Petrol seller

Posted in Watercolors with tags , , , on January 22, 2013 by Francis Jong

>Brand new year with a brand new start. Hope everyone have a good rest and a begin the year with a fresh start. chinese New Year is just around the corner, wish everyone have a great snake year ahead and farewell to the dragon, it’s a good ride indeed, bumpy but still manage.

This is a painting i did during last year December, we went back to Kuching for christmas. So we did make a trip Grandma old house at Samarahan. Nothing much left of the old house, overgrown with bush and sort, only the rusted zink roof can be seen, hide behind those banana trees. See picture below.

old house

while on the way back saw a few small stalls selling fuel for motorbike. What caught my eyes is the pepsi, coke or sprite bottle used as storage for the volatile fuel. Kinda dangerous but what the heck, i guess business sense rule all other senses, include common sense. I was wondering what happen if the biker cigarette burning aches just somehow blown and contact with the fuel. Unthinkable.

Hope you enjoy this painting.

oil vendor

Cha Kueh Vendor

Posted in Watercolors with tags , , , , , , , on December 31, 2012 by Francis Jong

Since this is going to be the last day of the year 2012 and humanity did not end on the 21st Dec, so i think i will just continue to post and life goes on. Just like to wish all my readers a wonderful New Year celebration, be safe and have fun and hope next year is even more amazing for you.

This is a Cha Kueh vendor, he normally works on a trishaw and parks at street corner or at hawker centre. The Cha Kueh (meaning fry cake in chinese Teochew dialect) is actually stir frying little square shape of soft white carrot cake with garlic and egg. you could order it either spicy or sweet. Very delicious, it’s a chinese Teochew delicacy and usually it’s eaten as breakfast. It can be found almost in any part of Malaysia and Singapore. The big “Wok” (saucer pan) is where the magic happen, mixing all the ingredients with a good fire, in a matter of minutes it’s done. The smell is just mouth-watering.

cha kueh vendor

Noodle Vendor

Posted in Watercolors with tags , , , , , on September 24, 2012 by Francis Jong

It’s been a while now since my last trip going back to hometown, Kuching and taste the wonderful food. A while back i did took some picture of the old Carpenter street and its famous noodle store “Min Joo”, i think they have changed their name to “next cafe”. The old lady is still at helm to cook and prepare the pork soup and noodle. I’ve been eating the noodle and pork soup way back, since secondary school days. The taste till today still the same thanks to the dedication. Even the people who serve at the shop still are of the same bunch, talk about family unity.

Ok, about the food, the dish consist of two bowl. One bowl consist of just dry noodle (just plain noodle with garnish) and another is a pork soup bowl (fill with pork belly, liver, intestine, fish ball and of cause the soup), warm and welcome, just like the Kuching City.

Hope you like this painting, the leading lady still hard at work, always cooking and always stirring the big, hot boiler. Thanks for the wonderful memories and good food.

Reflection

Posted in Watercolors with tags , , , , on September 15, 2012 by Francis Jong

It’s the final quarter of the year, still might not be too late to fulfill any resolution or if there’s any to start with. Well anyhow the days and weeks passes like lightning, with frightening speed. Nowadays i even start to notice some graying on my chin, it’s not all bad news, i take it as a sign that you are now wiser or i hope so. Well, do reflect event that touches our lives, may it be good or bad, keep up the good work, have faith in yourself and pray more. I’m sure you be fine.

Hope you like this painting, it’s a reflection of Melbourne Parliament building while my wife and kid rides the Tram number 35.

Melbourne Tram

Posted in Watercolors on September 3, 2012 by Francis Jong

It’s been a while since my last post here. Busy with work again. Hope everyone fine and well. This is a sketch i made over the weekend. It’s a city tram at Melbourne. I was very thrill to have a ride in it during my visit there last month. It’s was a fun vacation for myself and my family, we thoroughly enjoy the trip.

The tram is called “City Circle” tram number 35. It offer rides to tourist for free, it circle around Melbourne city and some naration along the way, it helps to explain some of the cities attraction.

