Chamomile Moment...

Starbucks Chamomile Blend

After spending the whole afternoon walking and writing, I deserve this break...

Catching up is always good...

Girl friends catching up over coffee and cakes.

When I saw them, I wondered what would happen if I said I am catching up with my boy friends...?

60¢ for a moment of nostalgia...

Kueh tutu - an expensive form of nostalgia...

Kueh Tutu is a traditional delicacy and a uniquely Singapore dish that was invented right here. Made primarily with rice flour or glutinous rice flour, the light snack contains either ground peanut and sugar or shredded coconut as its filling. The typical method of preparation involves rapid steaming of the flour and the filling. Once ready, the Tutu is served on pandan leaves to add fragrance.

I remember I used to have them at 20¢ each, then 30¢ each and by the time I was in my early teens, it was 50¢ each. Now? It's a whopping $3 for a set of 5. You do the math.

Nostalgia and memories are an expensive hobby...

Costa Coffee at Vivocity

This is the first time I've tried Costa Coffee. They have other outlets at Chevron House and Raffles City. However, I have not noticed them till they opened at Vivocity. When I tried their latte (my 'standard' for testing barista skills) I found it bitter and ashy and the milk was not sweet and rather thin. I do hope the barista's skills improve.

Costa Coffee started when Bruno and Sergio Costa founded a coffee roastery in Lambeth, London in 1971, supplying local caterers and coffee shops with their slow-roasted blend mocha Italia. Costa branched out to retailing coffee in 1978, when their first store opened in Vauxhall Bridge Road, London.

In 1995, the business was acquired by Whitbread, becoming a wholly owned subsidiary. In 2009 Costa celebrated the opening of their 1,000th store - in Cardiff. In December 2009, Costa Coffee agreed to acquire Coffee Heaven for £36 million, adding 79 stores in central and eastern Europe. By the end of 2010 the company had overtaken Starbucks in the UK, reaching a 37.6% market share measured by revenues.

Lunch at Maison Kayser, Wheelock Place

Maison Kayser, Wheelock Place

Maison Kayser is Eric Kayser's venture into retail bakery. He is a master French baker with over 80 stores worldwide and his products are a household name.

Eric Kayser is a fourth generation master baker. His great-grandfather, grandfather, and father were all traditional French bakers. At the age of 18, he became a companion of the prestigious Tour de France of baking.

On September 13, 1996, Kayser opened his first bakery at 8 rue Monge in Paris. It was an instant success, garnering much critical acclaim. The opening of many more bakeries in Paris and in various countries abroad followed very quickly.

Eric Kayser is widely regarded to be one of the world’s best bakers. He is commonly referred to as the “ambassador of French bread to the world”.

Today, there are over 80 Maison Kayser locations worldwide. With 18 in Paris alone, more locations have opened throughout Greece, Portugal, Russia, Japan, Ukraine, Morocco, Senegal, South Korea, Lebanon, and the UAE.

The products and services in the bakeries vary from country to country, each adapting to the local tastes and flavors. This dynamic touch has helped the growth of Maison Kayser throughout the world. Each Maison Kayser location produces its products on-site daily.

USK Sketchwalk at Bedok Estate

The sports area in Bedok estate.

Map of Bedok's sports area

The last sketchwalk of 2012 was held at one of Singapore older estates, Bedok. It also marks the beginning of the third project with Epigram to pictorially record selections of Singapore's estates. The area which my group was tasked to cover comprises the sports area in the estate. This includes the swimming complex, the stadium and sports hall, the tennis courts and the community centre with its basketball court.

Bedok is a neighbourhood in the eastern part of Singapore. Bedok New Town is the fifth Housing and Development Board (HDB) new town; its development started in April 1973 and continued over some 15 years.

The Bedok Planning Area, an urban planning zone under the Urban Redevelopment Authority, encompasses the Bedok New Town itself, the low-rise private residential areas along Upper East Coast Road, and in the districts of Kembangan, Siglap and Telok Kurau, and the high-rise private condominium developments in the eastern part of Marine Parade.

"Bedok" seems to be a very old place name. In the 1604 Manuel Gomes de Erédia's map of Singapore, there is a reference to the Bedok River called sune bodo (Sungei Bedok).

Bedok is one of the early native place names in existence around the time of Sir Stamford Raffles. In the first comprehensive map of Singapore Island completed by Frankin and Jackson and reproduced in John Crawfurd's 1828 book, the place name appears on the south east coast of the island as a river, Badok S. (Sungei Bedok), around the "small red cliff", a part of present Tanah Merah.

