Banana Trees in a Sydney Backyard

There is a banana tree in the backyard of family in Sydney, Australia. It adds a rather attractive tropical air to the tiny garden. There had been the big bunch of bananas on that tree ever since they moved there in late 2012. In early 2013 the main tree with the fruit keeled over so they thought they might as well try the fruit. Apparently they were wonderful and sweet!

While the main trunk with the fruit is now gone, the suckers around it are growing quickly.

This is the view looking over to the neighbours. We enjoyed many a dinner in this backyard. My (then) 18 month old grandson would shout "pwain" pointing to the parrots or bats that flew overhead.

To see some interesting facts about bananas:
Fact Sheet: Growing Bananas.

Life on NTU Campus

The 8 months we spent living on campus at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, was a most positive experience except for having to cope with my phobia of house lizards. My spouse was teaching and I was sketching and reconnecting with family and old friends. I filled 3 sketchbooks, honed my skills and made many new sketcher friends from several countries. It is the enthusiasm of the members of Urban Sketchers Singapore (of which I became a part of) which has most helped in my development. 

Here are a few sketches done in the last 4 months of our stay.

Canteen Two, probably our most frequented canteen just a 5 minute walk from our apartment. Sunday mornings were very quiet, I guess students were still asleep. Faculty families often came for brunch.

A mynah bird flew into the canteen and proceeded to eat from an unattended plate of food. It flew out of the room through the automatic doors just before they closed (to great cheers from the breakfast crowd that day).

A view of the back of the Chinese Heritage Centre from the upmarket Artese Cafe. This was a pleasant place to sketch from during semester break when you could be assured of a table to sit at. My favourite drink there was iced wolfberry and red date tea.

A view looking down on the bus stop from Canteen Two. Faculty housing in the distance. There are 600 housing units for faculty families on campus. Faculty "families" are defined as including spouses, dependent children and parents. Makes for a nice mixed-age community on campus.  (Not forgetting the 10,000 students who live in dorms).

Palm trees next to Canteen B. An especially good place for Malay and Indian food. 

A view looking over part of campus from Canteen B. The President of NTU lived in a house at the top of the hill. 

Curry Puffs and Polar Cafe

One of the first things I did on arriving back in Singapore in July 2013 was to go out and buy a curry puff to eat. 

My favourite curry puffs are sold by what was the former Polar Cafe. It was founded by a man called Chan Hinky who arrived in Singapore from Hong Kong with only 90 cents in his pocket. In 1926 he realized his dream of opening a cafe (at 51 High Street, the same street as where my grandfather had a tailoring business). He called it Polar Cafe and I have fond childhood memories of being taken there for a snack. In 1986 the cafe was acquired by the government to make way for the new Parliament House and Chan then switched to a take-away outlet. Being halal certified in 2001 helped expand the business clientele to include Muslims. Now called Polar Puffs and Cakes it has grown to 62 outlets dotted across the city. They sell a variety of baked treats besides their signature curry puff. 

I had to explain myself to the servers as I sketched this at the Polar Puffs and Cakes outlet at Jurong Point Mall. The two lovely muslim servers asked me to sketch them too. 

The curry puff is a crescent shaped baked snack. Puff pastry is filled with curried meat and potatoes…or is that flaky pastry? This opens up a whole new discussion.  Historically it is thought to have sprung from the post war epok-epok which Malay ladies sold door to door. This was a fried pastry filled with spicy sardines or potatoes. It is thought to have been inspired by the British Cornish Pasty introduced by British colonists. Others think it was influenced by the similar shaped Portuguese empanada brought by Portuguese colonists much earlier in the 1500's. The Indian samosa is undoubtedly also an influence despite being triangular in shape. 

The snack was modified by the Chinese who produced a version filled with curried potato and some pieces of hard boiled egg.  This is recognized as the modern day curry puff. This modern day version (popular in Singapore and Malaysia) is sold at outlets and cafes. High end hotel cafes serve them as well and tourists probably see them as a British colonial legacy. 

The other main chain businesses well known for curry puffs are Old Chang Kee (which sells a deep fried version with a thicker crust) and a favourite of mine Delifrance…but writing about them calls for another sketch and post.

To see photos of the range of snacks sold by Polar Puffs and Cakes: 
http://www.polarpuffs-cakes.com/

More information at Singapore Infopedia: 
http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1805_2011-03-30.html

The Rain Tree

With a population of 5.3 million people in an area of 716 square kilometres, Singapore has one of the highest population densities in the world. However, the emphasis on urban greening as a cornerstone of urban development has resulted in Singapore now being called The Garden City. 

