A view from my hotel room

Gorgeous sunlight, added washes in the early morning to the sketch I started the day before when I first arrived at Z Hotel at Johor Bahru. It was the view from my hotel room on the 18th storey. I could see Restoran Kin Hua from my room and we had breakfasts at this traditional coffee shop every morning in Johor Bahru.

On the right is the Sultan Ibrahim Building, the former state secretariat building of Johor State. The offices of the state secretariat have now moved to Kota Iskandar. There are plans to convert the building into a museum. You can read more about the building at this link

The tall building is the UNITAR International University right at the end of Jalan Tan Hiok Nee which is named after a Chinese immigrant who played a pivotal role in developing Johor Bahru in the late 19th century. There are now many cozy cafes and restaurants but we don't see any crowd in the day. At night, huge crowd is spotted at the night market frequented by mainly local Malays along a few adjacent streets.

I love this view because I can see Singapore across the waters on the left.

Arches Watercolour Paper
Size: 630 x 220mm

First sketch in Johor Bahru

This was the first sketch I did with three other sketcher-friends from Singapore inside Senso Art Gallery on the second storey of the shophouse at Jalan Tan Hiok Nee overlooking the corner red house. This area was the traditional culture and heritage enclave but we didn't see the crowd or activites except for a few tourists here and there strolling or taking pictures just like us. I could see this very bright neighbourhood from my hotel room on 18 storey at night and again, no crowd only very bright street lights.

However, Senso Art Gallery was a tiny but very vibrant art space offering art and craft lessons and we saw students coming in at different slots to have their lessons while we were sketching. There were also tourists admiring the artwork currently displayed on the walls.

Etchr Square Sketchbook
Size: 420 x 210mm

Going to Johor Bahru