Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Hong Kong Surprise Trip, 01/2016

Back in January, my wife and I set off to Hong Kong to visit my excellent great aunt Nguyet. We haven't been world-traveling in years, so there was a bit of a learning curve!


We met Aunt Nguyet for a luxurious lunch, and then wandered around downtown Kowloon in the rain.


We were staying at a hotel in Mong Kok, and got pretty familiar with the surrounding area.

 

We visited Sai Kung with my aunt and her friend Phuong, lunching at a choose-your-own seafood restaurant and then shopping for some new year's flowers.

 

Afterwards, Phuong took us to a lovely flower garden next to the Chi Lin Nunnery, where I was kicked out for "making pictures" without a permit.


Phuong and Marc even invited us to dinner at their lovely place on Victoria Peak. I documented these delicious cheeses for posterity.


By this point, it had begun raining pretty much nonstop. We took shelter at a temple in Yau Ma Tei, where the rainwater poured in through the open roof.


Museums are always a good fallback for rainy days. I was particularly keen to visit the science museum, since I couldn't visit China without seeing some fossils.


The next day, Phuong and Marc took us to Lantau Island, where we rode the glass-bottom cable car up to the mountain peak to see the Po Lin Monastery and the famous Big Buddha.


The day after, Yuichi Endo of Sunrise took us around Hong Kong Island. This turned out to be the coldest day in Hong Kong in six decades, but officially we were just seeing "frozen rain" rather than actual snow.


A couple of final memories: Yummy congee at the Fa Yuen cooked food center, a quick pub stop in the Soho district, and a parting view out our hotel room window.


Goodbye for now, Hong Kong! We'll be back to draw everything else!

Monday, March 21, 2016

Winter SF Sketching

It's been a while, but I was able to fit in a couple of expeditions with Laurie Wigham and the SF Sketchers meetup group this winter. A great bunch of people, and always interesting locations!


January 9, 2016: A visit to the lovely San Francisco Fire Department Museum.


February 7, 2016: At the San Francisco SPCA in Mission Bay.


February 20, 2016: Drawing the floats and marchers setting up for San Francisco's annual Chinese New Year parade.

Science Stuff

As usual, I have a backlog of unposted drawings to share. Let's catch up! I'll start with a few items of scientific interest.


From September 2015: the second batch of native Western Pond Turtles are released at Mountain Lake Park.


November 2015: A final visit to the Whales exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences.


Speaking of skeletons: Back in October, we went to Michigan to visit family and preview the Haunted Barn at Turk Lake's Topper Shop. On the way back, I discovered that Chicago O'Hare airport has a life-size Brachiosaurus skeleton replica. What a way to spend a layover!