the cat and the hammer

My two entries in Emma's book for Moleskine Exchange 48, part of Moly-X, the International Moleskine Exchange. I took way too long to complete these two little drawings.

Guess who inspired me?

cabin fever

My apologies dear friends for posting so sporadically, I've been busy with migraines and my postgraduate course. I hope to get out a little this week and get some sketching or photo snapping done— I've got cabin fever!

foggy windows

As the snow turned into rain, the sighs of disappointed school children fogged up the windows.

tempting ropes of colour

At the grandest of bazaars.

çay, anyone?

With nearly every business transaction at the bazaar comes the tinkling of tiny teaspoons in tulip-shaped glasses, glittering sugarcubes perched on red and white saucers— hot çay to warm you from the toes up. Empty glasses tell stories of waiting, bargaining and contentment— happy customer, happy vendor. They are as much a part of the Grand Bazaar as its famous arches.

dark afternoons

frida

Oh be still my thunderous heart— Frida, in Istanbul! This is the very first time that the work of either Frida Kahlo or her husband, Diego Rivera, has ever been shown in Turkey. Over forty pieces from the artists are currently on display at the lovely Pera Museum until March 20th. Do not miss it!

pink

above the fog

The similarities between San Francisco and Istanbul this morning end with the melancholic, melodic azan being sung somewhere beneath the fog. The past three weeks have melted into some kind of blurry dream, and as I sit here by the window, it hardly seems possible that they ever took place. In many ways I wish they hadn't; I would still have my grandad, but such wishes are pointless as this is precisely life. It comes and goes, much faster than we would like— which is why we must always do whatever we can to make what we have as beautiful and as true for ourselves as possible. Life has suffering and tremendous beauty— no matter how painful or ugly things can get, we must always remember great joys and wonderful things lie just on the other side, and are carried with us in our hearts through the hardship. There is always poetry, there is always love.

two of my favourite things

1. The Gilded Lily at the Alembic on Haight
2. Imperial Jade Noodles with Coconut Lemongrass Marmalade Shrimp at Citrus Club on Haight

My, oh my.

urban curry

On Broadway, among the flashing neon, one can order up a plate some of the most exquisite curry I have had in San Francisco. You can actually taste the tomatoes in the chicken tikka masala sauce at Urban Curry, and the flat screens blasting flat-bellied Bollywood beauties dancing in colourful saris just adds to the deliciousness.



If you find yourself craving some Indian food and are in the North Beach/Chinatown area, do drop into Urban Curry— it's oh so yummy.

Urban Curry
523 Broadway, between Kearny and Columbus / SAN FRANCISCO
415 677 97 44

the good egg

Egg sandwich on a croissant with smoked salmon, tomatoes and avocados at La Boulange de Polk.



Sunday morning eggs and bacon at my dear friend Suzi's house.



Brunch at Café de la Presse: Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon and home fries.

long-lost love

I was overwhelmed with all sorts of emotions during my two and a half days in San Francisco. I missed my grandad terribly, and every street I walked down held some lost memory that filled me with longing and nostalgia. I had loved living in San Francisco. It's a city full of action and adventure— I had my dear friends, my favourite haunts, and the food— oh the food! I was visiting an old love who I never quite lost feelings for, but I know deep down inside that we just can't be together.

there's something about san francisco

There just is.

things left behind

My grandad's chair and a few of his things.

the sketchbook project

Art House Co-op's The Sketchbook Project is best described as being "like a concert tour, but with sketchbooks." According the the Art House Co-op website, the project has grown to an astonishing 28,834 artists from 94 different countries, with thousands of sketchbooks that will go on tour around the United States in 2011. At the end of the tour, the sketchbooks will be housed at The Brooklyn Art Library in Brooklyn, New York.

Naturally, I had to be one of the 28,834 artists. I signed up and was sent a plain, 13cm x 21cm kraft-covered Moleskine Cahier notebook. Upon joining the project, you could either choose one of several themes provided or have one randomly selected for you— I chose the theme Boys and Girls, with my interpretation being The Boys and the Girl. These are cropped previews of what I've been working on:



I do hope I can fill the entire 80 page book with drawings before the January 15 deadline!

a bag of crustaceans

I can't think of anything better than beginning the new year with friends and a bag of crustaceans. Priscilla and Angelo took me to the yummy and messy The Boiling Crab in Sacramento, where lobster, crawfish, shrimp and crabs are sold by the pound, steamed and simmered in bags of garlic, spices and sauce. My goodness, for a girl who will passionately eat anything that comes out of the sea, this was heaven in a bag— and you get to eat it with your hands! There's something deliciously childlike about feeding yourself with your fingers— it puts you literally in touch with your food and well, it's just fun.

As I was cracking open my saucy King Crab legs, I couldn't help but think of the Alaskan crab fishermen who brave the violence of the Bering Sea for our bellies. When I lived in SF, I was an avid watcher of the Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch— I cheered on the crew of the Cornelia Marie, Time Bandit and Northwestern as they charged into icy mountainous waves to haul up giant cages of spidery treasure. I'm not a big fan of television, but I was strangely captivated by this show, and often think about it when I watch the fishermen head out to the far tamer Black Sea in Istanbul.




The absence of plates and cutlery makes dining at The Boiling Crab a saucy, garlicky mess— a blissful saucy, garlicky mess. I've never experienced such a thing— how fitting to start a new year by trying something new!