Day Two - Ghandi Hills

On 8 Dec, 2017 which was day one of our trip to India, we arrived at Hyderabad from Singapore Changi Airport via Silkair and checked into a hotel called "Hotel Hyderabad Grand" to catch a quick nap for about 4 hours and next we were on domestic flight Spicejet from Hyderabad to Vijayawada on Day two. I was told we should check into Novotel Hyderabad Airport but it was fully booked on that night.

On 9 Dec, 2017 in Vijayawada, after having lunch at the Fortune Murali Park Hotel, we visited two sites - the 'Seed Road' which is under construction for Amaravati new city and the foundation stone unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Oct 2015. Next, we visited Ghandi Hills when the sky was still bright and we had like an hour to sketch from dusk to night, the view at Ghandi Hills was spectacular.

That evening, we were all tired of the air travel, transfer, road trips, sketching on top of Ghandi Hills and dinner at a place called BBQ Nation across the hotel, we went straight back to the hotel room and slept through the night.

Day Two - 9 Dec 2017

Day Two at Hyderabad. The flight from Hyderabad to Vijayawada was only an hour but we needed to wake up very early in the next morning. I knew it was a small plane for domestic flight so when I saw the SpiceJet Q400 with only 78 seats or 4 seats in a row, I was not surprised. I wanted to sketch the propeller blades but I did not have the concertina sketchbook with me. luckily I still had my pocket Moleskine in my handbag so I could do a sketch from my window seat while waiting for the plane to take off. I did another sketch of the cabin while in the air.

Sharing at Silverfox Studio

Photos taken by Achilles Estremos, another sketcher of team 2 for "We Draw Amaravati Together" project from 8 to 15 Dec 2017 on the day sharing of our sketches to his office colleagues. Susan Heng, one of the bosses of the interior firm was my student from Interior Architecture and Design programme at School of Design, Temasek Polytechnic probably from 1991 to 1993. Her partner was Patrick Waring seen here on the right in the photos. Kaili Huang from Amaravati Project Office of Ministry of Trade and Industry and Francis Theo, team leader of this trip were helping me to hold my Seawhite Concertina Sketchbook.

India sketchbook

I finally added the stickers, boarding passes, hotel information to the concertina sketchbook for future reference.

It was truly an incredible India trip from 8 to 15 Dec, 2017. The two cities Vijayawada and Amaravati were just amazing. People were so friendly and the sight, sound of the places were so incredibly rich and colourful. We were warned of the non-stop honking sound on the road but I found it acceptable and an eye opener especially we visited India with our open minds.

We Sketch Amaravati Together

I did a video on my recent sketches on India. I was with my sketcher friends from 08 - 15 Dec 2017 to Vijayawada and Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh on a project called "We Sketch Amaravati Together".

Andhra Pradesh is one of the 29 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of the country. The state is the seventh-largest state in India covering an area of 162970 sq km. As per 2011 Census of India, the state is tenth-largest by population with 49,386,799 inhabitants. Amaravati has 29 villages and it will be the brand new capital city for Andhra Pradesh under the vision of N Chandrababu Naidu, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, also the President of Telugu Desam Party and Member of Legislative Assembly, Kuppam.

Amaravati, is envisioned to be a city of world-class standards with a vision of increasing Andhra Pradesh’s prominence in the world. For a start, Construction of the seed capital development area — covering 16.7 sq km and comprising the AP Legislative Assembly, Legislative Council, High Court, Secretariat, Raj Bhavan, quarters for the ministers and officials, and the township for government officials had already started.

Our sketching trip is fully sponsored by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore and our mission is to sketch the existing 29 villages in Amaravati to help capture the current heritage and culture before the new city is built.

An obligatory sketch in the air

Day one sketching in the cabin appeared to be an obligatory sketch for the sketchers on board. Alice Lim was sleeping in a very challenging position but she told me later that it was very comfortable.

Singapore Airport

On 8 Dec 2017, I did a sketch at Changi Airport Terminal 2 when we checked in very early to get our dinner at around 6:00pm. Our SilkAir flight to Hyderabad was 8:00pm. I was having Japanese noodle while my husband had his local food from Old Chang Kee. I also had a signature Old Change Kee curry puff as I would most likely be missing local food for the whole of next week in India. From our table we could see Gate E and F, a big yellow sign "F30" was painted on the floor with airplanes of Singapore Airline and SilkAir moving in and out from this area. SilkAir is Singapore Airlines' regional arm and I love the logos of these two air crafts. I do hope they are doing well to fly the Singapore flag high in the aviation world for our future generations of Singaporeans.

Day One - 8 Dec 2017

Day one is 8 Dec 2017 when we flew from Singapore Changi Airport Terminal to Hyderabad at 8pm via Silkair. Our flight was delayed by an hour due to delay in two connecting flights from Chicago and Auckland. We only arrived at Rajiv Gandhi Hyderabad International Airport at around 11:30pm local time after 4 hrs and 40 mins flight. There is a time difference of 2.5 hours between Singapore and India.

