November Sketchwalk at Bukit Timah Turf Club

Hi Sketchers!

We will be heading to one of Singapore's last countrysides, around Bukit Timah Turf Club. The area around Turf Club will be redeveloped soon due to the construction of the Cross Island MRT Line, and its old houses and horse-riding grounds and stables face an uncertain future. Riders Cafe may close after a year. This is our chance to sketch this unique part of Singapore.

The area around Bukit Timah Turf Club is large and sprawling. It is advisable to drive, especially if you want to visit Riders Cafe, which is about 20 mins walk from Sixth Ave MRT on foot. The Grandstand and antique shops are about 10 mins walk from the MRT. Parking at Riders Cafe is free, and at the Grandstand it's free for the first 2 hours.

Be sure to bring your mosquito repellent, umbrella, and sunblock as there is little shelter except for the Grandstand.

Some places you can sketch at:
- Horsecity (there may be pony rides!)
- Junkie's Corner (a row of antique shops along a stretch of road)
- Grandstand (cafes and restaurants)
- Riders Cafe (upmarket eatery in an enclave of black and white houses overlooking some horse stables)
- Bukit Timah Saddle Club

Info about the area:
- https://thelongnwindingroad.wordpress.com/.../the-great.../

- https://thelongnwindingroad.wordpress.com/.../the-last.../

- https://danielfooddiary.com/2022/10/03/riderscafe/

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In light of the COVID situation, mask indoors are now optional. We urge everyone to remain cautious. Let's all play a part to stay safe!
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Time: 9:30AM - 12.30PM
Nearest MRT station: Sixth Avenue MRT (DT7)
Exit from MRT, cross the overhead bridge, and walk in via Turf Club Road.
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𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒆:
In compliance to Government Covid safety guidelines, be safe!
Please strictly comply. USkSG (and our sketch leaders) will not be held responsible for any flouting of the above guidelines. Thank you.
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Timeline for the day:
9.30am: Meeting point at entrance to Horsecity (https://goo.gl/maps/uxt7cT5MWVVHbzEPA)*
12pm: Start packing your things and make your way for Show & Tell
12.20-12.30pm: End point: Entrance to the Grandstand near the roundabout (https://goo.gl/maps/Pe58bQ1sKXUkz8Kk8)*
*Note that location of Short briefing and Show and Tell are subjected to change, depending on the weather for the day.
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Instructions for the day:
1. Make your way to the location, be aware of surroundings, and maintain necessary distancing.
2. Challenge yourself to explore hidden corners that hasn't been seen/drawn yet; this will also help prevent too many of us crowding the same perching points.
3. Post your sketches, snapshots and videos online — 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐬 #𝐮𝐬𝐤𝐬𝐠 — so everyone can easily find the day's artistic output.
4. Some sketch leaders will go around to catch you in action for posts on Facebook and Instagram, so look out for them!
5. Happy sketching!! 
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Credits:
Research and photos by Favian Ee
Event banner by Favian Ee and Huiling Zhou

A Sketch from the Beauty World

Last month we had the official Sketchwalk at Beauty World and again, it was a great turn-out!

A few of us sketched from the 4th storey open-air food centre and while the mall is old, the food centre is clean and well-maintained except for the common problem - birds and their droppings. This is probably the only food centre with a panoramic view from the public housing flats at Jurong Kechil on the left of my sketch to the two tall radio towers at Bukit Timah Hill on the right which I did not include in the sketch.

The story of Beauty World can be found here. When I was a young architect with the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) of Singapore, Beauty World Centre was still on the drafting table of William Ong, my senior at the School of Architecture and now founder of Axis Architect Planners and Axis ID. Like other buildings built by URA during that time, Beauty World Centre was built to resettle those businesses that were affected by either road widening or other redevelopment projects. Today, Beauty World Centre; an old but charming mall; was in the process of jumping in and out of the en-bloc wagon.

Read more at this link to find out more about Beauty World Centre.

