2022 #the100dayproject is here!!! And I’m doing urban sketching, finding those places to sketch that are “typical” Shanghai. I actually prefer to do more of the old Shanghai rather than new but I will make some exceptions just like my first sketch. My plan is to do 100 sketches and that may turn out to be in 50 days or more. Don’t want to pressure myself on doing 1 a day. My hope is that I will be more accountable with this year’s project compared to last because it was not easy to keep track of what I was finishing. So I am hoping this year’s will be manageable. As…
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Freezing cold but at least was a dry morning when we ventured out to the Changning District’s Sieh Yih Chapel. For this outing, I decided on doing vignettes. Brought a new sketchbook from SMLT Art and with the weather, I was fine with just doing a pen-&-ink sketch and alternating between with black and white brush pens. A bit of history Xiyantang, commonly known as “Xiyan Cemetery”, is also known as “The Ascension of the Virgin”, it was built in 1929 for the famous Catholic figure Ma Xiangbo and others, covering an area of 63 acres. The church in the cemetery is used for worshippers to hold burial ceremonies and…
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Almost 6 weeks spent in quarantine has come and gone. And I can say, “I survived!” Here’s a sort of breakdown of the days: Day 1 – arriving in Taipei, Taiwan Day 2 counts as first of the 14-day quarantine in Taipei Day 16-17 – time spent getting COVID tests to be able to return to Shanghai plus errands and meeting with family and friends Day 18 – arriving in Shanghai, China and first day of quarantine Day 32 – left quarantine hotel to quarantine at home Day 40 – finished quarantine and back at work For the first part of my quarantine in Taipei, Taiwan, all went smoothly. The…
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“We are tougher than we seem. We are tougher than we think. Our stories will outlive us. Let’s make them good.” ——Neil Gaiman These days I’m trying to take pockets of time to write stories down and do more journaling. You can call it a memoir but I would prefer to just call it “stories of my life” because I want to keep things loose, with no definite timeline or structure but mostly putting down life lived. I’ve always written journals over the years but from all the moves from houses to houses to country to country, some may have gotten lost. I do have a lot of digital journal…
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Xiao Nan Men area of Shanghai is mostly where a lot of old neighbourhood still remain, a maze of longtangs and old houses, in some areas, some “new” houses have been built. Part of this neighbourhood is up for demolition, reconstruction or in limbo. These old neighbourhoods are my favourite places to sketch because I can record a bit of the local life while sketching; sights, sounds, and smells. For this outing, I decided to stick to pen and ink sketches and journaling on the side. It was tricky to do any watercolour around where we were sketching. Location: Around Xiaonanmen 小南门; specifically Dafufang 大夫坊 and Heshunjie 和顺街 Thank you…
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On the other side of the Huangpu River, where the other outing with Drawing Shanghai was on the previous Saturday, is another fantastic example of the Shanghai government’s effort to redevelop areas that have been abandoned or neglected from closed down factories. What used to be polluted river fronts, now showcases footpaths, cycling paths, jogging paths, patches of parks and new developments to inject life into these remote locations. Weekends now see local population visiting these places, taking note of new developments in their city. So on this Saturday in November, our group of urban sketchers descended to the area near the former National Cotton Mill No. 9. It is…
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Great weather to be out sketching the city. It’s been some time since I actually went out urban sketching with @drawing_shanghai. Together with Lily, we planted ourselves nearer to the Lupu Bridge and near the silo (which now houses a contemporary art museum) located on the Minsheng Wharf. The areas along both sides of the Huangpu River has been redeveloped these past few years into a long park with space for cyclists and joggers and pedestrians. The factories that were on these shores have been closed, demolished or converted into museums. The 80,000-ton silo structure is a great example of a converted property although it has been closed during the…
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Last Friday, after weeks of planning, Vanessa (@dansmoncrane) and Kristina (@kristinaselhammer) and I carpooled to the Juqi Antique Market (also known as the Ling Shi Road Market) at 5:30am! Yes, it was still dark in the streets of Shanghai and when we arrived there. The antique market is located in a building at the back of the Flower and Bird Market, which was not open yet. The antique market comes alive on Fridays only, the rest of the week, except for a few sellers, the place is empty and quiet. Kristina had noticed that on the second floor where we first went, it was mostly men traversing through the stalls,…
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[This post is a bit long as I’ve decided to combine a travelogue and sharing with you the mini travel album I made to document the trip.] It’s summer… and the itch to travel has kicked in. My dearest friend, Kristina and I have been brainstorming about where to go and because of the ever-changing regulations due to the new cases that happened in Beijing back in June, it was not easy to make real plans. With so many things I have been dealing with, personally and professionally, I decided, I really needed a break, so I finally gave Kristina a definitive “yes” to travel. We came up with a plan…
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Over a month since the COVID-19 virus made China stand still, we are still taking precautions and even with almost zero new cases, although now the new cases are from overseas. Shanghai has started to have some normalcy and right now feeling a lot of gratitude that we can experience Spring even if it is not like the way it used to be. These days have been different, not just in China but I’m sure everyone else in the world. My kids have been e-learning since the beginning of February and so grateful how the school put these all together in such a short time. But 2 months of e-learning,…
