Sketching at Fullerton

It was a fine (read: very hot) day when we set out on the Fullerton Sketching Tour organized by myartspace but this is Singapore. Guess the places..

We gathered late afternoon at

and had a quickie warm-up session on the surrounding bay views:

, a faraway view of our rat race $ite, and of course

, the $in place with the lotu$ which is also allegedly very ex..

Then we walked on to the former, ahem.. 'red lantern' pier

, but now a super atas (high class) place, oh how the fortunes have changed! I wonder what is the other lotus thingee they are building beside it but then Singapore is always a-changing. We have to be the most changeable city in the world, and if there is a prize for it, we will definitely proclaim to be No.1 no less, better than Inception dreams.

An about turn back along the bay to by the Waterboat House, we have an impressive view of

, with the affectionately known fruit building in the backdrop. Sorry, no spikes for the famous king of fruits as my pen ink ran out..

Crossing the road and wow we see this:
with the sun about to set. Perhaps you can see that I was much reminded of Edvard Munch's famous painting when I did this, with a bit of ackwardness using the new pen and a few “Excu-me” screeching into my ears from passers-by crossing the bridge. Now I know where Munch got his inspiration. Challenging but very inspired..


Oops time to go.. a quick hp pic for a painting in future, and then chasing after the group, I caught up at this magnificent object of grandeur, once a garment (government) building and general post office, and now, well, the name will give it away..

It is dusk by the time we strolled along the Singapore River past a crazy multitude of shutterbugs and reached this very character (er.. gabbage and large air-cons a-plenty) backstreet junction on the historical quay. I love it!

So here is my penultimate sketch of the day
while almost being run down by a ringing-madly FT (foreign talent or foreign worker, depending on who's saying it) cyclist!

Like I say, I love it! Cos it was the most genuine, original flavour, no artificial preservatives added, spot of the heritage walk, not exactly truly asia but definitely uniquely Singapore, haha.. Enjoyed myself and hope you do too :)

P.s. Names of places may be discerned from the gibberish URLs by clicking on the respective sketches, in case you don't recognize them from the 'abstract' works ;p

拍。卖 Secrets For Sale

I have to confess that I am addicted to the show. Rarely has a local drama series been so good as to prompt me to wonder why local productions don't sell overseas (Little Nonya doesn't make the cut) when such an excellent one lies before my eyes. Hip, sassy, not a dull moment, with plenty of cool action sequences, entertaining dialogue, and suspenses a-plenty to keep the viewers hooked.

Not to mention a hilarious Christopher Lee whose entrance as a scoundrel of a down luck ex-famous photographer with a chasing string of loan sharks in tow, is surely an award-worthy performance for his naturalness and unafraidness to uglify himself. A perfect foil for Jessica Liu, whose protaganist character as a PI firm owner guilt antsy-ing over the traumatic abduction of her sister's family while on a Malaysia trip, would have been too tragic an angle and totally unfun if not for Christopher's character constantly getting on her nerves and asking for it.

Even the side characters are memorable, especially Lin Mei Jiao whose comic turn as a PI auntie employee is a scream to watch.

But what makes this show truly stand out are its good production values and portrayal of Singapore in a way that endears me to our familiar surroundings, be it the extended scene of Christopher searching anxiously in the Bras Basah vicinity for Jessica's niece, the pulsating chase scenes in the back alleys of our shophouses, or even the secretive stalking of clandestine going-ons at a Hotel 81 window..

Yes, it actually gave me the same feeling as the critically acclaimed local movie, Sandcastle, even though they can't be more different. Arthouse or mainstream entertainment, I say gritty shows like these will make much better ambassadors of Singapore culture than any fake STB clip will ever hope to achieve, oops..

Alas, only 3 more episodes to go for my nightly thriller fix. I can't wait to unravel - to the catchy tune of the adrenalin-pumping soundtrack - the mystery of the 2 underlying story arcs concerning the abduction and Christopher's framed scandal past, or maybe they are linked. Just a hunch, somehow.. maybe.. Thomas Ong, in a sinister turn here as Jessica's seemingly goody-two-shoes boyfriend, is the mastermind behind it all!

Too far-fetched? Well, the writers and production team have so far done an incredible job in making an exciting highly-charged escapade tale take place plausibly and believably in what-do-you-know, safe old staid Singapore! Who says Singapore is boring? We are cool, man..

singa-bitsy: for your eyes only

ST Dec 11, 2010: "It's all in your eyes.. Heading for a heart attack? Alzheimer's? Your eyes tell all, says Dr Wong Tien Yin.."

Soon there will be a queue of alleged patients, female or otherwise, waiting for the learned Dr Wong to look ever so deeply into their eyes..

P.s. caveat emptor beware, dark secrets may be revealed.

singa-bitsy: housewives vs salesmen

ST Nov 20, 2010: "THE Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) is starting a year-long public education campaign to teach unsuspecting housewives and the elderly how to handle unscrupulous door-to-door salesmen.."

Soon we will have suspicious housewives and elderly up in arms awaiting to ambush unsuspecting salesmen and toss them unscrupulously from door-to-door..