cream affogato.

first sketch on a new Muji sketchbook

coffee splashes from Starbucks and I notice their coffees are much lighter compared to the local black coffees from the coffee shops. This is the branch at Marina Square where I managed to buy the Muji sketchbook. The price of each sketchbook has increased by 20%. I think it is too much - no wonder people are complaining about he higher cost of living.

It took me a while to decide to buy the sketchbook and this is the first sketch on the new sketchbook.

Tiong Bahru revisited pt 5

Coffee 75
Ink, Watercolours & Coffee
20 x 20cm

Row 78 Ink & Watercolours 20 x 20cm	EngWatt 66 Ink & Watercolours 20 x 20cm

These three pieces are smaller of this series. The coffee stain on the top piece is from Forty Hands Coffee, the popular cafe at Yong Siak Street.

Forty Hands at Tiong Bahru

I have done with my sketches for "Tiong Bahru Revisited" exhibition to be held from 30 Jun 2011. Today I brought a group of new design students to Tiong Bahru and I did two sketches on site, one was smaller at 20 x 20cm and the other one larger at 40 x 20cm.

When the sketching session ended, I had my lunch and coffee at Forty Hands after visiting Book Actually in the vicinity. Here is a sketch with a cup of really good coffee!

collage of sketches

sketches of people in the month of March 2011, muji sketchbook 130 x 130mm.

Ya Kun Coffee

This tiny coffee shop inside the modern Raffles City Shopping Mall is so crowded! I found a nice seat and splashed some coffee from Ya Kun on the paper before the sketch.

Ya Kun Kaya Toast is a chain of air-conditioned traditional coffee shops in Singapore and certain parts of Asia. I grew up with Ya Kun and I frequented the traditional coffee stall when I worked at Shenton Way Business District in the 1980s. In 1998, the coffee stall was passed down to second generation moved to a new location at Far East Square. Ya Kun expanded into a chain of coffee stalls islandwide and regionally. It now has 32 outlets in Singapore, and adopts the franchises business model in Indonesia, Taiwan, Japan, Philippines and South Korea.

www.yakun.com/

lunch at McDonald

I sent my car to Tan Chong Motors at Bukit Timah Road for maintenance early morning and went to work. Before I picked up the car during lunch hour, I had my lunch at McDonald located inside King's Albert Park in the vicinity. Two students in front of my seat were having more than two big burgers! The lady was wearing a huge T-shirt printed with scull-alien image with the word JUAEN on the alien's forehead. The guy had his hair bleached in blond that I always find unattractive for a young Chinese.

When I was done with the sketch, the place was packed with the students from the near-by Ngee Ann Polytechnic at lunch hour. I had the McCafe which it claimed was 100% Arabica Coffee!

Casa Verde

Casa Verde means "Green House" in Italian is a cafe by day and restaurant by night. It is situated inside the Botanical Garden of Singapore and it belongs to the famed Les Amis Group that also owns Au Jadin, a fine dinning French restaurant. I was at Casa Verde with my colleagues on a very wet Tuesday night. The clam soup was my favourite but pasta aglio olio was a little too oily for me although I loved the garlic garnishing on top of the pasta. Coffee before the meal and affogato after the meal were just adding to the memorable experience. I dropped a few splashes of coffee from the restaurant before I started sketching.

with mum at Spinelli

Last Sunday I picked up my mum from her church service and we had crab meehoon lunch. Before sending her home, she wanted a good cup of coffee. I drove to King Albert Park which had a friendly carpark with a long ramp that my mum was able to walk to the ground level with her walking aid. However, Both McDonald and Spinelli were on the second floor without a elevator so my 80 year-old mum had to climb up the stairs but she managed very well. I told her I was very proud of her that she had a very positive attitude and she could walk with her bowed legs and a walking aid without our help! The only thing I had to do was to slow down a little.

mannequin in a cafe?

Checked out this building called Luzerne at the junction of Bendemeer Road and Boon Keng Road. Chilled at Careshop de Cafe with a nice piece of carrot cake and coffee. At one side of the shop was the cake display counter but at the other end of the shop was another counter with shelves stacked with health food and body skin care products. That explained the presence of a mannequin clad with a black gown in a cafe.

Coffee Club

I am clearing my annual leaves this week so I am able to sketch more too.

I needed a coffee after the Fried Kway Teow lunch under this hot and humid weather so I walked into Coffee Club at Siglap. This group of eight young ladies enjoyed each other's company and they were oblivious to people around them. A few of them would burst out into uncontrollable laughter but it was alright to me since they never got off from their seats so I could sketch them.

I had Muddy Mud Pie and Aged Sumatra Mandheling coffee. I used some coffee for the floor and wall. I also cut out a Coffee Club logo and placed it on the counter wall.

new sketchbook

Today is a public holiday and Bugis Junction was so crowded. Even the cars were making a beeline at the car park entrance. After lunch, my husband and I spent a long time at Muji that I could not resist so I bought two small sketchbooks of size 130x130mm. At one point, I was so tired and my knees and legs were wobbly. We wait for a while to get a comfortable corner at JCO Donuts and Coffee at the basement. I took out one of the Muji sketchbook and finished two sketches. I came home and did the self portrait on the cover. I will post it later.

I have an earlier sketch of JCO Donuts and Coffee here.

the day I had a cold

I was at home whole day to nurse a cold but in the evening, I was so bored that I went to Starbucks in my neighbourhood to have a cup of coffee. I outlined the sketch with ZIG watercolour brush and inked over with Noodler's. These are students studying at Starbucks. They are all seen to be with textbooks, music players, phones, bags and laptops! Oh yes, they all like to play and rotate the pens in their hands. I tried before and gave up.

Clothes 82

Block 82, corner of Tiong Poh Road and Eng Watt Street at Tiong Bahru. This view with the clothes drying outside the window has been a common feature opposite the corner coffee shop selling the famous porridge. The splashed sepia tone was the black coffee I ordered from the shop. The act of pouring coffee on the spot caught the attention of a family of four sitting directly next to my table - a mother with 3 children who were throwing abusive words at each others. The mother was brave enough not to cause further distraught but repeatedly urging the children to stop talking. At one point, the two girls - one teenager and the other in primary school level almost got off their seats and started to throw the food at each other, oh dear, why it had to come to this stage?

What a relief when the children stopped the noise and looked towards my direction as I splashed the coffee on the paper. They left before I completed the piece as a happy family.

Coffee Club on a hot Sunday

At local coffee chain called Coffee Club in the quiet Central Business District on a hot Sunday afternoon. Coffee Club opened Singapore's first gourment coffee house in 1991 with its own on-site coffee roasting facilities. Today, they have 24 outlets that promote a modern cafe lifestyle.

at starbucks

Last Saturday evening, I went to the neighbourhood Starbucks with my son. He was studying and I was sketching. The place was packed with young people with laptops and earpieces hung around their necks. Two guys in a group occasionally spoke so loud that you know they were boasting about their investments. I was sitting at the far end near to the corner wall having the best view of the entire cafe.

I had another earlier sketch of the same Starbucks here.

another TP Canteen

It is vacation time for the students. Our canteen at the Design School is closed so I went to Engineering School for my coffee. The coffee here is not as good as the one at Design School but what choice do I have?

coffee, china and noodler's ink

I enjoy pouring coffee on paper and observe how it flows. It dries very fast under our hot and humid weather. I did two outdoor pieces on Temasek Polytechnic yesterday. The top piece was coffee and china ink on normal A3 size catridge paper while the bottom piece was noodler's ink on moleskine. Which one do you like?