Lunch break scribble!

Did this quick scribble while munching on my lunch sandwich. Since the cafe is right across from the crosswalk, I basically take a bite while the light is green (while people is walking) and as soon as the light turns red, I identify a target to sketch while he/she is waiting for the light~ Timing is perfect!

Sketchcrawl at Preservation Park & Pardee Home Museum (Oakland, CA)

I went for a day sketching with the Bay Area Urban Sketchers at the Preservation Park and the Pardee Home Museum right across from the street! Apparently neither of them are normally open to public... It was quite a surprise to find such a serene and perfectly maintained neighbourhood (or more like an extended driveway) in Oakland! But there was barely anyone except the 10 or so sketchers scattered around the neighbourhood. Judging from the nameplates, almost all of the buildings are over 100 years old, most of them now rented out as offices. (The one in the drawing in the White House, built in 1875, now serving as the office of Preservation park and cafe)

Couldn't resist doing a panorama of part of the place. Judging from everyone's sketchbook at the end, the palm tree was clearly the crowd favourite lol! (from 10AM onwards, there were people continuously trickling into the Nile Hall, apparently a speech or rally is going on there. And everyone who drove past were giving us sketchers the @@; confused look)

I'm actually not sure what this structure is for....but it is in the backyard of Pardee Home Museum, the original resident of former Oakland mayor (also Californian Governor) George Pardee. The slanting sun was amazing! but also gave me vicious sunburns ;A;

Food Chain Display at Keelung National Museum of Marine Science & Technology

This is drawn after a very well-made food chain model display at the Keelung NMMST while my friend was off watching the featured 3D film (I get motion sickness from them) I had to manoeuvre carefully around the kids who were jumping and screaming and crying, but it was fun all the same. I meant to put in lines to label the food chain (the model has lights displaying the prey and predator of the species you choose), but I was short on time... I like how Keelung chose to build a museum for marine science instead of an aquarium. Personally I find informative displays and models more practical and engaging than dolphin shows and live fish tanks. But it really depends on whether the audience prefers to be entertained or actively engage themselves in being educated... Also, since I've been learning bits and pieces about the deep sea for sometime, I really liked how the entire first floor was dedicated to this topic! Learned a bunch of stuff!

Scenes from Taipei (trip made during O-bon holidays)

Young pastry cooks at work at Din Tai Fung. 1 rolling out the dough, 2 scooping in the fillings, and 3 finishing the folds and sealing the bun. Yum! (as an onlooker, I could only distinguish them from the numbers on their hats...)

Taipei Confucius Temple. Not at all crowded and there was this retrofitted arcade game that you're supposed to ride a horse-drawn carriage and shoot the boar (?)

View from the main gate of National Taiwan Museum. To clarify (also for the future me), the yellow shapes on the street are taxis and the black ones are motorcycles (I was pretty short on time that day...)

Lotus pond at Shukugawa Community Center

Despite the overwhelmingly famous Cherry blossoms at Shukugawa (even the local JR station is named as Sakura Shukugawa), the lotus pond was still worth the visit (and the mosquito bites thereof) There's even Nishikigoi swimming between the weeds!

Hyogo Profectural Mansion (or what I think the name should be)

Drawn during a drizzle while fending off the mosquito attacks. It used to be the main administration building of Hyogo Prefecture over 100 years ago and is still within close proximity from the one right now. Believe me, the building is much bigger than it seems in the drawing (shows how important framing is lol)

Kita-no-saurs and Naniwa bridge, Osaka

This cute little statue was in JR Kita-shinchi station. The sign underneath reads: Kita-no-saurs, it stretches its neck so long, in hopes of meeting you soon. Apparently few Osaka dwellers know about this statue, even though it was unveiled in 1997. Love the eyebrows!

The other half of the page, the iconic lion statue guarding Naniwa bridge (Naniwa-bashi). But history of the bridge traces back hundreds of years, but the current structure dates back 1912, closer in age to its neighbours in Nakanojima. In the back ground is everyone's favourite, Osaka city public hall (1918)!