Woof! *Wag Wag* Woof!

Hee! This is one of the four dogs at Dash's parents' place. Named "Big Ears" because as a puppy, he had disproportionately large ears compared to his head and body : ) But it seemed that the ears remained puppy size while the rest of his body grew, and grew, and grew : )

國境之南

《海角七號-主題曲》
作詞：嚴云農　作曲：曾志豪

如果海會說話　如果風愛上砂
如果有些想念遺忘在某個長假

我會聆聽浪花　讓風吹過頭髮
任記憶裡的愛情在時間潮汐裡喧嘩

非得等春天遠了夏天才近了
我是在回首時終於懂得

當陽光　再次回到那　飄著雨的國境之南
我會試著把　那一年的故事
再接下去說完

當陽光　再次離開那　太晴朗的國境之南
妳會不會把　妳曾帶走的愛　在告別前用微笑全歸還

海很藍　星光燦爛　我仍空著我的臂彎
天很寬　在我獨自唱歌的夜晚
請原諒我的愛　訴說的太緩慢

Eye of Sauron ...

and the polluted city air don't seem all that different D:
(This is a piece from one of Dash's last few art lessons
on using brilliant hues of colours.)

Syracuse the Cat waits for his turn : )

Squares of Meeps at the Edge of Oblivion

This is probably the first piece of art that Dash and Ilya put together - Dash was the designer and painter for the 9 miniature squares (of pop sketches) and Ilya was the architect and craftsman, cutting the original full piece into three vertical strips in exact measurements to fit into the frame : ) This piece is titled "Squares of Meeps" and is now suitably standing on one of Ilya's bookshelf, at the edge of the book "Oblivion" : )

And for those interested in the creative process, below is the full piece before Ilya applied precise cuts to get them in size for the frames. Dash likes her addition of the continuous thread of humming-with-happiness thought that curled and whirled across all the 9 squares ^_^

And here is a close-up of Squares of Meeps - however, the continuous thread of humming-with-happiness thread is now partially hidden, peeking out here and there, now and then : )

Oh, and because the sketches are all inspired by Dash's life with Ilya, one can easily infer that the placid polar bear is of course Ilya and the convival cloud is naturally Dash : ) Hee! ^_^

Cage the Elephant's "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked"

Beady the Penguin with a Convex Traffic Mirror on his Head

^_^

Annoyed-Looking Octopus Entangled in Wires

One of the many perils that an Octopus can find him/herself in
while traversing across a work desk ...

Lyo and Merly, Singapore's Youth Olympic Games Mascots!

^_^ Dash thinks that they are two of the best designed mascots : ) When they are featured participating in the various sports, from archery to swimming, somehow the way they are drawn/constructed made them look au naturel while at the sports. Now Dash just needs to decide if she should get them in plush toys.

(Lyo is a lion - hear him roar! - and Dash loves his energy :D Merly is a merlion with rebonded hair (the original merlion statutes in Singapore all have wavy hair in their mane), and Dash loves the cheery electric blue of her hair : )

Hokusai's Tsunami on Batik is *finally* framed! ^_^

With the help and recommendation of a frame shop from the Galloping Geographer, Dash finally got this piece framed! : ) Dash likes the silver frame and the dark blue mat.

Now to find a place on our walls to hang it! ^_^ It is currently just leaning against the wall in front of Ilya's work desk in the house : )

Badger, Fox, Crockie, Owl and Duck Go on an Adventure

Dash just acquired this children story book about Percy the Park Keeper and his animal friends, titled "After the Storm" by Nick Butterworth. Dash loves his drawing style, and in the act of admiration, took the liberty to adapt one of his drawings in his book for her painting below -- Dash only kept Badger, Fox and Owl on the boat (taking away the other rabbits, squirrels, rats and Percy the Park Keeper) and added an alligator in the waters ^_^


And now, with colours ...

The choice of animals represented the population of plush toys lounging around in our house and previous animal sketches/paintings hung on the walls of our house. Dash thought it would be great to have a painting that captured the myriad of personalities in the house - the diligent Badger who continues to row and propel the boat forward, the Fox who is often spotted chilling out on the couch, the pink owl who is eager to learn and discover more, the alligator with the friendly toothy smile and the oft late-for-appointment yellow duck trailing behind the boat, paddling as hard as he could :)

Mmm, if you take a closer look, you would find one or two quirky characteristics on the creatures e.g. check out the center parting hairstyle of Owl - uh huh, dash likes Owl with the geeky look : )

Annoyed-Looking Octopus on the iPad box...

