Urban Surprises: Cordia dichotoma and Antidesma bunius

It is such a joy to find standing in some quiet forgotten corner in our urban sprawl a tree of rarity that somehow escaped the city's relentless development. Serendipity at its best! Here's two trees that I bummed into recently.

Cordia dichotoma fruits

Tree trunk 

Cordia dichotoma at Still Road

Another Cordia dichotoma I found a few years ago in Yio Chu Kang Road. 

Buni or Antidesma bunius - a tree of past cultivation. Found in Upper East Coast Road

Buni fruits

New Challenges: Oil Painting 2018

Teacher had been very patient and helpful. It was my first class in oil painting. With his guidance, I managed to complete a still life portrait of a brass vase flanked by a porcelain cup and saucer and a sugar pot.

It wasn't a breeze though. I was all seized up in knots at every stroke - wondering what paint to put on canvas. However, near the end, I decidedly 'let go', relaxed and enjoyed my freed self, rendering the wavy lip of the brass vase a last smack of confidence and a belief authentically mine. It felt great.

If that's not the most important lesson I have gained on my first day, what else? Nothing short of a perfect launch towards the golden sunsets to come!

So here I go! Sheet in the canvas, Sailor! Head up to the winds!