The Malay word bedoh refers to a type of slit drum made from a large hollowed log for calling people to a mosque for prayers or to sound the alarm in the days before loudspeakers. There was a prominent mosque in the 1950s at Jalan Bilal that still used the drum about five times a day. The "h" in the word bedoh was replaced with a "k", and, as with most Malay words that end with a "k", it is pronounced with an inaudible glottal stop.

A less popular version refers to an equally uncommon Malay term of biduk, a small fishing boat like the sampan, or more likely, a dugout canoe, as the east coast was dotted with many fishing villages.

Bedok Community Centre

Shade study

Located just minutes away from Bedok MRT station and bus interchange, and opposite the Bedok Swimming Complex, the CC provides a place of fun and games for sports enthusiasts. The CC offers a wide range of sports facilities from gateball courts to sheltered basketball and badminton courts.

Besides sports, there is wireless broadband access throughout the CC.

Cafe Sketchwalk 4: Teahouses in Chinatown.

The complete tea set from the first Chinese teahouse - Tea Chapter《茶渊》along Neil Road

Second stop: Yi Xin Xuan《怡心轩》

My first memories of Chinese were of my grandmother preparing them for festivals as offerings to the invisible deities. They were made thick, strong and in copious amounts. We get to drink them later as we feast on the food prepared for the festivities of the day.

My grandmother made copious amounts of Oolong《乌龙》 and sometimes Pu Erh《普洱》. Then was when I acquired my taste for Chinese tea. My grandmother also helped me to acquire my taste for coffee, but that's another story.

In secondary school, my maths teacher introduced me to the idea of the Chinese tea ceremony: a ritual of making tea that slows you down and opens up your senses, making even the tiniest of gestures an amplified motion. Your sense of hearing, tasting and even seeing is suddenly amplified and enhanced. This was then picked up again during my military stint. A group buddies I hang out with are also into tea drinking.

The last introduction came with my current job: my boss is an avid tea drinker and is absolutely fanatic about tea and often urges us to have tea with him. Being in a working enviroenment with a strong Chinese cultural influence also helped to further nurture and mature my understanding of the sensorial expereince and art of the tea ceremony. This culminates in part 4 of my cafe sketchwalk: tea houses.

Spurred by Liz's interest in Chinese teas, I arranged for one during her visit. Much to my delight, we were also joined by Parka, Favian and Su Min. The experience proved to be a wonderfully therapeutic and quieting experience for all those who were there a the sketchwalk. So inspired was I that I went ahead and acquired a set of tea making instruments for my personal exploration and enjoyment at home...
 

the complete tea set	tea set in use	tea and conversation

Alvin Mark Tan: Thirty Days on the Camino

I love the ingenious use of real props to authenticate the experience at the exhibition.

 A journey of any sort is always becomes bigger than the original intention . This goes without saying for an intended pilgrimage.

Local artist and illustrator Alvin Mark Tan when on a peregrino's journey on the Spanish camino down the famous Camino de Santiago this year. His exciting and eventful journey culminated in a book that journaled his adventures visually and textually.

At the launch of his book, I was invited to the event and experienced the journey vicariously through an ingenious use of real equipment used on the actual journey put on display.

DECEMBER SKETCHWALK 29DEC, 9:30AM

Hi Everyone!

This upcoming sketchwalk will be in favour of the people living in the east because we will be sketching around Bedok! It's a pretty busy and big neighbourhood. We will meet at the Bedok Food Centre just beside Bedok Mrt Station at 930am. You can have your breakfast there before the event (or eat and draw when the sketching starts like some of you like to do) From the food centre, we will hand out highlighted locations for you to draw and explore so you can head for all the places that are famous in Bedok.

You will be able to submit the sketches done in this sketchwalk to Epigram to be included in the upcoming "I Love Bedok" book. Yes, it's in the same series as the "I love Toa Payoh" book. Only the best sketches will be chosen for the book so do as many as you can and submit them! You will get 1 complimentary copy if 1 drawing gets into the book. And 2 copies if 3 or more drawings gets featured.

(all files sent to Jocelyn using yousendit or youtransfer at jocelyn@epigrambooks.sg)


We will have just 3 groups this time + 1 special ah-hoc afternoon group (see below).


We will meet back at the hawker centre again (this may change if we find a quieter location) at 12:30pm for a show and tell session before lunch.


See you guys there!