We checked into Hotel Hyderabad Grand near the airport and met at the hotel lobby at 5:15am to get back to the airport for our on-hour SpiceJet domestic flight to Vijaywada Airport scheduled at 7:10am. So Day two on 9 Dec 2017 we arrived at Vijayawada at 8:05am and checked into the hotel for our breakfast at about 10am. We met again at 12noon for lunch at the hotel after checking in to our room and unpacking for the mext activity in the afternoon at 2pm.

Incredible India

We were sketching the villages of Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh in India from 8 to 15 Dec 2017. Here are the sketches of the trip that include loose sketches, a Seawhite Concertina Sketchbook and a Moleskine pocket sketchbook. I will do more posts for the individual sketches later.

Logo

The logo was designed by James Lim, the sketcher who went as team one from 18 to 24 Nov 2017. It was used on the T-shirts.

local food before leaving for India

I will be leaving for India for a sketching trip this evening, so before I tuck into curry and spices, let's have a bowl of my favourite meepok and kopi-O at my favourite place, Lau Lim mee pok at Simpang Bedok.

found our favourite food stall

We used to go to the zi char stall (cooked food) at the old location at Telok Kurau but they moved a few years back. I chanced upon the new location driving along Changi Road so we decided to go there for dinner last Sunday. It was super crowded and we waited for an hour for our food to arrive. It was worth the wait but I might try to go during weekdays. After the meal, we had ice-cream just across the road called "Leng Leng" as in "cold cold" in Chinese with all the local flavours such as gula melaka, black sesame plus others. The posters on the wall were super hilarious when the texts were in Singlish.

I ran out of ink but my son continued to sketch and it was a pleasure to watch. Here are the photos taken of him sketching.

Petain Road

Result of November Sketchwalk. There are three parts of Petain Road in this long sketch namely the shophouse, the park and the playground.

Petain Road was named by municipal government of Singapore in 1928 after Field Marshall Henri Philippe Petain, one of France’s greatest military heroes from the First World War. However, the name drew controversy when the French military force grew from bad to worst as Petain became the Prime Minister of France in 1940. There were suggestions to change the name of the road when it became a notorious red light district in Little India in the old days. Today, this row of beautiful shophouses are the homes of rich and famous with elaborate majolica floral ceramic tiles covering the walls and flowers, cranes and phoenix adorning the pillars and walls. Directly across Petain Road is a big park with lush green and a colourful playground.

Size : 700mmx300mm
Paper : Saunders Waterford

it is staring at me

This motorcycle was staring at me to sketch it. I think it belongs to a student on campus.

Parenting with iPad

I am alright with tissue box on the dinning table at coffee shop but not the iPad. Why are the young parents letting their kids glue to the cartoons on the iPad at the dinning table? The parents should try to engage the children with meaningful conversations or activities from a very young age at the dinning table.

November Sketchwalk at Little India

We're going to Little India this weekend, at the Kitchener Road vicinity. Kitchener Road stretches from Jalan Besar and cuts through the heart of Little India.

START
9:30 am
City Square Mall
— main entrance where the Christmas decor is going up

Closest MRT station:
Farrer Park on the North East Line
Exit H or I

END
Somme Road Playground
— stone's throw from City Square Mall
https://goo.gl/maps/wV2eFEX1o8N2

We'll meet at 12:15pm to share our works from the session.

Tampines One Toast Box

I needed a local coffee after my lunch at Tampines One, Toast Box was just there but very crowded during lunch hour. There was a constant line at the counter and I was so lucky to find a very tight seat just next to the column at the back that I could see the entire cafe. An ideal angle to watch people and sketch. Two old uncles were chatting over coffee, office workers having lunch, executives looking at their phones all the time, mothers talking about their children and senior couples helping each other with their food and I was sitting there sketching, such is life!

My father loves Steak

We brought our 85-year-old father to this one michelin star restaurant for his favourite steak on Saturday. I did a sketch before he arrived and my fountain pens had no ink. So this was done in ball pen.

My brother said "we will be there 10 to 15 mins" and we both forgot our father now walks in a much slower pace. He may walk slowly but his mind is still active and he knows he is a blessed man in the world.

He thoroughly enjoyed his two glasses of beer and a 200-g steak, still with all (except one) of his real teeth intact.

Bumpy Ride

My mother-in-law passed-on on Tuesday, 7 Nov 2017, 11:10am at The Changi Hospital. I was just returning to work on the same week under a re-employment contract after my official retirement the week before. Tough week as I continued to teach 5 classes on Wednesday and Thursday in addition to attending to the wake and funeral preparations. My elder son also rushed back from Hong Kong. On Sunday, I sat at the back seat of my car for the very first time as I was always on the front seats. I was able to sketch amidst the bumpy ride on our way to collect the bones and ashes of my mother-in-law at Mandai Columbarium.

Both my parent-in-laws born and die in the same year, 1930 - 2017, aged 87 with 6 great grand children. Blessings!

