Last Day on Day 4

Parade at Phuket Old Town on Day 3

Day 3 - 16 Aug 2025
The hightlight of the day was the colourful parade for the opening ceremony of Thailand Biennale at Phuket Museum. No wonder the grab driver said it was closed! I could still sketch with other sketchers outside the museum with the huge red bear in muaythai outfit. I took pictures with gorgeous locals dressing up for the event. Just noticed I wore the same matching purple, soft pastel colours too.

In the afternoon, I sketched the big 7-colour on the wall of Tu Kab Khao restaurant. That's where I witnessed the parade. I saw the artists I met earlier at the park next to the Golden Dragon Monument holding the banners in the parade walking past me. The entire road was closed for about an hour or two and the whole street came alive with music and dance! It was very quickly back to normal with cars and people strolling at the sidewalks, wow, just so nimble and efficient!

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Raining on Day 2

Day 2 - 15 Aug 2025
It was drizzling in the morning so I did not join any group going down to Phuket Old Town or the beach. Instead, with the permission of the hotel arranged by the event organiser, 3 of us went up to 9th floor of the Phuket Merlin Hotel to sketch the panoramic view.

Afternoon was spent to attend the chapter admins' meeting and took a slow stroll to town before having dinner at Chuan Chim, another Michelin award restaurant where we met KK. The food was really good and had to wait for quite a while for our food.

Phuket Phuket

Phuket Sketches

I did two loose Arches and two Etchr Accordion Sketchbooks for this trip Asia-Link Sketchwalk Phuket 2025. The sketches were posted individually and this is the collage of all of the sketches including the collected stickers.

Thanks for a memorable experience.

Dr Sketch

Day 3 - 16 Aug 2025
Dr Sketch session at event center. I was a little late but my patients are so patient waiting for me. I prescribed more "Grammar Pills" in art and design. Fun time.

People on Day 1

Day 1 - 14 Aug 2025
777 participants from 26 countries for the event in Phuket not to mention those came without the tickets. It was impossible to say hello to each and everyone daily. Thanks to those who said hello and took photos and sent to me. I am not good in taking photos with people so here is a collage on people I met on Day 1. Interestingly, I could identify by my outfit to know which day these photos were taken.

Registration was to start at 1pm so I went to local coffee shop for my breakfast with the recommendation of our Grab driver. I did a sketch at Aroon Restaurant with Michelin awards from 2019 to 2025. I met a couple of sketchers in the shop and along the way. Many sketchers already busy sketching as I strolled leisurely before settling down with another sketch at the Golden Dragon Monument and met a group of Thai artists preparing for the Thailand Biennale Phuket 2025. Photos of Biennale at my post.

I also met a group of Taiwanese sketchers led by their teacher. Very busy saying hello and catching up with old friends plus meeting new ones during registration from 1 to 5pm. Party began soon after with a sumptous welcome dinner and spectacular performances. What a blast and fruitful day.

Surprise!

Day 1 - 14 Aug 2025
I name this photo collage "Surprise" because it is still a surprise to me up to this day. I was so shocked Asnee and I were called up to the stage and each received the Legend Award with a beautifully presented Museo brush as senior founders of Asia-Link Sketchwalk.

The stories of ALSW is here at this link: Link

Food in Phuket

Sketches done will be posted separately. First record of Phuket will be a collage of food I eaten. I tried to frequent the local coffee shops besides the popular tourists' eateries, cafes and restaurants.

Don't play play, even the dark, gloomy local coffee shops I went all have Michelin awards from 2019 to 2025. Yummy and delicious food they served. I didn't go to the other crowded modern cafes and pubs where there were demo sessions.

Phuket offers abundant seafood from prawns, squids, crabs and various fishes to unique local seven-colored lobster which I sketched but didn't try. Next trip!

Places I went in that order by day:
Wonderlounge, Merlin Kitchen, Cafe Amazon, One Chun Restaurant, Aroon Restaurant (first sketch here), Roti Thaew Nam, Chuan Chim, The Tent Phuket, Little Phuket, Limelight and Tu Kab Khao. I also bought instant noodles at the airport, HA!

