Lunch at Lunuganga

All these while, Geoffrey Bawa's works had been architecture textbook stuff.  End of August this year, I finally had the chance to experience his works first hand, when I went to Lunuganga, Sri Lanka, with a few close friends.  Others will be snapping away at their idols' homes in Hollywood, but here I was, awestruck, surrounded by the works of the person who had inspired many successful architects and designers.

It was surreal and I had the chance to bask in its awesomeness while awaiting lunch on his porch overlooking the Western Terrace.  So, I sketched ...

This majestic frangipani tree was first tended to by Mr Bawa himself.  The branches were weighted to achieve the horizontal spread.

Lunch was quite the spread of well-prepared Sri Lankan delicacies.  After the soup, there were green beans curry, cucumber curry, stirfried greens, chicken curry, spicy prawns, beetroot in coconut sauce, ambarella chutney, popadam, stirfried eggplant, dhal, green bananas done like fries and 2 types of rice.  Dessert was a sinful portion of biscuit lined chocolate cake with vanilla icecream.

It must have been the appetite we worked up from the stroll during his garden tour, because I had additional helpings.  In between stuffing my face, we had fantastic time recalling our favourite framed moments of his scenic and serene 15-acre estate.  

This was a trip worth every breath of sigh in awe ... I have to come back.

Family Time in Perth

Just returned from my Perth trip.  Most of my activities there revolved around the family.  We hadn't spent a lot of time bonding as a family for a long time, especially when my sis & bro-in-law now lives in Perth.  I like the casual & 'no-rush' schedule; afterall, it's supposed to be a 'holiday'.  So with all the family outings, I didn't find time to hangout with friends.  I might have to make another trip for that then (now, that's a valid reason to return).

Family outings included sis & mom's birthday lunch buffet at Burswood, shopping for outdoor stuff with the husband, bro's graduation at UWA, double dates with husband's cousin, sis's house-warming-birthday celebration, hiking with family at Lesmurdie Falls, etc. etc. etc.

Here are some sketches I did when there is extra time to kill.

brunch at Tarts with the family after a walk at Hyde Park

afternoon drive to Cottlesloe while shopping for outdoor gears

waiting at Whitfeld Court, in front of Winthrop Hall 

pipe organs in Winthrop Hall

keeping myself busy during my bro's convocation at Winthrop Hall, UWA 

Stopped by Singapore

Recently, in February, on the way to Taipei, Taiwan, we had a day's stop in Singapore.  While waiting at the exit of Chinatown MRT for Stephen to arrive, before meeting Denise & Andy at Kki, I found a spot to sit & sketched.

Bangkok in Sketches

September last year, my husband and I with a group of friends made a trip to Bangkok.  Here are some of the sketches I did while sightseeing and waiting for the group.

 Here's a picture hubby took of me sketching in the yard of Jim Thompson's House, while waiting for our guided tour to start.

Memories from Hanoi & Halong Bay

It's been almost a month since I came back from the Hanoi trip with Gette & Maggie. Making the fresh spring rolls from the rice paper I brought back from Hanoi recently, got me reminiscing about my trip. It was a fun weekend away, getting stuffed and inspired, with lots of sharing and laughs ... (not to mention, braving the honking street traffic)

Travel Wallet by BOOKED!

Finished another BOOKED! Travel Wallet with similar layout as the first one, and I thought I would illustrate it better with a video.

This one is for sale, refer to item on my Etsy shop here. (Contents are for display only)

Update : SOLD!

Travel Pouch by BOOKED!

I'm proud to announced my new line! I have this fascination with old books, and in particular ... covers of old books. I acquired some interesting old hardcover books. So I am going to 'recover' them for new casings and other purposes.

I will take requests and orders for different custom-made Booked!s. Meanwhile, I will show you that all will be individually handmade, by my first Booked! travel pouch.

This one is for sale, refer to item on my Etsy shop here. (Contents are for display only)

On The Run On My Own

If you had noticed in my previous blog entries about preparations for 'going away', you can now piece it together with my long hiatus ...