This was just taken a few minutes before this other picture was taken.

(Has Annoyed-Looking Octopus ever been successful in usurping anything?!)

Ilya, iPad and a *really* annoyed-looking octopus : )

Dash was trying to capture the clean reflection of annoyed-looking octopus on the smooth iPad surface. However, being an amateur photographer, the afternoon sunlight caused the photo to be underexposed in the foreground, and incidentally creating a *really* annoyed-looking octopus : )

It's a colourful world!

The above is a picture of this art work dash found at NUS Guild House : ) If art imitates life, this piece of work is right - It's a colourful world out here and there!

Come on! Let's help make the world a better place with kindness! : )

Panda snacks from the Galloping Geographer! : )

NOM NOM NOM! The Galloping Geographer gave Dash and Ilya an enormous bagful of nuts and vegetarian crackers - of which Dash ate approximately 90% of them : )

A Cat in every Quadrant

Top left cat: "Zzzzzzz"
Top right cat: "Eh, what is going on?"
Bottom left cat: "Whooops, what is going on?"
Bottom right cat: "What is my neighbour doing?"

Woooooooooo!

Dash quite likes the minions in the movie "Despicable Me" : ) Especially their various little actions and myriad expressions in the movie - and don't miss the minion second from the right, who is evidently up to something mischievous! ^_^

Uncompleted House in Watercolours

Eeks. Still uncompleted after 3 weeks. Thank goodness the dog in the lower quadrant of the painting was, at least, completed : ) This was sketched from a NatGeo magazine. Dash likes the happy dog in the picture the best : )

Animal Tau-pok! :D

(Tau pok also refers to this fad activity in some Singapore schools last year where students would pile themselves one on top of another in a bid to squash the student at the bottom of the pile. And this was often positioned as a gift from the other students on top of the pile to the student at the bottom.)

Laura's Nutella Tiramisu and Durian Tiramisu!

Dash's friend, Laura, is truly a domestic goddess! Her thai cuisine and chilli sauces are sensational, and check out her nutella tiramisu (front) and durian tiramisu (back) - NOM NOM NOM ^_^

Laura cooks, she bakes, she surfs the waves, she blades, she teaches full-time and to top it off -- she manages to do all these while taking care of her two kids! : ) She is good eh? : )

Garrett's Popcorn *is* in Singapore! O_O

Ilya found Garrett's Popcorn while transiting in Chicago earlier this year, and brought home a gigantic bag of the caramel popcorn with almonds. And they were *really* good! The best popcorn we ever had!

And ... Dash just found out that they just became available in Singapore! O_O Popcorn weekend, here we come! ^_^

The Gothic Owl

This was the last piece of the art from Dash's watercolours class. This was meant as an exercise in using rich hues for the painting. Dash had wanted to make the owl look friendly with his warm wooly jumper - but alas, the eyes, they seem to add a little more than necessary unblinking eeriness to the owl.

Hrm, all this gothic owl needs is just a pinch or two of gothic poetry!

Shadows can be larger than Life

This was taken at Wild Oats, up the hill where Dash and Ilya stays. Dash wonders if the wandering cats there realise how their larger than life shadows let them appear to be baby tigers on the walls of the old colonial building. The play of their shadows as the cats pace in a mellow fashion or break into a sprint across the yard was rather entertaining to the circle of friends having a round of late night drinks.

Happy National Day, Singapore! ^_^

The latest stickers on the Galloping Geographer's Phone

Cheery, that's for sure! : )

Dash found a smile amongst the onion crumbs : )

Tower of Pancakes!

With cubes of butter and maple syrup - Perfect way to kickstart a lazy Sat afternoon : ) It looks like Dash and Ilya just found our next new breakfast haunt! : )

Purple Goodness!

^_^ Need we say more? : )

I wanna to go Taipei!

Dash thoroughly enjoyed this movie "Au revoir Taipei" : )

The familiar and nostalgic sights and sounds of Taipei city in the movie - whether it is the Eslite bookstore corridors, the narrow alley walkways, the scooters and their quaint half-shell helmets, or the night markets with their variety of food stalls - all brought back for Dash happy memories of her adventures there ^_^

And Dash loves in particular two things: One, the dialogues that were peppered with comedy, and oft delivered in Taiwanese hokkien and Mandarin, the various natural languages of the people in the city; and two, how everyone in the Eslite bookstore started doing the Lindy Hop! ^_^

Go watch it now - Don't wait for the apocalypse! : )

Dash found a squatter in her stationery holder ...

A peruvian monkey finger-puppet who holds a lovely bright cobalt blue ball : )