The city is dotted with magnificent old trees and one of my favourites is the Rain Tree (Samanea saman). When it blooms, the crown of this tree is covered in clusters of pinky white flowers. Interestingly, the leaves fold up just before sunset and before rain. This is why it is called the Rain Tree.

I sketched this Rain Tree which was just a stone's throw from our apartment on the campus of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. It came with it's own resident woodpecker. The little blighter made a din with it's drumming.  

The public can now nominate trees to be part of The Heritage Trees Scheme with the objective of conserving mature trees. For me the Rain Tree figures large in my childhood memories of the city. Rain Trees are part of *my* heritage. 

This sketch (including colour) of a grove of majestic Rain Trees  was done while I was waiting to have lunch with my niece at The National University of Singapore. I was trying out my (then) new Daler-Rowney travel watercolour sketch set. 

Just can't get enough of them! This photo was taken on the campus of Nanyang Technological University where we used to wait for the bus.

Singapore Mosquitoes and Other Daily Visitors

There was always much activity outside our apartment on the campus of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore where we lived for 8 months in 2013/14. I found it rather enjoyable to watch the comings and goings and to sketch the vehicles and people who came to do their regular chores.

Spray for Dengue Carrying Mosquitos
Every Wednesday a van from a pest control company parked outside and the driver then fired up a contraption with a huge roar. He then went on foot around the buildings carrying the contraption on his shoulder. It emitted a dense white cloud of strong smelling gas. This was spray to kill Dengue carrying mosquitoes and we would hastily close any open windows and bathroom doors. Despite 2013 being the worst epidemic since 2005 with 18,000 cases (and 6 deaths) recorded between January and October that year, in the 8 months we spent in Singapore I saw no more than 3 mosquitoes. Presumably the weekly spraying did it's job in our neighbourhood. 

View outside our window after the spraying.

Buses and Taxis
Much to our annoyance, travel coaches and taxis parked outside every day especially at lunch time. The drivers took themselves off to eat at the cheap student canteen just close by. 

Garbage Removal
A tiny garbage truck came daily and removed the contents of the tiny garbage bin outside our block of apartments. The bin was always overflowing. 

Kampong Glam and Sultan Mosque, Singapore.

Kampong Glam is the Muslim quarter of Singapore, settled in 1819. The original Masjid Sultan (Sultan Mosque) was a simple structure built in the 1820's but it was demolished and a new mosque was commissioned in 1924, designed by Irish architect Denis Santry from the architectural firm Swan and MacLaren (which still exist in Singapore today!). The present mosque is a prominent landmark standing next to the peaceful grounds of the Malay Heritage Centre (from which I sketched this drawing on an exceedingly hot afternoon). 

With adjoining street names like Muscat Street, Khandahar Street, Baghdad Street, Arab Street, Haji Lane and their mix of Middle Eastern, Malay and Indian eateries and businesses selling carpets and exotic fabrics, it was an afternoon that sent my senses reeling...and I was transported back to 1924.

Sketched Doro Cafe from Sufi's Restaurant where we had lunch and then went to Doro Cafe for coffee so I could sketch Sufi's Restaurant.

Shop selling baskets and rattan ware.

Sultan Mosque from the Malay Cultural Centre.

Sultan Mosque from Bussorah Street which is now a pedestrian mall. 

The mosque is closed for prayer times but at other times is open to the public, free admission. Shoes must be removed before entering and the mosque provides full length robes for the public who are not appropriately dressed ie. those with bare arms or legs. 

Inside the mosque.

View from back of the mosque.

Arab Street.

Japanese Food Street, Jurong Point Mall, Singapore.

With it's huge replica of a crab at the entrance, this Japanese Food Street in the basement of Jurong Point Mall in Singapore is a favourite of shoppers (including myself). Along the passage (inspired by streets in Osaka), there are restaurants, a fresh fish market and snack stalls. It includes Ichiban Sushi which is a chain that owns Ichiban Boshi. We ate at Ichiban Boshi (in the open air pedestrian mall at Bondi Junction, Sydney) last Christmas. 

Looking from the other end, the big fat paper fish suspended from the ceiling is just wonderful! The restaurants in this Japanese food street serve food considered authentic (though probably not as good as in Osaka). 

I drew these 2 sketches (standing against a wall) over a couple of visits, colour was added at home.