Hotel Pool.

The famous pool.

But there are also jacuzi's.

Had to have the shot.

SkyPark views.

Going round the deck anticlockwise, the Singapore flyer. You can also see the F1 pit buildings.

Still looks like a ship deck!!

Then the Marina Bay. Used to be the sea. But that is history

One of our favorite places. The Esplanade. The left pod houses the concert hall and the right pod the threatre.

This will soon be referred to as 'The Old business District'.

The new construct. The view of the docks will be blocked by the new buildings going up on the left. 'The New Business District'

SkyPark

Stepping out into the Park, you could be forgiven for thinking you were on a ships deck.

But not for long. The other ships are 56 stories below you!!!!

Marina Sands - inside.

Once inside you realise that the three towers have a common lobby.

The scale is quite impressive, with some interesting novel features!!!

Lots of posers.

And looking up can make you dizzy. If you image the towers as wooden pegs, then these balconies run round the inside of the peg leg.

Marina Sands

A morning at the new Marina Sands complex. Hotel. Casino. And more

The hotel is housed in these amazing towers.

As they were being built, massive steel works were needed to prop the sloping halves until they met and could support each other. We were heading up to the SkyPark.

Wu Guanzhong.

Wu Guanzhong died on Friday last week, 25th June 2010, in Beijing. It is a measure of the man that he request no funeral. Just a straight cremation.

Check out http://www.china.org.cn/english/NM-e/169480.htm for the story of his live. In extraordinary life and an exceptional artist.

He donated much of his art to museums.

He gave 113 of best paintings to Singapore in 2008. Rest in peace.

Film - Letters to Julet.

A good flik for afternoon viewing. 'Course couldn't happen in the real world. But then again, there was Friends Reunited and now Facebook. Score - 3. Why was I the only male in the cinema? Come on guys, don't be ashamed to tear up!!!!!! Won't hurt once in a while.

B & W update.

Started on the railing for the veranda. Going with a simple square spindle. Going to take 30 feet of 3/16 x 3/16 wood to complete the veranda. I keep doing the math, cause I don't belive it!!!

Down stairs ceiling now in place lights installed.

Glimps into the bedroom. The quilt on the bed is a Gek creation.

New furniture.

On a recent trip to Penang we chanced upon some new furniture. Gek has made up the soft seats and the cushion. Could be she is getting into miniatures??????

Christopher Dally - Painter.

Chris is holding his first solo art exhibition in Penang over the next 2 weeks, Touch of Fantasy. He has been painting in oils for 60 years. He went to sea at the age of 17 and never settled in the UK again, spending most of his working life in SE Asia. Pictured here with Ranu, Gek and me. A privilege to have been at the opening. 13 out of 30 paintings sold by the end of the evening. Result!!!!

  http://www.galerisenimutiara.com/touch_of_fantasy.php.

Evening Intimacy. 61x77 cm (2008) Oil on Canvas

On Baron Beach 61x77 cm (2001) Oil on Canvas

Waking in the Blue Room 61x77 cm (1993) Oil on Canvas.

Comfort befroe She Dances. 77x61 cm (1997) Oil on Canvas

Book - The Cave of the Yellow Dog.

The book , now a film. Reading it took me straight back to our visit to such a family. Recommended read.

The modeller.

Still putting things together. Spend some time each day adding to the house. Have to love Gek for allowing me to do this in the living room!!!! More detail on http://david-dollhouse.blogspot.com/.

Concert - Sichuan Conservatory of Music Orchestra.

This was a real treat. Ning Feng is the first student ever to be given a perfect score (100%) for his final recital as part of his final exam, in the 200 year history of the Royal Academy of Music. His passion for the music was palpable. Video clip is from a concert given in New Zealand.

Working Artist.

New work being prepared for the Fill Your Walls competition.

Every artist's studio has one. A messy area.

Book - The Irregulars.

Putting Eleanor Roosevelt and Roald Dahl in the same space and time seems very unlikely but here it is.  Along with other writers of his day, including Ian flemming,  Roald worked the Washington circuit for British intelligence during the Second World War.  This account of his activeties amongst the American elite reads like a piece of fiction masquerading as non fiction. The claim is also made that the Brits had a hand in setting up what is now know as the CIA.  Imagine!!!!!