Last sketch in my sketchbook on Wat Klang

This is the last sketch I did in my second Etchr Accordion Sketchbook. I felt that there must be a sketch of Thai Temple in this trip so I went to Wat Mongkol Nimit Phra Aram Luang or Wat Klang as most sketchers did at the Phuket Old Town.

Wat Mongkol Nimit was constructed in 1880. The temple was originally called Wat Klang because of it location in the centre of Phuket Town (‘klang’ means middle in Thai). The main feature of Wat Mongkol Nimit is its shrine hall. The shrine hall is richly and elaborated decorated designs featuring gold leaf, along with blue and red paint. The gable end of the roof by the front entrance is particularly impressive. The other major feature at Wat Mongkol Nimit is its large chedi. A chedi is a type of tower which contains holy relics and is a place where Buddhists come to meditate. The Thai version of the chedi is similar to the stupa built at Buddhist temples in Sri Lanka, India and Nepal. You can spot it on the left side of my sketch.

Wat Mongkol Nimit is a busy working temple with lots of resident monks, many of whom study at the religious school located in the temple grounds. I took some photos of the school building and also found two beautiful Thai style houses at the back of the compound where public toilets were located.

It was a quiet Monday morning with few tourists and cars in the compound until a group of young girls in their Thai costumes brightened up the atmosphere. Thai coustumes were so elegant, so pretty but they were all wearing sneakers under their long silky skirts!

Night Sketch

Day 4 - 17 Aug 2025
Asia Link Sketchwalk Phuket 2025 was officially over on 17 Aug with a sketchwalk in the morning, a group photo at Golden Dragon Monument at 12nn and a closing ceremony from 1 to 5pm at Royal Phuket City Hotel followed by a night sketch from 6 to 8 pm at the old town Sunday night market which was HUGE.

I have not done any night sketch for a very very long time. If I remember correctly, I had only done a night sketch at Geylang, Singapore probably in 2010. So, I was not prepared with any equipment and I could only sketch fast before the sky totally turned pitched dark. It did not help at the location I was sitting among the motorcycles that had no light and I could only rely on the street lights from the nearby shops at the junction of Ratsada Road and Takuapa Road.

I didn't eat much at the closing ceremony so I had dinner first at The Little Phuket because of the attractive squid ink dishes and moo hong (pork belly stew) which I remember our first Grab driver was telling us when we took the Grab from HKT; Phuket International Airport to Phuket Merlin Hotel near the Phuket Old Town. The sky was still bright when I started a new Etchr Accordion Sketchbook but I knew it would turn pitched dark soon so I had a quick shape drawing done before adding details. It was pitched dark when I started colouring and I could not see the colours on my palette. I was very familiar with my colours so I used lots of Payne Grey with other colours such as cobalt blue, violet, sienna etc. For brighter areas, I just used the mixtures of bright yellow. I added more payne grey and noodler ink for the dark sky later when I could see better in the hotel room.

It was fun and my take was that with the understanding of our personal art tools, night sketch could be blind sketch on location as well in my opinion. Before we went back to our hotel and rest, we took a group photo at the adjacent street called Soi Pradit. Not to mention we had a great time scrolling the huge night market filled with food stalls, tourists, baskers and massage corners. We even spotted a bus coverted into a mobile public toilets! Sad to say when we returned to the same streets the following day, it was a totolly deserted scene in the day with less crowd, no activities on the streets. What a drastic change!

Etchr Accordion Sketchbook
Size: 910 x 210mm

The Lobster on the Wall

Day 3 - 16 Aug 2025
The big lobster sculpture on the wall of Tu Kab Khao restaurant. Tu Kab Khao means kitchen cabinet, the commonly used kitchen cabinet when there was no fridge in the past in South East Asia.

So, I have done with three animals in Phuket! Someone told me there is also a big rooster at Patong in the Chinese temple. I may continue with the search to sketch another big animal.

Etchr Accordion Sketchbook
Size: 390 x 210mm