One fine day...

Today is... gooooooddd...

Today is one day that I would really like to claim as mine. Everything went pretty well for me (well, not really... just read on).

We had another outdoor painting session. Same place, Singapore Botanic Garden. But today I brought my trolley bag. And it saved me from an excessive exhaustion. It is just a waste, you know, when you are fully geared-up for the day and the next thing you know is that half your energy is unnecessarily drained to lug your stuffs. I chose The Bandstand as my shelter today. It's the white gazebo quite near the Visitor Center. Yaayy... perfect place!!

You know why?

Only VERY few people passed by. So this morning, most of the time there were only two of us (me and another female painting classmate) there.

It was very well sheltered. Nice weather today. Well, a bit hotter than last week but definitely (and thanks God) less humid and no drizzle. The good climate attracted more tourists and locals (who know how to relax *just kidding*). Luckily they were not so attracted to the Bandstand. Yaay!! Private!!

The scene was just heavenly. I am a big fans of Brian Richmond, but this morning Gold 90 FM was absented. Instead, the sound of nature was what accompanied me. The sound of insects. The breeze (ouw yeah, there were plenty of them today!!!). The leaves rubbing each other. The birds!! They were chirping. Somebody sweeping the road (it sounds natural enough). I recorded it with my Nokia phone, the longest was 15 minutes.

And again, the breeze. I guess the weather is just sooooo friendly today.

I was in the mood of doing something more detail, unlike last week's. Last week I wanted to know how fast could I become, and tried to finish one piece. Which I almost did. Just a bit of touch up here and there. But I don't really like. It looks... rushed, somehow. My teacher quite likes it actually, but I don't. Smudge. Too oily. Well, that's what you get when you are rushing.

So I was tremendously slow today. You won't be able to see much colour by the end of the day. Oh well, if I have to admit, I haven't even finished doing the sketching on the canvas. My fault. I chose the bandstand's windowsill plus the bench as the main object. Read: lots of straight lines and equal squares. Geometrical shape. A bit of PERSPECTIVE!! My God, that's my weakness. So now you know why I was in a very snaaaaiiillll pace.

Was hungry, so I went to Refreshment Kiosk and bought a coffee float. Just black coffee with ice cream. Not spectacular, but good. At leats it keeps me awake 'til now (last week, the first thing I did after tidying up my stuffs and taking shower was to sleep). I had my Subway sandwich for lunch at 1.30 pm, whereas my friend has left the spot by 12.30 pm. So my only companion was some birds and rats. No kidding, real life rats. But they are not dirty nor disturbing (at all) so I just let them taking their time as I am taking mine.

Yeah, I took my time. And enjoying every bit of it.

Man, really, I didn't feel of leaving the place. The weather continued to be very friendly, but I know I couldn't do much as all the lighting and shadows were already different from the morning's. So I just put some "shape" there, no shadowing was done anymore. By around 2 pm, a group of people (a mix of Filippino and Bangladeshi) chose the spot to have a picnic (some birthday celebration, I surmised). They politely asked for my permission and even apologized for disturbing my activity. Of course I told them to go ahead. It's a public place anyway, not my father's. And I was concentrating. In addition to that, by then I had started listening to Gold 90FM again.

Sounds of thunder. Oh ouw.

It was 3.15 pm so I started packing up. Was rather afraid that the weather started being capricious and I would be disadvantaged by that. So I tidied up. Cleaned up. And off I went from the Bandstand.

I visited my other two classmates and saw that they were also packing up. So together we walked back to Gleneagles' bus stop. Again, I just dragged my trolley bag, until the road became to patchy and I just carried it on my back.

Nearing Toa Payoh, the sky darkened. Really really dark. Could even see some lightning lining the sky, connecting the heaven and earth. It started raining when I alighted from the bus. And suddenly it turned to cats and dogs!! Oh my God....

Clutching to my big plastic bag that covers my canvases, I feel like clutching to my dear life (haha yeah, right. Hyperbole). But it really can't get wet!! Water and oil don't mix, even primary school children know that. It rained buckets. Buckets and buckets.

Reaching the unit where I live in, I was soaking wet. Yeah. Though I used my umbrella. But my painting was sound and safe.

Phew.

I wanted to categorize this day as "one blissful day" but the rain reduces it to "one fine day".

PS: For the benefit of those who don't know what's written on the information placard, here goes.

(ada gambar dua pu'un dan satu lingkaran)

THE BANDSTAND

A bandstand was erected in the early

1860s as a focal point of the original

landscape design of Singapore Botanic

Gardens. The present octagonal

structure was built in 1930 and staged

early evening performances by military

bands for many years. Though no

longer used for music, the Bandstand

continues to be one of the best-known

features of the Gardens.

(my saviour for the day)

PS: One of the three tiny people seen on the bottom subset (please see the first picture) is my teacher. They are doing watercolors.