Sydney and Melbourne, City Sketches and Adele

Australia. A country I never thought I would set my foot in to because I always say that it is too far but Adele changed it all. Ha! When it was announced that Adele will have a series of concert in Australia. I immediately decided to go because I may never get any more chance to see her perform live thus giving me the opportunity to visit Australia, specifically Sydney and Melbourne.

My visit lasted 5 days in Sydney and 6 days in Melbourne ending the trip together with the 77,000 people in Etihad Stadium, Docklands area in Melbourne just to watch Adele's last night in Australia. Can I just say that it is one of the best concerts I have ever seen in my life.

During my trip, I have done sketches of some of my favourite spots and scenes both in Sydney and Melbourne. Here are the pictures I have taken during the trip:

Pinto Art Museum, Antipolo, Rizal

Yes. All I can say to myself when I finally get to see this amazing art gallery and museum. All Filipino artists works. Painting, sculptures and mixed media. The houses or villas in this compound are such a good sight to see. As people may call it, these place is just so instagrammable yet contains such great works of art.

National Museum, Manila, the Philippines

THIS IS A REVELATION. I have to start this really good as I must admit that I hate myself for not having been back to this place since long time ago. I studied in Manila for 4 years and worked there for about 5 years and never have I been back to this wonderful museum. I vaguely remember my school trip to this museum when I was in elementary. I could not even remember whether it was in elementary or high school but it is definitely more than 16 years since I have been to this place.

Barcelona: Gaudi's city and its old modern charm.

Barcelona is a place I have dreamed of going ever since I watched the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. That was the very first Olympics I have seen and I was barely 11 years old at that time. But I did not know that there are even more fascinating places to see aside from the Olympic Stadium. Through  years of waiting, I have learned about many places you can visit in Barcelona and up until the last two years, I have met fellow The Little Prince book collectors who live in Barcelona.

This city is one place I would definitely go back to. It is just an amazing mix of art, food and culture. And its people are quite relax and easy going.

Here are photos from my trip in Barcelona from July 3 to 8, 2016.

Marseille and Aix-en-Provence

Marseille, a port city, and Aix, a landlocked town, both in Provence, Southern France are two of the best places I have seen in this country. These two cities are completely different yet it left me with the hope of coming back again.

Here are photos of Marseille.

Photographs from Paris

Paris has been blogged by many so I am just posting the pictures from my trip. But to sum it up, the best places for me are:

1. Best Museum - Musee D'Orsay

Musee D' Orsay - is an old train station that was converted into an enormous  museum and well-packed with arts that were really impressive for me. A vast collection of the best works of Claude Monet and Paul Cezanne, two of the most iconic Impressionist artists I know and some of Van Gogh's great works are here as well.

Hakone and a view of Mt. Fuji

Weeping Woman by French artists Francois-Xavier and Claude Lalanne at the Hakone Open-Air Museum.

It is my first time to visit Japan and as I have a full Tokyo itinerary for 8 days, I squeezed in a day visit to its neighboring city Hakone. Little did I know that this will be the highlight of my trip. I only managed to visit 3 places, the Pola Museum of Art, The Little Prince Museum and the first of its kind in Japan, the Hakone Open Air Museum. Navigating the city was quite easy and I managed to take a ride in one of their old electric railway system, a cruise on a huge 4-tier boat and the reliable and easy to handle bus system.

Review: Five Foot Way Inn, Macau

Macau was a surprise for me and did not expect I would love the place and I did. Given my enduring love for well-preserved old cities, Macau, was never on my list of places to visit. I only decided to go there to meet up some friends who were travelling as well. And from deciding a day visit to an overnight stay ended up to a full 3 days and 2 nights stay in this cosmopolitan gambling and heritage city combined.

Indeed, the place is expensive. The hotel we stayed in, the food, the transportation, the shopping and mostly everything were expensive. But I could say it was worth it since I was surrounded by seemingly well-preserved and re-purposed old Portuguese-style buildings and residential areas, I could say that this place captivated me well.

But I would like to focus on the hotel that I stayed together with my 2 other friends. The hotel, aptly named Five Foot Way Inn, was listed on the hostelworld.com. My friend booked us there and I just joined them in their room. The room was only good enough for two but we managed to squeeze in an extra bed for me. Although I do not understand why it was listed on hostelworld since it's actually a hotel and not a hostel. There is a difference I suppose but apparently, they consider themselves a hostel so let it be then. Overall, it was a good stay but I can't help to get infatuated by the contemporary artworks displayed all over so I took pictures of all that I have access to and here they are:

The Little Prince in the Dark

There have been a lot of different art and book exhibitions about The Little Prince all over the world but there has never been such a magnificent artwork ever done with the sole purpose of letting the visually-challenged people appreciate visual arts but in tactile way.

