HELP HAITI

We encourage you to download, print and share this poster with others where you live. Share it on your blog and social networks and put it up in your local school, community center or coffee shop so more people are reminded of the need for donations to help the people of Haiti after the recent devastating earthquake.

Thanks to Don Low, urban sketcher in Singapore, for editing the poster to include local Red Cross information.

musicians at the art museum

On 28 Jan, several modern and classic music groups were performing at the opening of the exhibition "Classic Contemporary" Contemporary Southeast Asian Art from the Singapore Art Museum Collection. The exhibition will end on 2 May.

another sketch at Steven's studio

I first sketched Steven Low's studio here. I visited his studio again last Saturday and did another sketch. Three of his students were working on the potter's wheels while others working on the banding wheels. The vegetation and pots from Thow Kwang Pottery Jungle in the background provide a sense of place and a conducive environment for the aspiring potters-to-be. Steven's studio is located within Thow Kwang Pottery Jungle - the rustic and charming place I hang out with my potter friends over most of the Saturdays.

the famous nasi lemark stall

Nasi Lemak, another national dish for Sunday breakfast! Nasi means rice and Lemak means cream. It is a dish of coconut cream rice served with hot chilly sauce, fried anchovies, fried peanuts, sliced cucumber or tomato. Some even served with fried fish, hard-boiled egg or fried chicken wing. These two stalls at Adam Road Food Center were probably the top nasi lemak stalls in the country judging from the continuous long lines at their respective stalls side by side. People including the bikers in the photo at the table next to me came and went after finishing plates after plates of nasi lemak. Selera Rasa Nasi Lemak, the second stall seemed to be the winner as the line was longer.

a small temple and a small world

I found this small temple at Moonstone Lane near Serangoon / Macpherson area. The caretaker old uncle said it was built in 1957 and 福德祠 meant 大伯公庙 in Teochew, one of dialects spoken among Chinese people in South East Asia. This small temple was characterised by the huge ornaments on the roof top. They were very detailed and well maintained especially the two dragons which were decorated with very clean and colourful mosaics. I was told they were fabricated by the Chinese artisans from Malaysia in the 50s.

While I was about to finish my sketch, 6 to 8 young people came up to me. I was a little wary when two of them started waving their hands. As they removed their dark glasses, I immediately recognised them - my ex-students! Together with their friends, they were at the near-by warehouse checking out the big bikes. What a small world!

dinner at sentosa

Last Friday, my family spent a night at one of the hotels developed by Sentosa Resort World. We visited the latest facilities although most of shops were still not ready for business. We were ushered into the Chihuly gallery shop to see his impressive glass work. There is about S$6 million worth of Chihuly glass works and his chandeliers displayed at the casino and hotels. The guest can now buy the affordable items but the cheapest sculpture was retailed at S$7,000 to $8,000! Michael Graves shop was just opposite so my hubby bought a Graves watch for himself and a leather bound sketchbook for me. It was time for dinner but the two restaurants - an Italian restaurant and the Hard Rock Restaurant were fully booked!

At the end, we drove out of our hotel and had our dinner at Cassia, the fine Chinese restaurant at the near-by hotel Capella. The place was so tastefully designed with finest details by Andre Fu. Chef Lok and the service staff team were visibly happy when I showed them the finished sketch. We received top-class service and complimentary desert.

What’s Our Sputnik? - by Tom Friedmen

To start another new week I like to share an article from NYTimes for us to ponder before I post some sketches I did last weekend.

admission 2010

My first sketch in this new year. 'O' level result was released last Monday. JAE, or Joint admission exercise for entry into the local polytechnics was held from Tuesday to Friday. The teaching staff seen here was having a quick discussion with a fashion senior student in between the course advisements. Last year, I also did a sketch during the JAE period, it is here.

at a Korean restaurant

This is the place we had our lunch before going to Korea University where my daughter was studying under the Singapore-Korea varsity exchange programme. My daughter recommended the pork belly - one of the signature dishes of this restaurant. As usual, there were various types of kimchi, bean pastes and vegetables. We were following the local custom and wrapped the meat, kimchi or bean paste with the green leaves. It was really yummy!

