Shiinoki Cultural Complex at Kanazawa

I was given one-hour notice to go to Japan at 6pm on a Wednesday, next, I found myself on a 7am flight the following Thursday morning. I was told it was a one-way ticket while office was still sourcing for my returned flight. I had very little time in Japan, so every morning, I would take my breakfast at 6:30am and walked around the hotel before my official duties at 10am. I was pleasantly surprised that the hotel was located near to a beautiful park いしかわ四高記念公園, Kanazawa Castle Park and Kenrokuen

This is the Shiinoki Cultural Complex facing Hirosaka Street in Kanazawa of Ishikawa Prefecture. The big dome-shaped grand chinquapin (shiinoki) trees at the main entrance were propped up by wooden poles. They are really good in preserving the old heritage trees.

Sungei Road Thief Market

Sungei Road Thief Market will soon be gone by July 2017. You can read about it here.

Whether you call it thief market or flea market, it is undeniably important part of Singapore's history. My uncles would come all the way from Johor, Malaysia to source for the parts that he wanted and brought back to repair his fridges or fans or even cars.

On this sketch, I thought it was important to sketch the context too, so, I chose a view to include Sim Lim Tower and Rochor Centre which will be demolished soon. You can see my sketch of Rochor Centre here.

Wheeler's Yard

I was with the students for the visit to Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall in the morning since 10am followed by Balestier Heritage Trail in the afternoon. So I was really tired when it ended at around 5pm. I refused to go home to rest as I was so near to Wheeler's Yard; a hippest cafe housed in a massive warehouse at Lorong Ampas just a stone throw away from Zhongsan Mall when I parked my car. I decided to check it out and I found myself sketching over a cup of strong long black and a small plate of black pepper lime squids at Wheeler's Yard. I knew the staff were standing behind watching me sketch since the cafe was quite empty at that time of the day. As I prepared to leave, they requested to have a closer look at my sketchbook and took a picture of the cafe sketch. I should have taken a group photo with them holding the sketch but I forgot.

March Sketchwalk at Sungei Road

We will be swarming down to this crossroads of curious finds on Saturday to sketch it before the many peddlers are forced to move away from this local bastion of pre-loved goods.

While the focus will be the criss-cross of the makeshift stalls, the vicinity has much to capture, including the old Muslim Cemetery at Jalan Kubor, the revamped Rochor River, and the vibrant streets of Little India and Kampong Glam.

MEETING POINTS
Start
3:00 pm
Pitt St x Sungei Road junction
https://goo.gl/maps/y2EEL4R5ph72

End
06:00 pm
Blk 30 Kelantan Lane
We'll meet at the back of this block in the shade it will provide.
https://goo.gl/maps/nMET41C9DgS2

Remember to have sun protection and water with you to stay hydrated. See you there!

Sketching in the Plane

On my way back from Nagoya to Singapore. It's a 380, very spacious cabin but I was stuck at window seat sitting next to two Japanese ladies for 6 hours. Did a sketch to kill boredom.

Dakota Crescent

Dakota Crescent is older than Singapore. It was built by Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) in 1958 and handed over to Housing and Development Board (HDB) in 1960. The name Dakota was taken from the American transport aircraft Dakota DC-3, which commonly landed at Kallang Airport before it was closed. The name Dakota could also commemorate the aviation disaster of June 29, 1946, when one of the Royal Air Force's Dakota aircraft crashed at Kallang Airport in a thunderstorm, killing all passengers on board. Anyway, its days are numbered too. It is to be demolished and make way for new development. You can read all about it here

The playground seen in the sketch which I cropped on the left is also iconic. It was called the Dove Playground designed by a very senior HDB architect in 1979. The same architect also designed the other iconic playgrounds in Singapore - the Dragon playground in Toa Payoh. I sketched it here. The Dove Playground will be demolished too but the Dragon Playground will remain.