Result of last Oct Sketchwalk

Work in progress for the top two sketches.

I sketched from the left of a long sketch. This is the tiger and I was trying to continue with the leopard in the afternoon but did not, may be another day. I will be back.

I last brought my three children there for the Dragon water ride when they were little. Yes, the Dragon water ride was the main attraction for many years before Universal Studio on Sentosa island. Built in 1937, Haw Par Villa is famous for its often gruesome depictions of Chinese folklore’s 10 Courts of Hell apart from the Dragon water ride near its main entrance. The theme park is recently repainted with all the existing features and scenes from Chinese legends such as Journey to the West and Madame White Snake. From the many antique cars owned by the brothers, you can tell how the brothers love to flaunt their wealth.

You will see tiger balm advertisement all over the park since that is what the two famous brother, Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par got the fortune from in the old days. I sketched the Haw (tiger) and will sketch the Par (leopard) another day.

October Sketchwalk at Haw Par Villa

We're going to visit the ten courts of hell! With over 1,000 statues and 150 giant dioramas, you'll have a field day capturing scenes from Chinese mythology, folklore, legends, history, and depictions of Confucianism.

It is also the relaunch of Haw Par Villa after a switch of managing entity, so there will be lots of activities throughout the day, and plenty of media coverage.

MEETING POINTS
9:30 am
Jade Room – Outside
(go straight up the slope after entering park gate)
– Quick briefing (good for newcomers)

12:15 pm
Jade Room – Inside
– Gather for "sketchgawk" where everyone displays works done for the day; for staring at, drooling over and snapshots.

12:30 pm
Group photo for posterity

A glimpse of sea view

Now I only stay at Hotel Jen when I visit Hong Kong because it is just a stone throw from Belchers where my granddaughters are staying. It is very rare for me to do a sketch from the hotel window since I rather spend more time with the two cuties.

It was a gorgeous Sunday after T8 typhoon warning the day before and it was also rare that I got up too early with nothing else to do. They cleared and cleaned the roof top of the old mansion opposite the hotel now I only saw huge aircond coolers, fences and pipes. There used to be laundry hanging and an old lady exercising on that roof top but they were nowhere to be seen.

The Hong Kong rooftop activities are diminishing so as part of its culture and heritage. With that gone, I now focus on the sea view beyond from the hotel window. Hong Kong waterways are busy with so many big and small cruises, cargo ships, tugboats, vessels and barges.

Hong Kong sketches

I was in Hong Kong visiting my granddaughters from 13 to 17 Oct, 2017. There was no time to sketch and there was even a T8 typhoon warning on Sunday morning when we got out of the hotel looking for my favourite porridge shop at the corner of Belcher's and Sands Street.

Most of the Hong Kong sketches were done on the last day - eating at Tim Ho Wan after checked-in, on the Aiport Express MTR train and one last one at the airport lounge, best thing to do while waiting to board the plane.

Airport Lounge

Love sketching at the airport lounge, especially sketching the plane that I would be boarding soon.

Off to Hong Kong

First time got a seat with ample leg room and sat next to a design graduate I taught around ten years ago. While she was sleeping on my right, I did a sketch inside the SIA cabin looking left. It felt like I was still sitting there watching.

Cool 360 view of a long sketch

Cool, FB made it into 360 view, love it, have fun clicking at the link below

Total 10 pages of a long sketch on one location for the recent Kuching trip capturing Jalan Main Bazaar, Waterfront, the new modern looking bridge, the new Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Building Petra Jaya Sarawak Malaysia and the Sarawak River plus the rehearsal for rescue operation on a Sunday morning!

Click to see 360 view of a panoramic sketch here at
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10159364870145244&l=2835516a42

Day 4 at Asia-Link Sketchwalk: Kuching 2017

Hong San Si Temple in Kuching

Read about this Hokkien temple is easily the finest temple in Kuching. It is just located opposite Marian, our hotel which stood on a small hill leased to the hotel by the Anglican Mission overlooking the undulating Sarawak River.

I was in Kuching to attend the 2nd Asia-Link Sketchwalk 2017 hosted by Urban Sketchers Kuching from 5 - 8 Oct, 2017.

Everyone was sitting outside the hotel fence sketching this temple, it must be one of the most sketched temples at the event. This long sketch took up 9 pages from the "Moleskine Japanese Album Large" concertina sketchbook and I just took photos of the long sketch in parts and stitched them in the computer. I have given up scanning long sketches.

Asia-Link Sketchwalk 2017 in Kuching

Asia-Link Sketchwalk 2017 in Kuching

Share Talk Speakers

I am ready!

Robertson Quay

I was trying to travel really light with a sketchbook, a fountain pen, watercolours, a brush pen and a stool.

Thanks Patrick Ng for the ink refill. This piece took two reserviours of inks to complete and I only brought one fountain pen. So I started with splashing watercolours first rather than my usual ink work.

I used 6 pages in Seawhite concertina sketchbook Seawhite of Brighton, adding the balustrades and some details after the show and tell.