Arts...Travels...Writing

In celebration of Mother's Day, I've selected some of my favourite flower shots. Sharing them here and thinking that even if we could gather all the flowers in the world, they still would not be enough to express our gratitude to all the great moms out there! Happy Mother's Day especially to my mom who truly loves flowers and plants, and takes genuine pride in and pleasure from the blooms in her garden. TulipMania 2014, Gardens by the Bay Maldives. This flower that had just fallen off from its bough stood out from the pristine whiteness of the sand. Along a street in Amsterdam, where hydrangeas seem to abound. Glad to see them in natural bloom, and not just in a vase. On the doorstep of a temple in Little India, Singapore Foxglove near the gate of a temple in Bumthang, Bhutan Lotus pond, Bay East Side, Singapore. Mornings when the lotuses are up and blooming are a real visual treat. With global warming and climate change though, lotu...

As the title suggests, the Women photography exhibit of Annie Leibovitz focuses on Women who are celebrities in their respective fields. There is one wall of print photos featuring world leaders, scientists, peace workers, athletes, among others. Part of a 10-city global tour, the photos are currently on exhibit at the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station until May 22. The venue is a bit out-of-the-way but is in itself worth a visit being a historical place. Built in 1932, TPRS is now gazetted as a national monument. It was dusk outside (as seen from natural bluish light from the glass window) when my niece and I reached TPRS Portraits of Famous Women by Annie Leibovitz. The wall includes photos of Aung Sang Suu Kyi, Malala, and of course, Caitlyn Jenner:) Arresting black and white photography Landscape+dogs+human = winner! Aside from the print photo exhibit, there were two huge monitors (including the one on the left) projecting many of Leibovitz's photos....

    In celebration of poetry month, sharing an annotation of my favourite poems. This is by no means exhaustive, but I thought I'd share it now, and perhaps update with my other favourites later: 1.  Banks of a Canal –Seamus Heaney Seamus Heaney’s last poem starts simply—with a canal, a small and calm body of water, not as fierce as the wild rivers that run through rugged valleys nor as vast as the ocean. While it starts quietly,  the poem eventually morphs into something bigger and almost imperceptibly ends in a lofty place. Like the word canal , the water that flows through it tends to be quiet, but it nonetheless touches lives though perhaps not in the overt way that great rivers do; it does not provide a source of livelihood like epic rivers do, but touches the soul by “slowing time to a walking pace”. While this poem is based on an 1872 painting of Gustave Caillebotte of the same title, Seamus Heaney clearly does not duplicate th...

Yesterday, I joined a 3.8 Kilometre Walk along Labrador Park in support of a skills training centre in Singapore. It was my first time to visit Labrador Park, and was I surprised at how scenic the trail was. Fortunately, I was able to bring my small camera and so I was able to take a few snaps. Sharing below some of them: I started taking photos the minute I saw this blue vista, which was after the first kilometre of the walk. The first leg was along the swamp area and gave a forest feel. I was busy chatting with my friends then that I forgot to bring out my camera. It was around 9:00am when this was taken, and yet the heat was already scorching (as predicted, the first two weeks of April were supposed to be very warm). So I was glad for the leafy trees that provided much needed shade and made the walk bearable. This is a historic site in the area, supposedly the entry point of earlier Chinese traders who came to Singapore Sometimes the water was too still ...

Starting the year with an Art Week is always an excellent idea. And this year, I am so glad that I could attend Art Stage, which I feel is even more amazing than the last one I've seen. There seem to be more ingenious installations and art works, more interactivity and greater variety too with over 150 galleries from all over the globe including some from the Middle East, Tel Aviv, Bogota, etc. Because there is just so much to absorb though, one day, let alone one afternoon, is definitely not enough to cover all the great work on exhibit. While we (I went with an artist aunt) could not check out all the galleries, I'm already utterly impressed with what we've seen so far. Here are my top picks from those we have covered. It goes without saying that since art is for the most part subject to one's interpretation and personal experience, my pick is clearly subjective and reflects my own preferences:) Damien Hirst, known for his polka dots, has this shiny metal work on...