Here is a sketch I did during our lunch after a fairly easy crossing on the RORO from Marinduque to Luzon (despite requirements for an island exit pass…which wasn’t needed and queuing in a holding area, also not needed). These three smartly dressed people saw me sketching them but weren’t displeased.
Mon-21-Apr-2025
Here is a sketch that has been languishing in my sketchbook for a long while, waiting for me to add a bit of colour. The ink-work was done when we went out to SM Aura (a local mall) to buy some weighing scales and art materials. We then had a nice meal in the “sky park”, where this sculpture is one a series by Filipino-American contemporary artist Jefre Figueras, apparently dubbed as “contour sculptures”. I’ve sketched the Tarsier and Carabao before, but this one is more hidden away. I drew this from where we had lunch – a place called Ramen Nagi where I had some vegan noodles…nice but a bit too much mayonnaise in them!
Sat-29-Mar-2025
The restaurant where I sketched this was out in the middle of nowhere but seemed popular – perhaps because they have a pretty good menu. My wife had crabs cooked in coconut and Bago leaves (or Melinjo leaves, from the Gnemon tree). She said the crabs didn’t have much meat on them but were tasty…I had pesto pasta. Our only problem was that the waiter said our food would take up to 1 hour to be ready, when we sat down! That gave me plenty of time to sketch this.
Sat-19-Apr-2025
This sketch was started in “Edmundo Lounge” in Bury St. Edmunds where we had lunch on the third full day of our holiday. We drove to Bury to do some shopping for camping gear, in anticipation of the next leg of our trip, when we will camp at the Womad (World of Music Arts and Dance) festival in Wiltshire. I finished off the sketch at home.
Mon-22-Jul-2024
This sketch was done while we waited for dinner at a new vegetarian restaurant (for us) that we went out to for my wife’s birthday. The waiter told us that they opened during the pandemic…they have another branch in Makati, Barangay Poblacion. The food was great, served quickly and the place has a nice atmosphere. It was strange though that there didn’t seem to be a single sign on the road to tell you the place was there – we had to ask someone in order to find it.
Sun-7-Jul-2024
This sketch is slightly out of order – but it was waiting in my sketchbook for some paint. I did this one when my wife and I went out for lunch on Father’s Day to our favourite restaurant, the #WabiSabiNoodleHouse in Makati. This place has lots of delicious varieties of (vegetarian) ramen noodle soup – plus the restaurant is paired with the Ikigai Kakigōri Cafe. Kakigōri is a Japanese shaved ice dessert flavoured with syrup and a sweetener…I had the chocolate overload variety!
Sun-16-Jun-2024
This is the first sketch in a new sketchbook – No.87 – (going back to using Clairefontaine Aquapad 300gsm cold pressed paper), done at the Pino restaurant on Malingap Street in Quezon City. I did this one as we arrived early for the #UskQuezonCity #SketchWalk at the Maginhawa Food Festival. The restaurant has a separate menu (called Pipino – which means cucumber) for vegetarian food.
Sun-5-May-2024