November Sketchwalk at Beauty World

Credits: Sketch by Aliver Escano

Hambaobao may be gone, but Beauty World Centre is still around - for now. Being one of the old-school strata malls, Beauty World houses an eclectic mix of shops. Many of us may remember the stationery shop and TCM hall from our childhood some 3 decades ago. But probably the most iconic part of Beauty World Plaza is its open air food centre on the 4th floor which boasts panoramic views of the surrounding area.

Opposite the mall is a row of shophouses and a neighbourhood of shops and cafes. There‘s also a temple and an old-school bakery. The 10-mile junction market and food centre are also nearby on the opposite side of the MRT. Next to Beauty World is another old school mall (Bukit Timah Shopping Centre -not Bukit Timah Plaza, which is further away). There’s no lack of things to sketch in the area!


START
Time: 9:30 AM
Location: Outside Beauty World Centre
(https://goo.gl/maps/dRUXSHVy82UitT597)

END
Time: 12:15 PM
Location: Outside Beauty World Centre
(https://goo.gl/maps/dRUXSHVy82UitT597)


Nearest MRT: Beauty World (DTL)


Locations to sketch:

- Beauty World Centre
- Chun Tin Road
- Eateries along Cheong Chin Nam Rd
- Phuo Tai Kok Temple
- Bukit Timah Market and Food Centre

Places to eat and shop:
- Beauty World Food Centre on 4th floor
- Bukit Timah Shopping Centre
- Eateries along Cheong Chin Nam Rd and Chun Tin Rd
- Bukit Timah Market and Food Centre

Bring:
- Hat, sunscreen if you're going to sketch outdoors.

Sketchwalk leaders: Benedict Tay and Lim Peiyi

P.S.
Join the Nov 2019 Sketchwalk giveaway contest at https://www.parkablogs.com/content/join-our-nov-2019-sketchwalk-beauty-world

After the Sketchwalk, James Lim is organising a cafe sketch session in town. Details are here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/568754173280951/permalink/1447513762071650/

November Sketchwalk at Beauty World

While most of the sketchers will be up in Bangkok for the long weekend of artistic madness, we're going to an old section of Singapore which is seeing a lot of changes.

There's Beauty World Centre, Bukit Timah Shopping Centre, and the hustle and bustle along Jalan Jurong Kechil. You can explore the area via Google Street View to familiarise yourself ahead.

MEETING POINTS
Start
9:30 am
End
12:30 pm

We will both start and end at the street level of Beauty World MRT Station Exit C, which is really near the Bukit Timah 7th Mile Market, where you can grab breakfast before the sketchwalk, and lunch after we do our sketch showdown.

See you there!

Giveaway Contest for November 2016 Sketchwalk at Beauty World. More details at https://goo.gl/xF7f6F

result of Sep sketchwalk

I find adding dot, lines and shapes a very therapeutic process compared to colouring on a Saturday afternoon. This is the old railway station at Bukit Timah. The railway track is gone but the bridge, the station building and station master's house are still there.

September Sketchwalk

We're going to explore this quaint old place, and see what's become of it and its surroundings after the decommissioning of the Malayan Railway in Singapore.

Make sure to bring water and a hat to keep cool, and put on a bug repellant band so you don't get bitten.

Meet at the station building at 4.30pm. Then we are free to roam the vicinity. Please meet back the same place for show and tell. If it gets too dark, we can all walk back to King Albert Park Mall for show and tell. We can all have dinner at McDonalds.

Favian has suggested a few areas we can sketch:
1) Bkt timah rail station (of course!)
2) King Albert Park MacDonald's etc (before it's demolished!)
3) Bkt Timah Rail Bridge (if it is still there)
4) Bkt Timah Shopping Centre, Beauty World (old school malls!)

Or you can just stay around to sketch the former station building.

I would suggest sketchers to do something different this time. Say, sketch with a different medium, or sketch large format. If you are used to sketching A4 size, maybe try A3 this time or something bigger like A2. If you are up for the challenge.

PS: For those who are driving, please park at King Albert Park, and then walk to the station. See map for direction. I have also included the buses you can take to come here for those who are using public transport

You may download the map and print to refer later. We will keep you posted if there is any change to the plan.