I'd rather be sketching

After the hectic weekend, it is good to get back to doing what I enjoy as much as running; sketching.

The Fata Hotel is located in one of my favourite parts of Kuching. A rich confluence of childhood memories defined by my school, St. Thomas's Primary School and our sister school St Mary's Girls School to the right of the sketch. My grandmother's house is just a short walk up the hill to the right of the sketch; along Jalan Tabuan.
I remember a chendol stall just outside the St. Mary's school gate - doing a brisk business through the steel bars of the school fence during recess. An old man helped by his daughter. Then years later, only the daughter whom I still saw when I returned to Kuching. Now there is just a bus stop where the stall used to stand.

The temple on Wayang street has its counterpart across the street - a Chinese theatre on an elevated plinth which served as a stage. The audience brought their own seats and were entertained with old Chinese plays and drama pieces which (in the old days) were equivalent to news snippets from the home country. It was a versatile civic space; built, maintained and accessible to the local community.

Across town, the modern version of a Civic Centre; a pompous structure that is a far cry from its predecesors.