Monday, July 30, 2007

30-sec Portraits of Idling People on the Train

When you're on the MRT train and you're bored, one of the most entertaining things is to draw. And the most interesting subjects you could ever hope for are sitting right in front of you in a row, sitting still, engaged in their own little space, unaware that someone is watching them....

This really nice auntie sitting beside me peeked over to see I was doing and started giggling loudly once she figured out which people I was drawing. She then thanked me for making her laugh. Glad I was able to make a random person happy today. =)



"Woman With Pursed Lips SMS-ing Boyfriend"

"Big Hair, Big 'Phones"

"Dog Tags Are Macho"

"Immersed In Canto-Pop on My IPod"

"Uncle Turtle"

"The Seat Beside The Glass"

"PSP Boy"

"Momma's Mountains; Sista's Valley"




Sunday, July 22, 2007

Fibrous Sticky Cocoon

It's been a long time since I last updated this blog, mainly because of work and reservist training commitments. Thanks to those who regularly checked for updates here, and I promise more exciting content will be added in the near future.

We had an 2-day exercise which involved setting up a defence position in forested area somewhere in Marsiling. The thick jungle vegetation consisted mainly of large fruit trees like durian, jackfruit and rambutan trees, and we were tasked to dig shellscrapes or trenches in the ground in which we would sleep in. Very much like sleeping in a shallow grave, I suppose.

I lay in this damp hole in the soil, slipping in and out of consciousness as I struggled to sleep, the strange intoxicating stench of rotting fruit, the sounds of metallic rifle magazines clicking in the dark, and the texture of crisp leaf litter and moist organic matter brushing against my skin, the depthless freckles of light that streaked through the aged leaves of old trees, completely immersing me in a surreal, deeply tactile environment.

Call them visions, or dreams; these few images vividly surfaced in my mind as I sank further and further into a sub-conscious state of mind, a distorted reflection of the reality around me....

cilia on sticks
pustule-like, glistening like insect eyes
nowhere to shift without touching them


a heaving mass of scales
some brittle and skeletal
some black with age and decay


fibrous husk of tissue
like frozen muscle
deep scars that hide dark secrets


feathery antennae that bristle
that curl and wisp and fray
invade the crevices of your body