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Showing posts with the label Diary in Singapore 新加坡日記

Illustration demo with Chameleon Marker Pens

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I posted this video last week on my Facebook wishing all my Muslim friends Happy Hari Raya and many asked me what materials I used and how long I took to make it. Actually the concept was thought of a week beforehand and the drawing took slightly more than an hour to complete. However learning how to use iMovie on my smartphone, selecting free music from YouTube music library and then figuring out how to transfer the music took like a whole day...

The Japanese Secret To Inside-Out Beauty Workshop at Ikeda Spa

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Besides offering spa packages and selling skin care products, Ikeda Spa also occasionally  organises workshops to impart beauty tips or things Japanese to customers. Today, we got to try making our own masks from ingredients that you can easily get from supermarkets!

Sharing session at Japanese Association(JAS) organised by JCCI and JAS on 8 May 2015

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I was invited by the Japanese Association of Singapore to share my comics to Japanese expatriates living in Singapore to help them adjust to their new life here.

Thoughts after my talk at ITE Central

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I met this young student at ITE Central during my presentation with Wacom this morning. He was very enthusiastically taking photos before my talk so I thought he was the student photographer. Later on, he even volunteered to be drawn into a comic character for my live 15mins demo (seen above). After my presentation, he asked very politely if I have time to talk. Seeing that he was holding a few notebooks in hand, I figured that he must be an aspiring comic artist and wanted to ask me some questions on how to draw or how to make it in the "industry" (it's in quotes because I don't think we have a substantial local comic industry to talk about). So we chatted a while and he showed me his comics that he did some time ago as well as some recent work too. I could see a huge improvement but he credited that to a manga-drawing course that he was attending. His passion reminded me of the time when I was just a student who did not care whether or not my drawings could earn

Ikeda Spa Geisha Facial Review (aka Uguisu no Fun or nightingale poop facial)

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Well since I was commissioned to draw comics to promote Ikeda Spa's Geisha Facial, I decided to go down on Tuesday to give it a try with some of my spa credits! Before the start of treatment, the facial therapist interviewed me about my skin condition and concerns, including any allergies. Basically the 90min treatment consisted of: Massage around the neck, shoulder and scalp with essential oil Facial massage and scrub Steam Extraction (ouch!) Uguisu no Fun (Nightingale poop) mask for 15min Toner, moisturiser and sunblock I was worried about the smell but they added rice bran into the mask and it smelled great! :P The whole treatment was super relaxing but I wish I didn't drink so much before the 90min treatment... Anyway I could have requested the therapist to stop anytime and she will bring the yukata for me to change so I can go for my toilet break. I had nasal congestion, eye strain and aching neck and shoulder pain on that day so it was a complete relief after

Channel 8 news feature about my Mr Lee Kuan Yew tribute drawing

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After my Mr. Lee Kuan Yew tribute drawing went viral last month (with around 828,000 people reached, 31,000 likes and 3,500 shares), I was contacted to appear on Channel 8 news because they wanted to do a feature about the social media response towards Mr. Lee's passing.

First Impression, Demo and Review of Chameleon marker pens

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I received these fun markers last week from Chameleon Pens and was excited to try it because you can do gradation with only one pen! The last time I used markers was 10 years ago using COPIC markers. So my skill was very rusty and had to make do with my moleskine sketchbook. It would be better to use smooth marker papers so it is easier to blend and the ink won't smudge to the bottom pages. This is a 17min of my first impression and demonstration on how to use these markers. It was really fun like a science experiment or cooking a new dish :P Pro: Do gradation with only one pen. Colourless blender will not stain other colours. Fun experimenting on the mixing. Con: Takes a bit of time to figure out which side is the mixing chamber and brush nib, so might not be suitable for professionals who want to work fast. Lighter tone only last for a small area, not suitable for covering large area of pale tones. Outliner pen provided too thin for my usage. But can be com

Tribute to Mr Lee Kuan Yew and his wife

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My friends and I originally planned to pay our respects to Mr. Lee yesterday when the wake was first opened to public, but we were shocked and confused about where the queue starts from. So we planned to return again today to spend the whole day queueing (and one of them took the whole day leave instead of half a day). But because I was the one with flexible time, I went ahead first at 9am and was surprised that I could finish by 10am before any of them could arrive! With ample time and good weather, I decided to draw my tribute to our Ah Kong (Grandpa). Actually I didn't plan to draw anything until a fan messaged me to request for it while I was having breakfast and checking out the latest queue updates. My original concept was to draw Singapore River and the shophouses because that was where we saw the incredibly long queue yesterday and Ah Kong liked to take Ah Ma to stroll there. But I later changed my mind when I sat at Clarke Quay because he is now at Parliament House a