People in this sketch were having steamboat and beer directly opposite our table. I remember asking myself when I was sketching : "Why are the couple still wearing winter jackets while having steamboat?". Looking at the sketch now, I could have added some steam to the steamboat.

Here are some photos of Korea University. It is a very big campus with huge plazas and neo-classical buildings. I thought I was in an European campus.

experience nature within the city

"Experience Nature Within The City" is the tagline for COEX Aquarium.

These are the last set of pencil sketches from my recent trip to Korea. A sketch subject that I was not familiar with when the prolific Korean sketchers brought me to a large shopping mall across the Bongeunsa Temple on 22 Dec 2009. COEX MALL, is the largest shopping mall in Seoul, Korea. They brought me to the aquarium on the upper level of the mall and it was interesting to me that such a huge aquarium could be housed inside a big mall. As I started sketching and exploring the fishes, I was so impressed with the scale of the aquarium! It was huge! We walked through a seeminly frameless curved tunnel that passed through 2,000 tons of seawater. The automatic walkway in the tunnel took the visitors through big sharks, large turtles and other marine creatures. My favourite of all was the feeding session at the end of our visit. My Korean sketcher friends captured the act very well here and here.

Growing up in Singapore, my memory of an aquarium is so remote after my favourite Van Kleef Aquarium was closed in 1996 and demolished in 1998 at the foot of Fort Canning, River Valley Road opposite the current Novotal Hotel at Clark Quay.

no more ink!

The day I visited Biwon Garden, there was not a single drop of ink in my fountain pen. I did the sketch under the cold weather with the ball point pen I bought from a local gift shop.

Biwon Garden aka Secret Garden was created in 1463 by King Sejo as part of the expansion for Changdeok Palace which was completed in 1412. The garden had been rebuilt several times. Thirteen of Korea's kings lived here for a total of over 270 years, a longer period than at Gyeongbok Palace. The palace grounds cover over 110 acres. 13 of the original buildings remain, with an additional 28 in Biwon Garden.

Biwon is typical of palace backyards where kings and other members of the royal family would go to relax and entertain. In 1997, it was listed as a World Heritage Site as an outstanding example of Far Eastern Palace architecture and garden design. To be able to take a look inside the palace, we had to take part in a guided tour so I had very little time to do the sketch. The best time to visit the garden should be in Spring. However, I was satisfied when I finished sketching the trees without leaves!

Bongeunsa Temple, Seoul, Korea

Here is the sketch I did with my son and the wonderful Korean sketchers on 22 Dec 2009 when we witnessed the celebration of first day of winter (冬至). We saw very big crowd and fortune wishes tied to a tree like structure. This 1200-year-old Bongeunsa Temple (奉恩寺) was built in the year 794 and was reconstructed in 1498.

quick pencil sketches

I have been back from Korea for about two weeks but could not find time earlier to post my travel sketches. First, three very quick pencil sketches of the folk drumers and the Bongeunsa Temple, Seoul, Korea.

Happy New Year 2010!

My 100th post at USk on this new year day! Here is the view of the beautiful city of Seoul, Korea with two historical palaces and a shirne sprouting out from the mountains. May year 2010 be as spectacular as the view from Seoul tower.