From the same artists who made the 10  art exhibit which premiered at The Fullerton in Singapore this May, Artheline, the signature of artists Arnaud and Adeline Nazare-Aga from Thailand, comes The Little Prince in the Dark. It's a tactile art installation specifically made for people with visual impairment. But this art installation is also accessible to all and can be touched by anyone.

The planets, which were all inspired by the artworks in the book, as well as the elephant inside a boa constrictor and the fox, seemed like floating in space inside a dark room filled with yellow blinking stars. It's visually stunning for those able to see it but it is also a great tactile experience to understand the characters and art works in the book for the visually impaired.

The Little Prince Art Exhibition by Artheline

This is the first time I have been to a Little Prince exhibition and it is such an honor to finally catch the works of Artheline. Artheline is the signature of artists Arnaud and Adeline Nazare-Aga. They are based in Thailand and they made these artworks just in time for the Singapore-France Voilah Festival in conjunction with the celebration of SG50, Singapore's fiftieth birthday. This is the world premiere of the exhibit.

The exhibit has been open since since May 6, 2015 and will be open for public viewing until June 1, 2015. I was just fortunate enough to manage to fly in to Singapore just to see the two exhibits about the Little Prince before it close. The other exhibit is an art installation for the visually-challenged people and will be posted later on.

There are 10 art installations for this exhibit and every thing was just mesmerizing for me. I particularly like how they made each planet as if they are floating in space.

Aku Diponegoro, Galeri Nasional Indonesia

Sang Pangeran Dalam Ingatan Bangsa. Prince Diponegoro, Indonesia's national hero, who fought for the freedom of Indonesia, whose remaining owned artefacts and contributed artworks by various artist is currently on exhibit at the Galeri Nasional Indonesia. It's a quick walk to see the battle and arrest of Diponegoro during the 19th century with these contributed paintings by different local and foreign artist. Its a must visit for all Indonesians and others.

Exhibit Opening
6 February – 8 March 2015
10 am – 7 pm
(Open for public and entrance is free)

For more information:

Website: www.akudiponegoro.com
Facebook : Goethe-Institut Indonesien
Twitter : AkuDiponegoro

Instagram : akudiponegoro

Hin Bus Depot, Penang, Malaysia

There are certain places that I have been before which makes me always say that I will have to come back. Usually when I say that, it's either an expression of your love for the place or I would possibly come back maybe in 3 or 5 years time as there are many other wonderful places to visit in the world. I don't call myself a "serial traveler" but if I have the chance, I would always try to visit a new place.

In October of 2013, I had the chance to visit Penang (see previous posts here) and I was mesmerized with the history, culture and its sumptuous food. I was really surprised about the place and I enjoyed it because there were not many tourists and you get to meet fellow travelers and talk to them, give each other some tips and a place to find good food.

One year later, I decided to come back to this place and this time not as a solo traveler but with two other friends. I showed them the place, the street arts, the food and the simplicity of the town despite its recent accolade of becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site. But comparing it one year later gave me a bit of disappointment and these are:

1. The clan jetty area, which was a peaceful, less crowded and "walkable" area to hang out is now filled with souvenir shops and wandering Chinese tourists. It was not the same as last year. I think the government's campaign of promoting the town itself after being hailed as a UNESCO site made the place a terrible tourist-infested area. It does not have that feeling of solitary anymore when you go there. I would say I was a tourist there last year but this year the place has changed. Blame it on UNESCO for ruining the place.

2. Many shop houses, which were one of the core area of why UNESCO granted them the heritage list, were turning out to be a commercial area for selling souvenirs. There are few which are still worth-visiting especially if it is about the arts and culture but there are just some that is becoming an eye-sore. Personally, I think the whole town will suffer due to the emerging commercialization of the place.

3. This one is another personal note. Last year, I stayed at Ryokan Chic Hostel, which is located at Jalan Muntri. I liked it so much as the place was well-maintained, clean and quiet. But when I came back this year, it's like exactly how it looked when I left it last year. And now the toilets are broken, the "other" receptionist is not as nice as the other one and the hallway carpets have turned smelly (I think they never cleaned it since last year). Only the rooms have stayed the same and their free breakfast. I guess when I return there I would have to stay in another place.

