We decided to go on a guided 8-day tour with a local tour agency to Beijing that cost only SGD800 plus each including all expenses on accommodation, food, and entry to monuments. Definitely very cheap but we have to visit 8 mandatory shops where we were persuaded to purchase local produce including teas, Chinese medicines and so forth. The high point of the trip was The Great Wall, but we were just given an hour plus to climb and return. It was cold, very cold so we did not stay long too. The low point of the trip was we were actually conned to buy cheap jades that are over priced. All in all, not too bad. I got to sketch along the way whenever there was time to do so. Anyway it was also too cold to sketch. But I managed to buy 3 Hero fountain pens that I eagerly tested when I returned to the hotel room.
Having breakfast at Telok Blangah Drive food center. The familiar sight and sound was coming back to us. Some stall holders have aged a little, whereas some have gone. The magic of eating at heartland places like this is the comfort we find as we return to things that we are familiar with - it is like going home for a meal. We find ways to cope with the rapid growing urban society, for now, the food market is one.
It cost S$25 to get into the attraction, River Safari, a newly opened river-themed zoo in Singapore. It is built over 12 hectares (30 acres) and nests between its 2 counterparts, the Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari. The River Safari is the first kind in Asia and cost S$160m to build ((according to the website info). At the same time, the Zoo and the River Safari share a common "exhibit" - the frozen Tundra, a 1400 sqm. enclosure that houses the great Polar Bear. The River Safari, though is featuring the giant pandas (leased from China), is only partially opened. I was particularly impressed by the Manatee exhibit which is a gigantic fresh water aquarium named as the Amazon Flooded Forest. I was sketching at the Mekong River aquarium that is as large as 4 double decker buses combined. What you see in the sketch and photo are giant Mekong river catfishes.
Sketched this on my Nude book while a friend was having coffee when he arrived at the location. It measures about 28cm X 14cm. The line work was done in about 5mins in order to keep me from drawing too many details but pay more attention to large shapes and design. The wash was also done in about 5mins too.