Hope you like this painting.

A Little part of Kuching

Posted in Watercolors with tags , , on March 3, 2012 by Francis Jong

Wow, it’s been a while since i wrote anything on this blog. Wish everyone who still reading this blog happy, healthy and all the best on anything that you do. Went back to home town kuching during last Chinese New Year. How time flies, it’s March now. Well during the stay, i manage to snap a few photos of lion dance dancing from shops to shops, how nostalgic seeing it especially from centuries old shop houses.

Here’s the painting i did on the wonderful atmosphere of celebration. The crowd is amazing and of cause the load drum and other musical instrument play its role.

Raining Season

Posted in Watercolors with tags , , , , , on November 16, 2011 by Francis Jong

As the title says, rain, rain and more rains. Well it’s the monsoon season now at Kuala Lumpur. Hope it won’t be as bad as Thailand, i hope things are better now and may their livelihood are back to normal. The weatherman predicts heavy then usual rains will hit Malaysia too,it’s forecast to be continuously heavy for the next few months. The government and the relevent agencies are preparing for it, hope it’s just prediction. It’s gloomy but not prolong, sunshine is just behind those dark cloud, brighter days ahead soon.

Raining scene always amaze me, the blurring effect that makes the scenery unreal. It’s really a challenge to put all this on paper, and so i try. Hope you will like this raining scene at Kuala Lumpur. The backdrop is the twin tower and the monorail tracks. What can be worse than got stuck in a traffic jam, dark cloud and the imminent heavy down pour. You be lucky if you are in a car, protected from the elements.

Before:

After:

Lemang Day

Posted in Watercolors with tags , , , , , , on November 8, 2011 by Francis Jong

Well some of you might wonder what is “Lemang”? You can search it from the wiki, oh don’t bother, basically its glutenous rice, mixed with coconut and cook on an open wood fire in a bamboo shoot seal with banana leaf. There you have it, aromatic, sticky and mouth-watering dish, can be eaten in any occasion and most of the time eat it with beef rendang (dried beef with spice) or just chicken curry. Most of the time it’s eaten during festive such as Hari Raya or during the muslim fasting month but it’s not limited to that, you can get it in any other day as a quick snack if you are on the go, say on a road trip along the road and you sure to pass by some small “kampung” or villages which sell these wonderful “lemang”. It’s food that needs to be share, it might be a bit too much to be finished by one person but most important it’s the good time you share with friends or relatives,

This “lemang” stall is set up nearby my house, they sell it almost everyday. Occasionally people drop by and have a take away. The backdrop is a small mosque with the golden top. Heavy cloud and rain in the distance, maybe another “lemang” will be nice, chewing on a hot snack, the welcoming cool breeze and listening to the rain drops.

Hope you enjoy your “lemang” and may you have a great and wonderful week ahead.

Ray ban

Posted in Watercolors with tags , , , on October 31, 2011 by Francis Jong

Looking back at some old photo during the weekend and stumble on this particular one. I was in Shell Port Dickson, training to become an Operation Technician. I think it’s one of those really good times, hanging out with all the boys, young and naive. Drinking beers and be foolish. It’s just great, you, the sea breeze and the night shifts. SOmetimes during the off days, just ride the old bike (bicycle) and strolling leisurely along the beach shore and enjoy a hot bun (big pau). Yes, fashion of those days are imitating Stallone and Kurt Russell macho style. Tight jeans and Ray-Ban sunglasses.

Hope you like this painting and do have a smashing week ahead and be safe.

Mother and Child 2

Posted in Watercolors with tags , , , , on October 24, 2011 by Francis Jong

Thought of doing a portrait over the weekend, this time leave the white as background. So i refer to the photo which we took at a photo shot for kids during mid of the year. I’m still amaze on how the photographer able to capture my kid. I myself can’t even capture him smiling. Now that is skill.

Hope you enjoy this painting. You have a great week ahead and be safe. Keep smiling please.