On the weekend of 15-16 Nov we went to Palawan to look at some beach land. After overnighting in a little hotel I sketched this just before we left Quezon Palawan, when we had lunch. We ate at all the nice places in Quezon – Cafe Villa when we first arrived, this place and Lev’s Pizza in the market – which had a surprisingly good veggie variety with a fresh crust!
Sun-16-Nov-2025
On the weekend of 20-21 September we drove south all the way to San Narciso to see some beach land (an 8 hour drive). I’ve always wanted to retire to a cottage on the beach, but this little town in Quezon province is probably too remote. This was sketched when we went out in the evening to get something to eat – this place seemed to be the only one open (on a Saturday night), where we could get some veggie food.
Sat-20-Sep-2025
After sketching at the presidential car museum a group of us went on to the HistoEx (History to Experience) 2025 event at Gateway Mall. We started by finding somewhere to eat and picked this place where they at least had (vegetarian) pizza I could eat. Naturally we spent a lot of time chatting plus drew some sketches of each other on the paper table cloth! The one of me, included in this post, is by @allan.retarmar.
Sun-3-Aug-2025
I did this sketch while we were waiting for our brunch at a nice little café (@idlehandscoffee) and saying goodbye to our daughter who was heading back down south to London. I had a lovely 3 cheese grilled sandwich. The waitress took a photo of my sketch and my daughter said I should make more effort to “shamelessly promote” my artwork!
Sun-1-Jun-2025
We finally made our hot air balloon ride – after one year and two tries on Mon 26th and Tue 27th (each previous attempt was cancelled due to the weather). It was a fantastic experience with @YorkshireBalloonFlights who were kind, friendly, humorous and professional. The weather was dry (though it tried to rain when we were on the way), but cloudy – and even Ollie (the pilot and owner) didn’t expect it to happen. The flight was not scary at all – smooth with a very gentle touchdown and fantastic views across York. We helped set up and pack up the balloon which was much more massive than we expected! Ollie recommended The Pig and Pastry for breakfast afterwards…I had a traditional UK fry up (veggie version).
Wed-28-May-2025
I had missed doing a sketch, the day before this, because of the long drive up from Brighton, but made up for it by doing two sketches on our first day in Manchester…this is the second one. We started our day with a visit to #FredAldous (my current favourite art supplies shop, where I bought new palette) and ended with a nice cup of tea in this cafe (@mala_mcr), which is described as an all-wooden, pop-up style, outside-inside bar, with a surrealist design ethic.
Mon-26-May-2025
On this day we went into Bury St. Edmunds to buy a coat for my wife’s birthday and had lunch first. Wetherspoons is cheap and simple so we picked that – we sat in almost the same spot as when we were there in December 2022 (see sketch No.69-2267), so I sketched the same scene. My sketching style hasn’t changed a bit…though I think I captured the scene better this time?
Mon-19-May-2025
I did this sketch after we had visited Manila Memorial Park on Labour Day, when we stopped to get some breakfast. Unsurprisingly (as Mang Inasal’s speciality is their Chicken Inasal, a grilled chicken dish marinated in a blend of spices and served with unlimited rice) there was little vegetarian food for me to eat, so I had to make do with deep fried spring rolls. Sketching all these tables and chairs was a challenge I couldn’t resist.
Thu-1-May-2025
Here is the second sketch I did on World Book Day with #UskMnl in Ayala Triangle Gardens. I did this sketch of a restaurant sign that I could see, while waiting at Bacolod Chicken Inasal and drinking my “mais and banana kon-yelo”.
Sat-26-Apr-2025