Singapore: Last days in Chinatown

In contrast to Friday’s experience, today’s drawing excursion was one of my best days in Singapore. In the early morning, I sat in the gutter of Keong Saik Road to draw a trishaw used for the collection of cardboard. The bicycle, which was heavily chained and padlocked, was equipped with a large plastic water barrel sporting a fresh SG50 Singapore flag, which will add extra significance to the drawing when looking back.

Among the usual number of people and small children who wanted to look or take photos was a chap who returned later to give me cold bottle of water, a lady who invited me for coffee with her family and another who insisted I should ‘get mee’ (noodles) at the nearby restaurant. Either that, or she was being very forward.

A few hours later, I strolled back to Chinatown market hawker centre and sat people watching for a couple of hours with a cold beer and snack of chewy duck components. People were still queuing for food at 4 o’clock when I left to reconnoitre the streets for tomorrow’s location on the last day of the national holiday and probably my last ever day in Chinatown.