Call 91070735 if you get lost or can't find us. (well, hard not to miss so many sketchers about.)

Group 1

BEDOK INTERCHANGE

• Bedok
  MRT entrance
  (on Bus Interchange side)

Very busy area. There is a regular blind busker here who starts playing from evening. Said to have good voice.

• Bedok Bus Interchange and surrounds
  

  There are some iconic places at the interchange itself that I think should be documented. One is the flower shop, the other is a medicine shop that sells really inexpensive toiletries. And further in there's the wet market and lots of mom and pop shops (I'd recommend one called Kian Wee Stationery Shop -- has those old school toys too!)

• Bedok
  Interchange Food Centre
  (Blk
  207 New Upper Changi Road)

-
Goreng Pisang stall (back corner stall)

-
Bedok Chwee Kueh, #01-53

-
Jian Bo Shui Kueh, #01-24

-
Selegie Soya Bean / Beancurd, #01-46

-
Famous Bedok porridge near interchange - ??

• Current construction
  of Bedok
  Residences
  –Huge
  site worth recording, cranes and all!

• Princess
  Theatre building
  – v old.

Group 2: BEDOK TOWN CENTRE

• Bedok Public Library
  This was the first solar powered library. Might be good for sketches to
  catch top-view down (if possible?).
• Bedok Adventure Park
• Blk 216 Market and Food Centre (technically Bedok North St 1)
• Hon Ni Kitchen Nasi Lemak (closed on Sun)
• Chris’s Kway Chap, #01-80
• Rui Xing Coffee (kopi and toast), #01-42
• Mixed rice stall ($2 only!) facing road, always with long queues
• And any other neighbourhood stores that catch artists’ attention

Group3: New Upper Changi Road / Bedok North Road

• Bedok
  Swimming Complex
• Bedok
  Sports Hall
• Bedok
  Stadium
• Bedok
  Badminton Hall
• Bedok
  Tennis Centre
• Bedok
  Community Club (across road from swimming pool)

ADHOC GROUP

BEDOK SOUTH

Bedok South Ave 1

• Bedok
  South Road Market and Food Centre (Blk
  16)

Ah
Wah Rojak, #01-197

Hill
Street Char Kway Teow, #01-187

• Blk
  18 HDB old-style long block

This
is next to food centre, and good angles to sketch from – the ground
here is all red tiled.

Temasek
Junior College (I don’t think this is drawable from outside, so it
is optional)

Ad Hoc Sketchwalk at Conservation Areas...

Le Chocolat Cafe at The Club, Ann Siang Hill

Le Chocolat Cafe is a sandwich & pastry café within the boutique hotel The Club, and is situated along Ann Siang Hill. The café here is small and still finding a foothold in this seemingly sleepy but charmingly peaceful part of Singapore. The service can be slow but it allows you to soak in the ambience and adds to the charm of the place.

Maison Ikkoku at Kandahar Street.

A lifestyle boutique combining mid-high end international menswear retail, a café centered on quality coffee and a semi-alfresco cocktail bar. 

Cafe Sketchwalk 3: Orchard Shopping Belt.

Kith Cafe at Park Mall, Penang Road.

This is the off-shoot from the Rodyk Street main store. It's a collaboration with X-Tra furtniture store and thus explains the electic and stylish selection of furniture.

The coffee is interesting enough with a passable selection of food. 'Home-cooked' and 'simple' are words that one would not and should not use when introducing a bistro in the busy retail/commercial area; but they did, to underwhelming effect.

Coffee & Toast at Triple One Somerset, Exeter Road.

Black Coffee was closed for renovation (or for good?) when I was there. So I just walked a few more steps to check out this other shop that is basally a glorified local kopitiam. Bleary-eyed CBD workers form long queues in the morning to get their kopi fix from Coffee & Toast. Local tea and coffee in the style of Ya Kun, Wang etc. but slightly cheaper than either place.

Raindrops Cafe at *Scape, Orchard Road.

Raindrops Cafe offers alfresco dining and dishes by the former Red Dot Cafe Chef. If it starts pouring in the middle of a meal, a 20 per cent discount will be given. The crew also offers rain shelter service with specially designed umbrellas since there isn't any linkway from the main building to this littel bistro.

Raindrops Cafe serves simple comfort food. The food portions are a little small and not fantastic in terms of taste but the prices are reasonable and it’s a good . If you are looking for a nice cafe to chill out or for dinner Raindrops Cafe may be the right place. 

Spinelli at Wheelock Place.

