Q for Quirky
Illustration Commission for Tatler's Alphabet City Series
Quirks
1. I have used a circular cut-out in a void-deck as the setting of the illustration. Void-decks in Singapore have surprisingly quirky designs.
2. The illustration is generously littered with signs that forbid one from doing something. Effective or not, these signs are quirky and inter-twined with Singapore's culture.
3. Before venti and tall cups for our Starbucks, we had coffee (and any other drink) to-go in cheap plastic bags.
4. Singapore is extremely urban, but it is fairly common to cross paths with interesting fauna and flora in Singapore.
5. The cheap but distinctive red chairs in heartland coffeeshops are surprisingly comfortable.
6. I personally can't stand it, but using tissue packs to reserve ('chope') seats in Singapore is a common quirk.
7. Drinking out of these small coffee-cups with distinctive motifs is somehow comforting.
8. Similarly, eating out of these bowls with the distinctive rooster motif is also a very familiar sight.
9. A practice that is going to be gone soon, but for a long while we would use paper-based coupons to pay for car parking.
10. Sights of old uncles (and aunties) playing chess with stray cats and their pet birds around them reminds us to take things slow.
11. The older barber shops and hairdressers with their light poles.
12. Retro kiddie rides which are scattered in many different parts of the island.
13. Distinctive fish shops with their tanks of cichlids and fighting fish jars.
14. Trishaw uncles lazing in the sun.
15. The popular dragon fish kept for luck and fortune.
16. The common ah-beng squatting pose
Spot the Q formed by bougainvillea flowers, ubiquitous across the island and more common than our national flower, the orchid.
2. The illustration is generously littered with signs that forbid one from doing something. Effective or not, these signs are quirky and inter-twined with Singapore's culture.
3. Before venti and tall cups for our Starbucks, we had coffee (and any other drink) to-go in cheap plastic bags.
4. Singapore is extremely urban, but it is fairly common to cross paths with interesting fauna and flora in Singapore.
5. The cheap but distinctive red chairs in heartland coffeeshops are surprisingly comfortable.
6. I personally can't stand it, but using tissue packs to reserve ('chope') seats in Singapore is a common quirk.
7. Drinking out of these small coffee-cups with distinctive motifs is somehow comforting.
8. Similarly, eating out of these bowls with the distinctive rooster motif is also a very familiar sight.
9. A practice that is going to be gone soon, but for a long while we would use paper-based coupons to pay for car parking.
10. Sights of old uncles (and aunties) playing chess with stray cats and their pet birds around them reminds us to take things slow.
11. The older barber shops and hairdressers with their light poles.
12. Retro kiddie rides which are scattered in many different parts of the island.
13. Distinctive fish shops with their tanks of cichlids and fighting fish jars.
14. Trishaw uncles lazing in the sun.
15. The popular dragon fish kept for luck and fortune.
16. The common ah-beng squatting pose
Spot the Q formed by bougainvillea flowers, ubiquitous across the island and more common than our national flower, the orchid.
