122-3547 – Holy guacamole

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

122-3546 – Meal out

On this day we had our lunch out after having done some shopping (I got some new glasses) in the morning. This elderly couple looked as though they were dressed up for a day out…they probably looked over at us and saw another elderly couple (staring at them, and not dressed up!).

Sat-4-Jul-2026

122-3544 – These are mangosteen

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

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

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

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

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

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