Spinelli Coffee Company at Wheelock Place

Wheelock Place went through a major overhaul after its anchor tenant closed down in 2011. Marks & Spencers took over that retail space. The vacant basement was then segregated into parcels of shop spaces now helmed by niche shops, boutiques and a few cafes and bistros, one of which is Spinelli.

Spinelli Coffee Company has its origins in San Francisco and was the first American specialty coffee retailer to reach the shores of Singapore in 1996. Their coffee beans are selected from plantations around the world, roasted and blended by Master Roasters in Singapore to ensure coffee freshness. Staff members are carefully trained in product knowledge and preparation methods.

Viridian Art's House POP- UP ART STORE!

This was where I had the first public exhibition of my works in reproduction prints. Very exciting!

A pop-up shop with a specially-selected collection of artistic and design products in support of all artists and local artisans.

Art Prints for Sale - My First Group Art Exhibition-cum-Sale

Viridian Art House is organising a Christmas Creative Art Exhibition Sale and I have been invited to put up a collection of my paintings’ prints for exhibition and sale at the event. This is a 2-day affair from 15 to 16 Dec 12 from 11am to 6pm.

Hope to see you there and show your support for my art pieces.

These pieces have been carefully selected and reproduced on high gauge archive quality A5 art paper for the pleasure of your collection.

Starbucks Liat Towers before the Ponding Flood — at Starbucks Coffee @ Liat Towers.

Sungei Buloh in the mist — at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve.

MacRitchie Reservoir Dawn — at MacRitchie Reservoir.

玄江殿 — at 玄江殿.

MacRitchie Reservoir After the Rain — at MacRitchie Reservoir.

Dunlop Street in Contrast — at Dunlop Street.

House 1A at Bukit Ayer Molek.

Sunset at Orchard Road Promenade after the Rain — at Wheelock Place.

Malay Heritage Centre — at Malay Heritage Center.

Cast Iron Table Leg Detail — at Starbucks Rochester Park.

The Corner House that became The Garden

E.J.H. Corner House at Singapore Botanic Gardens

This is a colonial bungalow that was formerly the residence of the Assistant Directors of Singapore Botanic Gardens. It is named after E.J.H. Corner who was Assistant Director in the period 1929-1945. Corner was an expert on fungi and tropical trees and palms. He went on to become Professor of Tropical Botany at the University of Cambridge.

Edred John Henry Corner FRS (12 January 1906 – 14 September 1996) was a botanist who occupied the posts of assistant director at the Singapore Botanic Gardens (1926–1946) and Professor of Tropical Botany at the University of Cambridge (1965–1973). Corner was a Fellow of Sidney Sussex College from 1959.

His studies of seed morphology led him to formulate the Durian Theory of the origin of flowering plants. He was also a leading expert on the genus Ficus and the palm family, as well as a distinguished mycologist, having published Boletus in Malaysia in 1972.

Among his many academic prizes were the Darwin Medal (1960), the Linnaean Gold Medal (1970), and the Japanese International Prize for Biology (1985).

He was a controversial figure, viewed by some as a collaborator with the Japanese during the World War II occupation of Singapore. In fact he was only offered the chance to continue his work in the Singapore Botanic Garden at the instigation of the ousted British governor, Sir Shenton Thomas, and he was treated by the Japanese as an enemy alien, being required to wear a distinguishing red star on his clothing. His account of this time is contained in The Marquis - A Tale Of The Syonan-to (1981). He also wrote a Biographical Memoir of the Emperor Hirohito for the Royal Society.

Corner has also gained some notoriety among creationist circles in recent years for a frequently circulated quotation: "...but I still think that to the unprejudiced, the fossil record of plants is in favor of special creation." Here is the full quote:

The theory of evolution is not merely the theory of the origin of species, but the only explanation of the fact that organisms can be classified into this hierarchy of natural affinity. Much evidence can be adduced in favour of the theory of evolution - from biology, bio-geography and palaeontology, but I still think that, to the unprejudiced, the fossil record of plants is in favour of special creation. If, however, another explanation could be found for this hierarchy of classification, it would be the knell of the theory of evolution. Can you imagine how an orchid, a duckweed, and a palm have come from the same ancestry, and have we any evidence for this assumption? The evolutionist must be prepared with an answer, but I think that most would break down before an inquisition. Textbooks hoodwink. A series of more and more complicated plants is introduced - the alga, the fungus, the bryophyte, and so on, and examples are added eclectically in support of one or another theory - and that is held to be a presentation of evolution. If the world of plants consisted only of these few textbook types of standard botany, the idea of evolution might never have dawned, and the backgrounds of these textbooks are the temperate countries which, at best, are poor places to study world vegetation. The point, of course, is that there are thousands and thousands of living plants, predominantly tropical, which have never entered general botany, yet they are the bricks with which the taxonomist has built his temple of evolution, and where else have we to worship?" (E.J.H. Corner 1961, from 'Evolution', p. 97, in "Contemporary Botanical Thought", Anna M. Macleod and L. S. Cobley (editors), Oliver and Boyd, for the Botanical Society of Edinburgh)