Film - Mao's last Dancer.

Good story. A real tear maker.   2.5

Concert - Huuun-Hun-Tu

These guys were in town, so we had to go.  They got a standing ovation.

Memories.

Two years since we left Mongolia by train, crossing Gobi  Desert  to Beijing.

Book - Alpha Beta

By John the Man. Traces the ancestory of the alphabet. All very interesting. But for me the most striking idea from the book are the parallels he draws between the Chinese/Mongolian and the Egyptian/Israelite historical relationships. China and Egypt were settled cultures with writing systems based originally on pictures - Mongolians and the Israelites were a collection of 'barbaric' nomadic tribes to the north, constantly raiding their rich neighbours to the south. Even more striking is that both the Mongolians and the Israelites considered they had a mandate from heaven and both adapted other culture's alphabet writing systems to make tribal unity work. And still after all this time..........no accommodation.

I R Nearing Completion.

View from the Esplanade. Looks like a tanker stranded on the YY. Taxi drivers have nick named this destination the YY Hotel. YY in Mandarin means 'not straight, bendy'. There are 5 stories of UNDERGROUND car parks (or should that be underwater car parks!) and the MRT train station will be 10 stories under water!!!!!! That is scary.

The poor Merlion looks smaller and smaller as the buildings get taller and taller.

B & W and Peranakan House progress.

Not quite ready for tea on the terrace but getting there.  If you are wondering,  the plants are strategically positioned to prevent Gek cracking her head on the eaves of the house. 

The front windows are nearing completion.  The milling machine is coming into its own here.  144 2mm diameter holes to drill at 6 mm spacing for the louvres.  Each one will twist open and close.  Magic.  Gek has designs for the below window panels.  Another work of art.

Charlotte and Bridge over Troubled Water

Beautiful.

For Charlotte and Domingo follow this link.  Extraordinary.  (Cannot get the code to embed)

Paul Simon - Graceland

I had forgotten this.  Love it.

Book - Leadership Secrets of Genghis Khan.

Book by John, John Man that is. John's starting point is that Genghis is a very rare exception to the Peter Principle: 'in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence'. (Checkout http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Principle for enlightenment!!) He takes Daniel Goleman's notion of Emotional Intelligence (EI) to measure Genghis leadership qualities to explain why. Not that you need to. I mean, he brought home the bacon, did he not?

So: effective leaders tick 4 positive E.I. indicator boxes out of 18, highly effective leaders 6 +. John considers Genghis ticks a full 15 out of 18. Surrender now!!!

Not only could Genghis out shoot everybody else, he out lead/managed everybody else too.

The Conservatory Orchestra.

This is the home of The Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music student orchestra. Beautiful concert hall on the University campus.   And damn good they are too.  Take a listen at http://music.nus.edu.sg/08_listen.html

This week has been unusual in that we have been to three concerts.  But so cheap Lah.  $16 SG for a VIP Box at the Esplanade to hear,

The Conservatory Orchestra

Takuo Yuasa, guest conductor,
Zhang Manchin, viola




Beethoven
Leonore Overture No. 3, Op. 72
Bartók
Viola Concerto BB. 128
Dvořák
Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70

Cannot beat it!!!!

Black and White

 This is the design chosen from the book.

Progress.  I still have the front porch and veranda to make.  Nearly had a disaster.  The original design called for the porch and veranda to be a permanent part of the house's main structure.  If I had done that,  the house would never have left the living room......it would have been to big in any direction to go through the door!!  Opps.

Gek has already had delivered lamps and doors.  Grass....grow and all that.

New House - Black and White.

The creative process. Nicked a design from a very nice book on Black and White houses.  From this, 40 + component drawings have been produced.  Not skilled in CAD,  so had to be done with the old fashioned pencil on paper!!!  This house is going to use a lot more bought items in it's construction.  HouseWorks doors for one.

Got the wood cut by a very nice young man in a local cabinet makers workshop.   Picked the wood up Monday,  took this picture Thursday.  Don't mess about,  you know!!!

This house is for Gek.  We can no way afford a real B & W let along afford to live in one.  So this is the nearest we will get to Gek's dream home.  You have to play, isn't it!!!!