Philippines

122-3548-9 – Lounges on the way to Iraq

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PAGS lounge

Here are the sketches I did on the way to Erbil, Iraq for work. The first is at the PAGS (Philippine Airport and Ground Services) lounge. I was surprised to be bumped up to business class – the travel agent had offered an upgrade with a hefty extra cost and I said no thanks, but somehow I ended up in business class anyway. So although I always feel a little uncomfortable with luxury and being waited on, I took advantage of the free coffee and breakfast before leaving Manila.

Another lounge

The second sketch is of the Al-Mourjan business lounge in Doha. The PAGS lounge was much better – here there was only free coffee and no food. This sketch ended up almost abstract. By this point I was pretty tired, so that’s my excuse.

Tue-7-Jul-2026

122-3547 – Holy guacamole

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My daughter suggested sketching part of our leftover dinner…so I thought, why not? This went along with soft wholewheat tortillas (which I always pronounce incorrectly), and kidney beans cooked with tofu – yummy!

Sun-5-Jul-2026

122-3544 – These are mangosteen

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Mangosteens are tropical evergreen trees native to Southeast Asia which produce this delicious sweet and juicy segmented fruit with a hard purple rind. The fruit is supposed to have strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. I often see ads for the MX3 food supplement which is made from the whole fruit, including the rind…apparently some studies have shown that it has joint pain benefits, but I just like to eat the fruit!

Thu-2-Jul-2026

122-3543 – This is not tomato juice

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I bought this juice a while back thinking it was good and affordable. It does not taste nice! I realised that it’s not 100% juice, but is made of tomato paste and stevia (artificial sweetener) and artificial tomato flavour (whatever that is)…yuk! Those are two real tomatoes in front of the bottle though!

Tue-30-Jun-2026

122-3542 – Powerplant and disclosure day

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By coincidence I ended up at the Powerplant mall again (after having met my friend there the day before) – because it had a showing of the movie “Disclosure Day” – one of the few still showing it because we were late in deciding to go and see it. What a rollercoaster ride! The movie started a bit slow but Spielberg knows how to keep you riveted to your seat and the two-plus hours zipped by. The ending was a bit disappointing but I can see that it would be impossible to find a satisfying way to wrap it up. I sketched this while we sat and had dinner at the Roti Shop before the movie.

Sun-28-Jun-2026

122-3539-41 – Poblacion Barangay, Museo ng Makati and people

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Poblacion Barangay

Here are the other sketches I did when I joined Urban Sketchers Manila at the Rosas ng Sampiro festival in Poblacion Barangay of Makati City. This is an annual cultural and street-dancing celebration by local schools, that honours the city’s patroness, the Virgen dela Rosa de Macati (an 18th-century statue at the Saints Peter and Paul Parish, apparently brought from Mexico via galleon in 1718).

Museo ng Makati

I first drew a group of fellow sketchers and then went up to the balcony of the Barangay Hall where I sketched the view and the crowds of people. The costumes and performances were fantastic, but they moved so fast that I couldn’t capture them in a drawing.

People at Rosas ng Sampiro

Sat-27-Jun-2026

122-3537-8 – Powerplant outside Dunkin’ and people at The Grid

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Powerplant outside Dunkin’

These are the first two sketches I did when I joined Urban Sketchers Manila at the Rosas ng Sampiro festival in the Makati Poblacion Barangay (more about that in the next post). I first met up with my friend @the_uban_sketcher at the Powerplant Mall (it’s built on the site of a former power plant) and did the first sketch where we met up. After that we went for lunch at The Grid – which is a high end (meaning over-priced) foodcourt – but at least I could get some vegetarian food there.

People at The Grid

Sat-27-Jun-2026

122-3536 – On the cob

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Here is an evening sketch of something I took out of the fridge. I don’t know why but I’ve never been a big fan of sweetcorn (especially when it’s on the cob – maybe because I end up with so much stuff stuck in my teeth). This sketch makes the sweetcorn look more wrinkly than it actually was.

Sun-21-Jun-2026