Among the many plant species named in his honour are Anisophyllea corneri, Calamus corneri, Bulbophyllum corneri, and Platyscapa corneri.

The (re)New(ed) Starbucks at Raffles City

The renewed Starbucks at Raffles City

The new Starbucks layout at Raffles City. The new layout is more open and spacious. There is no inside/outside anymore. Sitting here as the sun streams in reminds me of summer in Paris.

Cottage of my Childhood

I've always seen this in my mind's eye as a child...

This cottage scene has been playing in my mind for a long time, since my childhood days, if I remember correctly. Oftentimes, I would see the home from different perspectives, but generally, it has always been this cottage in the country that I always see in my mind’s eye. This one of the views’ permutations.

Cafe Sketchwalk 1.3 - Chye Seng Huat Hardware Coffee Bar

Up close and personal with the espresso machines and baristas.

I first learned about Chye Seng Huat Hardware (再成發五金) Coffee Bar when my friend posted their visit on Facebook. I was intrigued and tickled by the very old school, traditional Chinese family business name.

However, the place is anything BUT old school. The hustling and bustling interior serves fantastic Java with beans prepared at its very own roastery just next to its dining area.

There is a comfort in watching the baristas methodically prepare the orders of coffee during peak hours. Even during peak periods, they will still patiently prepare yours with intricately designed latte art: individually, carefully, beautifully.

This is definitely a place that demands a second visit - to explore the menu, experience the space and indulge in the atmosphere.

Cafe Sketchwalk 1.2 - The Broers Cafe

The sparse and cavernous interior of The Broers Cafe

What defines coffee? Is it a habitual cuppa to get your morning grooves, or a cup of sunshine on a cold, rainy day? At Broers, coffee is an ever changing experience depending on what you drink, how you drink it, and when you drink it.

But coffee is only one aspect when you step into the Broers Cafe. Amazing things happen here on a daily basis because we work magic with our brew. There are no rocket sciences involved. Simply start with a great cup of coffee, continue with a conversation and suddenly, you are connected by a common experience. Don’t be too surprised when you find yourself sharing this one-of-a-kind intimacy with someone else across the room. At the Broers Café, our brew is 10% caffeine and 90% soul. This explains the warm fuzziness you feel spreading in your belly and the inexorable Cheshire grin that follows afterwards.

Come down to the Broers Café today and discover more about what goes into our cup of brown nirvana. Leave your inhabitations at the door, order your java, kick back in your seat and prepare to embark on an epicurean adventure!

Broers. We make great coffee and even better company.

The above is the text from The Broers Cafe website.

However, the obverse could not be more true. My friend and I went in and experience the cold atmosphere in the cafe - both physically and emotionally. All except for one lady of the service staff greeted us. When we asked to find out more about the cafe, the owner, could not even be bothered to look at us, directed us to the website instead. And this message was conveyed to us via the service staff, who was the only warm face during our visit.

When I finally got the chance to visit the website, I couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculous irony that was written on it. It could well have been gibberish and gobbledy-gook, because it describe a completely different place that my friend and I encountered.

With so-so coffee and even worse service, I would neither recommend nor visit again.

Cafe Sketchwalk 1.1 - L'Etoile Cafe

Started the day meeting up with friends at L'Etoile Cafe at Owen Road. I was there for brunch and had their delicious french toast with scrambled eggs and bacon. It was a delicious fare - not too greasy nor was the maple syrup accompanying the toast too sweet. There was even a nice hint of cinnamon in the syrup. I had their flat white to wash the brunch down... it was so good, I had two - coffees that is.

However, what must be the main draw of the place is the environment. Set like a French-influenced Japanese cafe, the place has a charm and quaintness that blends itself beautifully into the quiet and comfortably appointed interiors.

This is a definite place to visit for some chill time alone or with friends.