Dinner at Bedok

One of the last pages on the Moleskine filled with sketches from Malacca trip, so I continued the Moleskin with a sketch during dinner at Bedok Hung Kang Fish Soup stall. The old Teochew couples spent long hours daily at the stall and they must be pleased there was always a constant queue.

new tools

Since I lost my pencil case with my hero fountain pens in there, I needed fountain pens badly for my coming sketching trip to Penang from 13 to 18 Jun. So, I went to Straits Art to buy the fountain pens and something else, not one but three Escoda brushes and a Escoda pouch. I am all ready for the trip!

The day I lost my tools

This sketch took me 30 seconds but my loss on that day is forever!

I did this sketch at School of the Arts (SOTA)to illustrate to my students how to select the location, see the space and start sketching. I took out a foundtain pen - Hero M86 with the black Noodler's ink from my Muji pencil case. I must have left the pencil case on the floor or somewhere instead of putting it back to my bag immediately. I could not find my pencil case the next day! So sad!

My son who is a SOTA student helped me to locate the lost pencil case in the following days. I also searched my car from front to back, from top to bottom. Alas! It is gone forever! I have 2 Hero M578 with "spirit of bamboo" Noodler's ink and 1 more Hero M86 with the black ink plus a travel set Escoda brush. ALL GONE!

However, I lost more important personal stuff in the office last Novmember due to someone's negligence and incompetence. I could have sued the management. However, I learnt to protect myself for not allowing the pain of loss to set in, I also learnt to move on and seek happiness and not to look back at my loss. Instead, I focus on the good time we spent together. Bye, my M86, M578 and the brush. You have served me well. I miss you all.

elegant ladies at starbucks

These two Malay ladies were so elegantly dressed plus their make-up and mannerism, they had four starbucks mugs and two pieces of cake on their table and they just enjoyed the conversations. The others were the usual crowd with books, study notes, lap tops, iPhones and other gadgets. Almost everyone was staring at the small screen of their lap tops. I was the only one sketching.

at the polyclinic

While waiting to collect my medication after consultation with the doctor at room number 10, I sketched the crowd inside the Marine Parade Polyclinic. People came and went very quickly so I had to do speed sketching. I put 2105, the number assigned to me on the calling screen on top of the pharmacy counter.

cafe sketch

After leaving the students from Marina Bay Promenade, I went to Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf at Marina Bay Sands to have my meal and coffee. The "Wishing Well" called "Rain Oculus" which looks like an hanging inverted bowl structure is just outside the cafe. It creates a whirlpool motion above the promenade level with the water falling two storeys through a hole at the center of the Oculus. I was sitting in the cafe witnessing for the very first time, the water gushing down from the steel pipes and acrylic bowl above.

three ladies/men in the cafe

Only when I sat down and started sketching after a sip from the cup of coffee, I then realised the three pretty ladies sitting in front were men! They were very pretty and fair but they were also loud and oblivious of the surroundings. I was glad I sketched them first before they left.

sketches on people

I lost my Muji Sketchbook on cafes and people as reported in the post here. I was reluctant to start a new one until now. So here are some sketches on a new Muji Sketchbook on people at dinner tonight, at a meeting last week and in the studio with students.

self portrait on glossy surface

I did a self portrait on the cover of the new sketchbook I bought from Muji. I like how the fountain pen behaving on the smooth and glossy surface of the cover. May be I should work on glossy paper more.

backstage

Similar to Chinese all over the world, Chinese in Singapore too has a rich background of folklore, customs, rituals, festivals, myths and celebrations. Seventh month of lunar calendar is the Hungry Ghost Festival during which the Chinese believe that all the hell gates will open to free the 'hungry ghosts' from hell. People from earth must appease these "hungry ghosts" either by staging a Chinese traditional opera show or a modern musical show called the 'Getai' along side with offering sumptuous food, burning paper money and big joss sticks.

Last night, I followed my photographer friends to the backstage of a opera troupe at Beach Road and did one sketch. I was overwhelmed with the movements, sight and sound from these hardworking and multitasking opera performers. One moment, an actress could be a pregnant lady and next moment, the same actress could be a warlord with sword! Beside their roles as various characters on the show, they also doubled up as stage hands, make up artist and chorus. I even spotted two performers in their heavy make-up and costumes searching through stage photos on a laptop. Everyone had a standard chest for costumes and a cabinet with mirror at the exact position on the backstage regardless of the performance venue for the entire opera troupe. What a team of multitaskers! Respect!

