Brunch with zhuan & lene

 met up with zhuan a couple of weeks ago at relish

love this place for its full length glass panels which let in generous amount of light energy but not the heat energy from the sun.... not many customers probably due to its secretive location at level two  of my village @ serangoon gardens 

it's for all to know that their chef is a temperamental chap..... hahaha.... so cute to display it in this manner..... (look under 'cakes')

my breakfast set at 1pm on a Saturday afternoon.... heeee.... love the mushroom, love my life and love meeting up with friends.... =) 

zhuan with her burger

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then a few weeks later, charlene brought me to wild honey at scotts square

this is like one of the best breakfast set that i have ever had.... not that i been to alot of whole day breakfast place to begin with..... my heart was aching super badly just because i had wasted one portion of it ..... i couldnt stomach all 3 portions on my own due to its gigantic portion..... 

looks pretty and i bet tasted heavenly too.... cos lene, being a small eater, literally forced herself to finish everything up.... including both the toast and both the poached eggs oh... just because it was such a waste to waste such yummy food lo....
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Life's really good to be surrounded by wonderful friends (and food) who keep in touch despite being busy with our daily matters.....  

Alvin's Prom

2 years ago, i was the image consultant for Angela for her prom and i think i did a pretty good job at it despite the fact that i cant really be bothered to dress up myself.... =P

and now, it's Alvin's turn.... time flies.... even 蔡小宝 is attending prom liao..... 

You  know the good thing about having super young siblings and they are put under your charge is that i get to enjoy the 有儿初成长 feeling at my age now instead of with my own kids 15 or 20 yrs later... it's really quite a good feeling especially so when they turn out well... =) 

as usual, the norm blazer, pants, shirt and tie combi was not the choice. think it's too much n too exp for a 17 yr old to pull it off well. and it's too wasteful to spend so much on a blazer that can will only be worn once to prom.... can't think of any other occasion where he will need to be in a blazer again.... at least not anytime soon.... 

so a trip to bugis was planned and we managed to put together a cheerful sunshine outfit that's not too over and one that does not burn a big hole in my pocket... =P 

tatatata... presenting my handsome little brother (the one in yellow shirt and brown vest) with his friends... =) 

comparing angela's and alvin's attire... i think i have a fetish for vest and bright coloured shirt lo.... wahahaha... 

PS: Silly boy, you are not alone. i'm forever ur jie jie, ur support for life.... 

Gillman Barracks

Ending off the first half of the Art Teacher Practitioner Program with a visit to Gillman Barracks which is just a stone throw away from our art studio. 

super misty due to the condensation of water vapour on the camera lens

The best part is it's free for all. =) 

One very important point to note is - DON't go on a rainy day. There's no shelter between the numerous exhibition hall. 

In the FOST Gallery

Don't you find the black attachments very familiar???

They are seats found under (olden) HDB blocks

this artwork was inspired by the Singapore National Theatre which was demolished in 1986

Saw Edward Burtynsky's chromogenic colour print of an oil field in California. He's a Canadian photographer and artist who has achieved international recognition for his large-format photographs of industrial landscapes. To me, his work made me thing about the environment which we often take for granted or do not pay much notice too. His work was so awesome that i felt that uploading of my photos of his photos do super injustice to his work lo. You really have to be there, to be standing in front of his work, with a guide next to you to be fully immersed in his work. 

was also introduced to the work of Lucio Fontana 

and Agostino Bonalumi. 

Both wanted more from a flat canvas. So the former made cuts on brightly painted canvas with the reverse black gauzed to create a mysterious sense of illusion and depth while the latter added things behind the canvas to create a form of reliefs. 

Luciano Ventrone's oil paintings is so amazing, you will think that they are photographs until you read the write-up 

yes, this is an oil painting. not a photograph

next up, we have an installation by Donna Ong from Singapore. 

She has beds suspended at different heights and all secured enough to be seated on or slept on. She titled this "And we dream we were birds"

I was thinking.... is she an orphan or a delinquent??? Did some reading and she was neither.... But this installation gave me a very cold feeling... not at all cosy...not at all conducive for daydreaming.... more like a bedroom where people are forced to be in bed at a stated time... 

look carefully oh

 not only is it a leaning tree.... it's a couple leaning tree.... so amazing.... dun know what's the factor that causes the trees to grow in this manner .... dun think the wind speed in singapore can be that powerful right???

Last but not least, there was also a gallery of the Princess Of Polka Dots, Yayoi Kusama

in the day, she works in her art studio, creating pieces after pieces of polka dotted art ...at night, she checks herself into a mental hospital... 

She claims that the vast field of polka dots, or what she called infinity nets, were taken directly out from her hallucinations... and she's well-known for her productivity.... despite the micromanaged intricacy of her work, she still turned them out fast and in bulk


it's amazing and admirable how she harness her hallucinations into something useful, into something managable .... 

her determination and discipline is really something that all of us can learn from... 

Hong Kong & Macau Itinerary

Planning for Hong Kong is so much easier than planning for our taipei trip cos only need to plan for 3.5 days worth of activities


Day 1 - 14 Dec, Friday
- arrive at hong kong airport at 12.20pm
- buy octopus card for mtr 
- take bus A11 (HK$40, 40 minutes) to our apartment at Wan Chai which I booked through airbnb

- check in around 2pm
- start of our 吃东西,买东西 near our apartment which is at wan chai street market area - mtr exit A3

(Actual day post on transport from singapore to the apartment)

- proceed to the peak at around 430pm

- mtr to Central station --> walk towards Garden Road --> Peak Tram Terminus
- ticket for tram ride + sky pass = (HK$65 = S$10) 
- visit Peak Tram Museum @ lower tram terminus, free entry, 7am to 12mn
- visit Sky Terrance 428 for the 360 degree view of HK at 428m above sea level 

(Actual Day post on the tram ride + peak)

- visit Mdm Tussauds wax museum after 8pm to enjoy the discounted online ticket at HK$129.50 (S$20.50) 

(Actual Day post on Mdm Tussauds wax museum)

- room sweet room



Day 2 - 15 Dec, Saturday

 - going to OCEAN PARK.. =) .... been to HK twice and had never been to ocean park.... so this time, we are forgoing disneyland  as me and jasmine had been there b4 liao... heee... dun think the  guys would mind not visiting disneyland de.... 

