October Sketchwalk at Our Tampines Hub

Credit: sketch by Tony Chua

Where can you find a stadium, indoor running track, sports complex, swimming pool, 5-storey library, hawker centre, shopping centre, recreation centre, playgrounds, etc. all in one place, and next to a couple of iconic mosaic playgrounds? Tampines Hub, that’s where! It’s literally a city within a city and Singapore's largest integrated community hub (https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/pm-lee-opens-our-tampines-hub-singapores-first-integrated-community-and-lifestyle-hub).

While the hub is just 2 years old after its opening in 2017, the park just next to it has some vignettes of yesteryear. Two mosaic playgrounds and an iconic sculpture call it home.

So journey to the East with us this month as we explore the new and old at Tampines!

Trivia: Did you know in the past, Tampines was spelled "Tampenis" (also "tempinis" in Malay)? The spelling was standardized as "Tampines" in 1939 (perhaps for obvious reasons), but the pronunciation remained unchanged (no, it's not pronounced as "Tam-pines"). (https://mothership.sg/2018/04/tampines-name-tampenis-spelling/)


DATE: Saturday, 26 Oct 2019

START
Time: 9:30 AM
Location: Tampines Hub (Tampines St 82 side)
(https://goo.gl/maps/wQG9RkEM6tEGDYnx6)

END
Time: 12:15 PM
Location: Tampines Hub (Tampines St 82 side)
(https://goo.gl/maps/wQG9RkEM6tEGDYnx6)


Nearest MRT: Tampines (EWL, DTL)

Note: NOT "Tampines West" or "Tampines East" on the Downtown Line. Just "Tampines"


Locations to sketch:

- Tampines Regional Library (https://www.littledayout.com/2017/08/08/tampines-library-tampines-hub-stories-beyond-books/). Great place to sketch in air-conditioned comfort.

- Tampines Hub (http://qrcgcustomers.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/account3444219/4228001_1.pdf?0.14719489794619478)

- Tampines Central Park (with watermelon and mangosteen playgrounds and a very special sculpture!) (https://roots.sg/Content/Places/landmarks/tampines-heritage-trail-tampines-town-trail/Tampines%20Central%20Park)

Places to eat and shop:
- Many options in the hub itself and around Tampines Central

Bring:
- Hat, sunscreen if you're going to sketch the playground or outdoors. The hub itself is sheltered.

Sharing of Hanoi trip

We had a sharing of sketches done for the Asia-Link Sketchwalk in Hanoi over a poolside barbecue at my place. There were many impressive sketches of different formats and media. We had a great time sharing, chatting, eating and drinking.

On the Cruise

So peaceful and quiet. On the cruise - the best thing to do is to sketch. At every turn, the view changed with different sizes and shapes of the islands so as the sky and the waters.

Ha Long Bay

My husband and I spent an extra day after the event ended at Ha Long Bay, a peaceful and quiet beach.

Pedestrianised Dinh Tien Hoang

This is a sketch of Dinh Tien Hoang looking towards the Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square. The entire road was closed for the weekend for a big carnival. In the afternoon it was quiet but it came alive at night with music and dancing! On the left is thê Húc Bridge, painted vermillion red over the famous Hoàn Kiếm Lake.

My work on auction for charity

UPDATE: My piece was SOLD in Dec 2019 for a good cause. Thank You.

Dear friends,

I don't do personal exhibition or sell my work after 2 successful sell-out exhibitions at White Canvas Gallery at Tiong Bahru in early 2010s. Now, a piece of my watercolour on Tiong Bahru is on auction for NUS. If you're interested in bidding for it, please register your interest here: https://nus.edu/2nOIB2M and email Genevieve at sdegly@nus.edu.sg for any queries.

Thank you for your support all these years.

St Joseph Cathedral in Hanoi

I completed one Molesking concertina sketchbook and this is the first sketch on the second sketchbook on St Joseph Cathedral in Hanoi. It is a very touristy, busy and lively place. The church was built like Notre Dame in Paris as a late 19th-century Gothic Revival church that served as the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hanoi to nearly 4 million Catholics in the country.

Dong Xuan Market in Hanoi

Dong Xuan Market where the locals go and it is also a tourist landmark. Originally built by the French administration in 1889, Đồng Xuân Market has been renovated several times with the latest in 1994 after a fire which almost destroyed the market.

Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square

So I sketched from the top of the building over two or three Vietnamese coffee at the Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square in Hanoi. There were not traffic lights at all at this busy junction. Can you imagine how traffic and pedestrians move? Incredible!

Urban Sketchers Hanoi, the organiser of Asia-Link Sketchwalk 2019 did such a fantastic job of getting the street food vendors to cook traditional Vietnamese food for the participants. Before we eat, we sketched at the opening ceremony. It was held at the Hanoi University of Pharmacy.

Ancient House

Ancient House at 87 Ma May Street on the right. There were only two such original old buildings left along this street when I sat at Lantern Lounge. Again, they were painted in yellow. This Ancient House is one of the few intact remains of an old-style home open to the public with an entrance fee. Initially the house was built for one family, but from 1954 to 1999 five families lived in the house. Today, except for 81 and 87 Ma May Street, the entire row of similar old shophouses had since been demolished and rebuilt.

First sketch in Hanoi

My husband and I arrived in Hanoi a day earlier to attend the Aisa-Link Sketchwalk 2019 in Hanoi. First impression of Hanoi was the busy streets, motorcycles everywhere, women street vendors selling all kind of fresh produces, electrical posts and overhead cables dangling here and there. The sights and sounds of the Old Quarter were so exciting and overwhelming. I sat at coffee shop at the road junction and sipping my local iced coffee for about 15 minutes before pulling out my sketchbook from the bag. Yellow is the colour of the old buildings in Hanoi and that was the focus for my first sketch. Two ladies in traditional colourful Ao Dai just walked past the junction of Hang Bac and Dinh Liet, how not to capture them in the most graceful gesture?

Asia-Link Sketchwalk 2019

I am back from Hanoi for the Asia-Link Sketchwalk 2019. The event was from 3 to 6 Oct but I was in Hanoi from 1 to 8 Oct. I also went for a 2-day 1-night cruise trip to the beautiful Ha Long Bay after the event. I will be flying to Hong Kong tomorrow to spend the weekend with my son's family in Hong Kong to celebrate Steffi's 6th birthday. I will scan and post my Hanoi sketches when I come back for the new semester starting week 14 Oct.