the wonderful Korean sketchers

These portraitures of me and my son in the last one, were done by Lee Yong-hwan, the Korean USk correspondent whom I met on 22 Dec 2009. Lee started sketching me when I met Yoo Byung-hwa and Kim Mi-kyung, the other two Korea sketchers at the Ramada Seoul hotel lobby in the morning of 22 Dec 2009. Together with my 14-year-old son, five of us went to the nearby Bongeunsa Temple to sketch. There was an important ceremony to celebrate the first day of winter and Seoul mayor was the guest of honour. It was full of people and various activities such as folk-drums dancing, wishing scrolls, serving of Patjuk - a traditional red bean porridge etc etc. The entire place was so lively and we were immersed in the atmosphere when we started sketching. We later adjourned to an aquarium at COEX complex just opposite the temple to continue with our sketching. Please visit USk-Korea for the sketches that were presented by these wonderful sketchers.
Sketches by Kim Mi-kyung are here
Sketches by Yoo Byung-hwa are here
Sketches by Lee Yong-hwan are here

I am doing this post in Seoul, Korea. I will post some of my sketches when I go back to Singapore. Here are some photos to share with the viewers at this moment when it is snowing outside right now.

Once again, Merry X'mas from Seoul everyone.

Season's Greetings from Korea

This sketch was done on my second day of ski trip at Phoenix Ski Resort. The first day and third day we went to Yongpyong Ski Resort where I also did two sketches. Yongpyong is the biggest ski resort in Korea and it is currently one of the candidates in the bid for 2014 Winter Olympics.


Merry X'mas and Happy Holidays to all from Korea.

Yongpyong Ski Resort, Korea

We arrived in Seoul on 18 Dec at about 10pm and we left for Yongpyong for a ski trip at 8.30am on the following day. My daughter and son started their ski lessons on the first day and by the third day, they were very comfortable with the new sport. I braved the cold weather in the open air trying to complete a sketch but it was too cold for me with my bare fingers exposed holding the fountain pen. The ink also did not flow properly in the freezing condition plus the view was constantly blocked by the moving crowd. I added just a few people and quickly went back to the lobby. By that time, my fingers were numb and my body was shaking. From Singapore at daily temperature of 30 deg C to -10 deg C at Yongpyong was certainly a huge adjustment for me.




A cup of hot coffee at 'A Twosome Place' - the cafe next to the lobby certainly played a big role with my second sketch. You find ski racks near the entrance and young people with colourful ski jackets, woolen caps, face masks and ski boots, it was candys to the eyes and a colourful fashion parade!

on my way to Seoul

It is that time of the year again. 2009 is coming to a close very soon, My family decided to visit our daughter who will be completing her overseas exchange programme at Korea University in mid-December. It should be a great idea to spend some quality family time together in Seoul.

I left earlier with my 14-year-old son for Seoul on 18 Dec and my husband would join us later. My son and I were sketching at the Changi Airport at the boarding lounge.

build london live 2009 competition

Tonight I visited members of the team who are taking part in an international competition called "Build London Live 2009". I contributed by sketching the group and they may use it as part of their submission tomorrow. The competition is a 48-hour event which will end tomorrow at about 6pm local time. These people are very professional and passionate about what they do. I hope they win the competition.

You can visit here to read more

Sketches of Kranji Industrial Park

These sketches are the results of last Saturday sketch walk with Drewscape, Seiji and Don Low. Katherine, Don's wife waited in the van and worked on her laptop while we were sketching.

First, the scrap yard - it is very surreal to see different parts of the car stacked on top of each other.


Next, one of the many forklifts next to a big pile of exhaust pipes.


This location with the huge concrete silos was an instant favourite.


Do you think these look like flamingos?

Sketch Walk at Kranji Industrial Park

I join OIC members for a wonderful sketch walk last Saturday. We went to Kranji Industrial Park in Drewscape's van and we had one wonderful and fun roller coastal ride along the way when he made sudden right or left turn at almost every junctions. We also saw the most bizzard 'street art' on the tarmac road with fallen eggs in a triangular sunburst pattern.

We sketched at the scrap yard, concrete slabs production plant and another industrial plant with huge concrete silos structure. These sketchers are awesome and they are very, very good. They just could not stop sketching when we were having our yummy fish head curry lunch. Please visit urbansketchers-singapore for more sketches. Here are some pictures of our adventure. I have yet to find time to scan my sketches.