- ocean park seems more fun anyway.... it's like a underwater world + zoo + theme park all in one la and is much cheaper than disneyland too.... ocean park is HK$280 (S$44.40) while disneyland is HK$399 (S$63.30)

- Citybus (Route 629) from admiralty / central mtr station – 25 minutes – (HK$10.60 = S$1.80) – to: 9am to 4pm (interval of 10 mins), return: 11am to 9pm
- must remember to bring extra set of clothing or poncho to keep dry in water games 

(Actual Day post on Ocean Park) 

- Lan kwai fung (Central mtr station)

- Cab from ocean park to lan kwai fang is hk$85 (S$13.50 = S$3.40)
- Shuttle bus from ocean park to central mtr (HK$10.60 = S$1.80 each)
- exit D2, turn right theatre lane, turn left queen’s road central,  walk up D’Aguilar street

- Room sweet room 


Day 3 - 16 Dec, Sunday 
- 5 minute walk to wan chai ferry terminal   
- take the 8 minute ferry to Tsim sha tsui, choose the upper deck to enjoy the view of victoria harbour 
- HK$2.20 = S$0.40 (cheaper than taking mtr i assume)

-  it shall be a whole day of  吃东西,买东西 at ladies street (12nn - 12mn), temple street (6pm - mn) and area around mongkok, yau ma tei, jordan and tsim sha tsui....just soaking in the typical HK streets that we often see in HK dramas.... =D

- avenue star @ tsim sha tsui waterfront near the cultural centre to watch the symphony of light (14 minutes light & sound show) at 8pm

- can tune in to FM103.4 for english narration

- Room sweet room  


(Actual day post from mongkok to tsim sha tsui)


Day 4 - 17 Dec, Monday
- take mtr to sheung wan station, exit D
- an hour cotai ferry to macau (9am, 930am) at HK$302 (S$48) - round trip....why choose this ferry over the rest leh... cos they have a birthday promotion.... =) 
- since dominic is a december baby, he gets to enjoy the birthday promotion (yes, for all international travellers) at HK$198 (S$31.50) for himself and a guest

- look for half day city tour within the ferry terminal, approx $138 (S$22) ... this will help us save the hassle of transportation... key places that is a must see are:

St Paul Ruins

Senado Square

Macau Tourist Tower

- take free shuttle bus and visit as many casinos as possible not for the gambling but for the beautiful interior.... 

Venetian  Casino

back to venice / Marina Sands??? Why all same concept de??? 

MGM Hotel 

- ferry back at 1730pm

- last round of HK shopping 

- room sweet room 

(Actual Day post to macau) 


Day 5 - 18 Dec, Tuesday
- check out by 10am
- bus A11 to airport 
- check in at 1120am
- refund octopus card

- HOME SWEET HOME.... =) 

Effective Drawing (5) - Negative Space

Interesting examples of negative vs positive spaces... 

Can you see the 'E'?

Can you see the silhouette of the 3 brothers? 

This one very obvious right???

Challenge of the day - Draw THE chair

i chose the easiest one and purposely position myself such that i only have to draw 3 legs.... wahahaha.... 

 have to resort to this cos we were only given 2 hours to complete the work..... we cant possibly bring the chair home to do as homework right??? 

this is how the chair looked like through the view finder

my progress after half an hour to 45 minutes or so

i stopped taking photos and went back to work after i saw how serious everyone else were lo..... stress seh.... 

and after 2 hours of hard work, i did this.... =) 

my 腰 was so super 酸 at the end of the day lo.... 

anyway, i'm quite happy with my chair.... it looked proportionate enough, it looked stable enough and it looked 3D enough for me... =) 

but i know it could be better if i had drawn it bigger so that i dun have to draw so much shadows .... it could also be better if the shadows were more differentiated in values

i really think this course is damn good la.... besides teaching me how to draw, it managed to teach me to identify my own areas of weakness and areas for improvement... 

it used to be "there's something wrong with my drawing but i just cant pin-point what's wrong"  de lo.... 

last lesson for the workshop.... am so going to miss it...i really really learn alot alot from this program.... 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

effective drawing (1) - lines 

effective drawing (2) - shades

effective drawing (3) - lines & shades

effective drawing (4) - edge

Halloween @ Woodgrove 2012

one of thing that i miss most about living in woodlands is going for the yearly Halloween walk at woodgrove every year. 

so imagine my delight when the nac briefing was held at innova jc on 31st oct.... =)....took the opportunity to pop by 蔡家 to see ong ong.... heeee.... 

so cute..... he even has a pet toy pup.... wahahaha

 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

brought mummy for the Halloween walk after dinner... =) 

mummy and I resting for an ice-cream

look at the crowd..... it's amazing right??? especially so when it's a non-publicised event.... only known to woodlanders living around the area...


My favourite costume this year..... SO CUTE RIGHT?????

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

celebrated Alvin's 17th birthday before i left

time really flies.... even 蔡小弟 is 17 liao....