Night Sketching at Rangoon Road

I pre-splashed some black and salt on the watercolour papers for the night sketch. We gathered at Heartroom Gallery at Block 44, Owen Road. Mei Ho, gallery owner invited us for a sumptuous meal with famous hokkien mee and home made chicken porridge before our sketch walk. We had a great time. I did two 250x250mm format in ink, watercolours and white gouache.

interesting people at earshot

On Tuesday, I brought my class to Boat Quay for a drawing trip again. Some of us also visited the Asian Civilization Museum as the entry fee was now FREE for staff and students from Schools, Junior Colleges and the Polytechnics. I later went to the nearby cafe called Earshot at Art House for coffee. The cafe was preparing for a writers' night with two technicians setting up of microphones and projector next to my table. A lady came to tell the technicians to lower the volume as she was conducting an interview. It caught my attention that I put down my book and looked at the lady. She was Irene Ng, our lady MP! I was curious who was she interviewing so I moved to another seat and realized she was interviewing our ex-Permanent Secretary - Mr Ngiam Tong Dow. Don't ask me about their conversation because I did not pay attention to that since I was more concerned about finishing the sketch and leaving as soon as possible so as not to incur more parking charges for my car which was parked about 1km away at Golden Shoe; a public car park. The parking fee was $17 this time. The last time I brought the students out, the parking fee was $28. 'Ouch!'

nice sport cars

Too much buzz on the recent exhibition "Outside-In: Sketches of Tiong Bahru" already. For a change, I post this sketch of the nice cars when I sent my car for servicing last month. It was raining like cats and dogs that I was grounded at the service centre and worked on my laptop. I cleared many official documents and emails for the whole morning after sketching. When I came back to the office in the afternoon, little did I know that that was the same morning Orchard Road was flooded. I was so lucky as my car service centre was in the flood prone area too - Tan Chong at Bukit Timah. What a day!

my favourite mee pok noodle shop

Again, at my favourite noodle place for lunch. There was another one done here.

a weekend trip to Skudai, Malaysia

Last Saturday, my two sisters and I accompanied our mother to Skudai for a wedding dinner hosted by a Malaysian relative for his elder daughter. Skudai is 16km from Johor Bahru; the state capital of Johor. Johor is one of the most developed states of Malaysia that is linked to Singapore via two road connections across the Straits of Johor. The wedding dinner was held at a luxurious Chinese restaurant in the very big shopping mall called Sutera Mall at Skudai. As a Singaporean, I am surprised to find out from the floor map that two very big Singapore developers have a stake in the Sutera Mall.

We went to Sutera Mall in the early afternoon so that my mother had time to do her hair at one of the saloons. I took the opportunity to do this exterior sketch while my sisters were busy shopping. The wedding dinner was held at Pekin restaurant at Sutera Mall. The food was very good and the iced coconut pudding presented in three big coconuts was truly unique and outstanding.

official visit

What an interesting way to start the week by visiting an organisation in the early morning on Monday.

Oleh Oleh - my favourite cafe at Parkway Parade

"Oleh Oleh" means "present" in Malay. it is the name of the small open cafe known for its local Malay pastries and deserts especially my favourite "lopez". Lopez is a glutinous rice topped with grated coconut and sweet syrup. Together with black coffee, the combination is just heavenly. The two couples were discussing on an interior project over the laptop directly in front of my table. The near-by HSBC bank was still open when I left at about 8pm.

company visit

As part of the activities for our company retreat, we visited a very small firm set up by two young brothers. One of the brothers was on the phone in the middle of the discussion. The other brother was standing on the right behind the ladies. They were explaining to us the process of tranforming the traditional herbs into bottled herbal drinks you see here on the table. Today, there are 19 flavours compared to the humble 5 flavours of herbal drinks when they first set-up during the SARS epidemic in 2003.

a very hot afternoon

091011_syedalwiroad, originally uploaded by tiastudio.

Done with my new Hero M86 Calligraphy Pen.

The afternoon heat was unbearable so I sat in the air-cond car and sketched the street - Syed Alwi Road. I had a sketch done for the row of shophouse with oval windows on the left early this year. This was the second car that blocked my view for the whole period I was sketching. The first one drove away. This one also parked for like 5 minutes and I had to scramble with the outline of the car when I saw the driver came back from nowhere with lunch packages. A big van very quickly filled in the parking lot and blocked my view totally. I moved my car a little in order to finish the sketch. That was the situation a sketcher has to deal with when you are sketching 'moving targets'.

national monument

The heat was still unbearable although I sat under the big shade on a Sunday afternoon.

I sketched the famous clock tower building of the Chinese High School on one Sunday. The Chinese High School, also the first Chinese secondary school in Singapore was constructed in 1919 and completed in 1925. The clock tower building was gazetted as a national monument on 19 Mar 1999. This year the School celebrates its 90th anniversary.

The building was used by the Allied defenders during the Battle of Singapore, as well as during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore from 1942 to 1945. It was occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army for the purpose of surveillance. The building's history is synonym to the history of our country.

There are four clocks on the clock tower. This historical building is a powerful landmark along a major road in a low rise, high class residential area.