But the highlight of my return to Penang is Hin Bus Depot. It's a new gallery dedicated to foreign and local artists who capitalize on the use of mixed media to show their crafts. I have been following them and I was so glad that they open the newest gallery featuring Urban Exchange on the day we arrived. I brought the girls there and they were in awe just as I am. Thanks to Ernest Zacharevic and RONE, my newly found favorite artist, and the other artists who helped put up this truly extraordinary works of art.

Hin Bus Depot

Urban Exchange, Hin Bus Depot

Rone, Hin Bus Depot

City Sketches - Jakarta

Here is another set of sketches I did for the past month. I have been quite busy and I only have the chance now to upload these photos.

For your viewing pleasure.

Artworks were done on 8.5 x 11.5 inches sketch pad, water color and ink.

Museum Sejerah Jakarta, Kota Tua

Semarang Contemporary Art Gallery

Semarang Contemporary Art Gallery is situated in Semarang's Old Town. Housed in an old dutch building renovated for this art gallery, it is probably one of the best places in Semarang to see some homegrown artists with their art works. The art collection they have is great and very modern with its subjects despite being located in the heart of the old town of Semarang. The exhibition changes from time to time so you may check their website before visiting.

Semarang Contemporary Art Gallery

Giraffe Skins - Watercolor Paintings

I have been a fan of imaginative arts, a term I am not sure exists in the modern art, but I always try to create something whatever crosses my mind. I am not entirely creative because it is really hard for me to make things without something to look on to. I try to be original as much as possible but I always get inspiration from works of other people.

Here is the Giraffe series I did using water color and water color paper.

Oro: A Colombian Art Invasion

In Spanish, the word "Oro" means gold. Pedro Ruiz, a Colombian artist who hailed from Bogota, introduced us to another cultural weekend at Galeri Nasional in Jakarta Indonesia. As indicated on the brochure given out at the free entry exhibit, nothing gold can stay. These paintings by Pedro Ruiz tell us that splendor is on the run, that we ourselves are on the run, that time is also a river that only in art does the river remain. It is the first of its kind that I have seen such gold painting in a canvass. The paintings have a quite similar them with a gold background paint. A man steering his boat and in each boat contains the different aspects of the human being towards life. The man represents us on how we have to move on with our lives based on what we want to carry along with us in each of our boats.

BenCab Museum

So many things has been said about this place. I have checked BenCab's Facebook Page and hundreds of celebrities have visited BenCab Museum and everyone are just in awe on almost everything that they saw in the museum. I visited BenCab Museum last January 18 and I also had the same expressions with all the visitors. This place is amazing. I am glad that local artist like Ben Cabrera created such a place to display his contemporary works of art as well as other artists' work as well.

This is the kind of place that people should visit, not just because celebrities flock to this place, but to appreciate local works of art. We Filipinos, in general, seem to have forgotten our own roots and is just willing to embrace everything foreign, or putting it in layman's term "imported". We think that everything imported is always good and we forgot to patronize our own local artist. If we learn to appreciate our own culture, we will keep on loving our country. Patronizing places like this and helping it propagate and be known will  help our local culture grow and be known by fellow Pinoys and internationally.

BenCab Museum has a display of a lot of works in different genres that can reach all ages. I like the idea that it was placed a bit far from the city to get away from eagerly modernizing city of Baguio. I lived in Baguio in 1990 and I can say that things have changed drastically. It was not the pre-earthquake, pre-new millenium era that I enjoyed before. It is chaotic now and filled with construction and urbanization that will continue to ruin what was once a great place to live in.

The Owl Museum at Penang Hill

Upon my quest to find places to visit in Penang for a short back packing trip, I found out that there, sitting on a heavenly place on top of a hill in the middle of that island, is a place I can definitely call Heaven. Well too much of my exaggeration, it is actually an Owl Museum. I have been fascinated with owls as always. I have a friend whom I share this fondness of collecting owl displays and crafts and I am just so glad that this museum existed in a place I was planning to visit unexpectedly.

The collection they have just made me envious as I only have about 20 owl figurines, art and crafts. I spent about almost 2 hours just to see the details of each of the displays that I terribly wish all belongs to me. Haha. But I am not that crazy so I managed to control myself. I am just so thankful taking pictures are allowed.

To get to the museum, one must travel to Ayer Itam vicinity, which is like in the middle of Penang Island and
take a funicular train (inclined train). it takes about 10 minutes to reach the top and upon reaching the main entrance, the Owl Museum is just about 5 minutes walk.