A Sad Day

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Rest in peace Mr. Lee Kuan Yew :"( For my fans overseas: My country's founding Prime Minister had just passed away this morning. There will be no new comics update tonight. New comics will resume next week. Sorry for the disruption m(_ _)m Meanwhile other local comic artists are paying tribute to him: https://www.facebook.com/groups/comicstribute2lky/ But I rather visit his wake personally to pay my respect once it is open to public. More information can be found here: http://www.rememberingleekuanyew.sg/the-funeral/ Singapore could not have achieved what we have today without Mr. Lee. Wishing him peace and happiness, reunited with the love of his life and support, Madam Kwa Geok Choo.

Charity Yoga event at Yoga Inc.

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Thank you very much to my fans and regulars of Yoga Inc. for supporting this  meaningful event, where half of the proceeds was donated to the Singapore Cancer Society and the other half to Singapore Breast Cancer Foundation!

Review of Yoga Inc.

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As you can see from my recent comics , I had developed this yoga craze and been going to yoga classes every week. I am very happy that Yoga Inc. invited me over to give their classes a try. Their address is 100 Guillemard Road #01-08 Singapore 399718

The Ultimate Review of 21 Sweet Japanese Matcha Snacks

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Ok seriously, this review took me like 10 months to complete and I gained a whopping 2kg as a result for not exercising too. That's why I had been doing yoga every week to shed those additional pounds of fats...

Recording for Knockout Carnival TV program on OKTO channel

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Frankly speaking, I hadn't teach drawing for more than 4 years so when I was contacted to become a mentor for a national TV program, I was pretty darn nervous. The show was called "Knockout Carnival" on OKTO channel that targets kids and teens to let them know more about our local arts scene. The shots were filmed on 25th August at Hoods Inc's studio and the episode was on air on 25th November. You can watch the show here (I appear somewhere in the middle, but you can't skip the loading): http://video.toggle.sg/en/series/knockout-s7/ep31/313833

Happy New Year 2015!

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2014 had been a great year for me (minus my horrible sorethroat and cough now). I finally got to publish my very first book after drawing webcomics for 7 years. Some people told me that they were envious because they liked to draw but gave up because it can't make money. For me, I don't want to live a life with regrets and ask myself "what if..." on my dying bed. If I should only have a day to live, I should look back at my life and glad on the decisions that I had made. I am glad that I tried, and did my very best to fulfil a dream I set when I was 13 years old, that is to become a comic artist. I spent time with my family, my loved ones, and ate all the good food I could afford. I made comics that could influence others and bring a smile to their faces. So I am happy without any regrets. I hope my fans can live life to fullest too and see you again in 2015 with all smiles. ♪(≧▽≦) / Happy New Year \(≧▽≦)丿♪

Evacomics at Popular BookFest (12-21 Dec 2014) Suntec Singapore

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It was a privilege to be on BookFest stage despite being assigned a weekday evening from 7.30-8.30pm and labelled as a for "Kids"event. I was very worried that there will be no crowd and my fans won't show up so I asked a few of my friends to come support me (and of course buy the book at 20% discount hee hee hee)

Evacomics at AFA 2014

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This was my first time at Anime Festival Asia (AFA) so I didn't know if sales would be good or not. I heard that there will be a lot of people but I wasn't sure if they were into well-known anime or into my original creation. I was very lucky that my booth location was pretty good at the entrance into the Creators Hub section.

The Birth of Eva, Kopi and Matcha at Japanese Association Singapore

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I usually give talks (20-25 mins or so) as part of a program for festivals or at bookstores. But this was the first time that it was just me, yup, JUST ME alone to sustain a 2 hour session consisting of a 45mins talk, 10 mins demo and 15 mins QA session. The venue is far from shopping malls and their restaurants only serve Japanese Association members. So people who came were really there for my talk only.

Ikeda Spa Review (Japanese hot spring bath experience in Singapore)

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You must be thinking it's crazy to have a hot spring bath in our hot sunny Singapore but I can assure you, it was VERY GOOD and can improve your blood circulation! Thank you Ikeda Spa for inviting me to experience Japanese hot bath again!

Evacomics at STGCC

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Thank you very much to all my fans who came down to visit my booth and hear me talk at STGCC ! Also special thanks to the organizer for inviting me as guest and giving us a stage time for our "Social Media and Comics" panel discussion! (Above photo from Ink Fusion Studios  )

My Creative Process Talk at Extravaganza 2014, Scape

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Thank you to all my fans who came down specially to hear me talk about my work, my journey and creative process last Sunday at Scape! And thank you to Extravaganza  committee for inviting me there!