My jeans bag and I were inseparable. Everywhere I went, I got a lot of nods for the upcycled bag ... and it's quite a conversation starter. Gave the hat to Charlotte who is a real gem! Brought some other Borneo crafts for friends too.Trace my adventures here ... ;)

London - Paris - Nice - Marseille & Aix-en Provence - Montpellier, Sète, Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert & Avignon - Figueras, Barcelona & Terrassa - London, Birmingham, Warwick, Penkridge & Cotswold

Covered & Heading Somewhere

After the previous jeans bag project, I was already packing up my sewing corner, until I stumble upon a sewing magazine and got distracted. Browsing through the magazine, I was fascinated with the idea of having my own hand-made hat to travel with, plus it had quite easy and straight-forward instructions. So I unraveled my sewing gears and was on my way to a new hat.
I ransacked around for fabric and decided on the leftover from my 'obi-belt' project and also loose scraps of denims that I had saved. There was only 1 pattern cut-out, to be reproduced in 6 panels for the insides and 6 again for the outside. Since this was supposed to be a reversible hat, both sides had to be neatly constructed. Well, I tried my best. It was so easy, I completed it in less than 1 hour.
Tried another photo of the hat with uplighting from my bedside table lamp, for a better illustration of the fabric on the inside.
There, the collapsible (easy for packing) and reversible hat. I tried it outdoors.
The pattern came from the Spring Edition 2009 vol.30 of Cotton Friend (Japanese sewing/craft magazine)

Going Away

Major development in my life. A lot moving-ons and going-aways. Finally, I will be able to do some travelling. All those blank pages will finally get to see some ink! And, I'm getting it dressed for success!!

I took out my passport and sketched out some basic patterns for a passport holder, which includes some card pockets and a slot for the back cover of the passport. (will share the pattern upon request) Traced it onto some jeans fabric, and cut.
Hemmed the top edges for the pockets.
At this point, I knotted the loose threads at the back, for all the pockets.I laid out the card pockets to be equally spaced and after I pinned it in place, I zig-zag stitched the bottom of the pockets, starting with the top pocket. Then, turning it over and knotted the loose thread at the back also. And, repeated the same for the remaining card pockets, top down.With the card pockets all sewn in place, I moved on to the slot for the back cover of the passport. I also added a shallower pocket for smaller items, like boarding passes (maybe). I pinned all the pieces in place, and laid it over the jeans fabric to mark out the holder's cover. I roughly cut it out with about 1 inch seam allowance on all sides.
Before attaching the cover, I zig-zag stitched the sides of the card pockets, which will kinda form the spine of the holder.
Ok, I cheated abit. I used glue. At least it held the edges of inner bit and the cover together ... for me to hem it all around, in zig-zag stitch. And, cut off the excess fabric. I usually add a bit of glue along the edges so it will not fray. (just be careful, it can get messy)The back cover slot was a snug fit!!! Perfect!!! (I take it as a good omen)
Ok, with all the cards & props.Now, who's ready for a over-due getaway? ME!!!

Beijing

Just wanna share some pictures from my recent trip to Beijing. One of the highlights from this trip was the National Theatre of China in Beijing, design by French architect Paul Andreu.

(oooo, those costumes and miniature set design models!!!)
some more photos here:

19th May 2009
arrived in Beijing Terminal 2
dimsum breakfast
Tiananmen Square
Beijing Opera House
Forbidden City
Pu Er Tea outlet
check-in to Taly Plaza Hotel
dinner

20th May 2009
BIAD
Planning Exhibition Hall
Peking Duck lunch
Opposite House (hotel) by Kengo Kuma
The Village (shopping centre)
(eat McD mapo pork burger!)

21st May 2009
Temple of Heaven
SOHO Jianwai
SOHO Shangdu
CCTV
Linked Hybrid
798
Tenggili Tala dinner

22nd May 2009
Summer Palace
Hotel 61 Cote Cour
Hotel Kapok
WangFuJing
Szechuan dinner
JiuBaJie (Bar Street)

23rd May 2009
Great Wall
Commune at the Great Wall
lunch near Olympic park
jade outlet
Qianmen Jianguo Hotel/Liyuan Theatre
Qianmen Jie

24th May 2009
rickshaw ride in Hutong
Water Cube (Olympic Aquatic Centre)
Bird's Nest (Olympic Stadium)
acrobatic performance
dinner
nite scene of Water Cube & Bird's Nest
(supper near hotel)

25th May 2009
and a couple of pics from our last day there at the airport