-
Stop Daydreaming! AirAsia will fly you there!
-
Wonder Full Show, Marina Bay Waterfront, Singapore
Here is something that I recorded on my Samsung Note 2 to share with you. It is quite short but I hope you will enjoy it.
Wonder Full is an amazing convergence of light, music and sound and the actual duration is 15 minutes. Location: Event Plaza, The Promenade, Singapore.
Showtime: Sunday-Thursday: 8PM, 9:30PM | Friday, Sat: 8PM, 9:30PM, 11PM. -
Gorey-inspired project: E is for Esmeralda
Esmeralda who? Esmeralda from The Hunchback of Notre-Dame story. In the story, she was saved by Quasimodo. I twisted the plot; Quasimodo did not make it there.
-
Gorey-inspired project: D is for Dorothy
Here is Dorothy, died in a field full of poppy flowers. In real life, you won’t die because you smell this flower. Poppy is almost odorless. In Wizard of Oz, it was a symbolism of opium (a drug type), and or death. Frequently, users who smoke it would fall asleep and then die.
-
Architecture and Art: Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi
On my last day in Abu Dhabi, I went to visit Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the largest mosque in United Arab Emirates and the eighth largest mosque in the world. The mosque site is equivalent to the size five football fields approximately.
Pen and watercolor on Daler Rowney Sketchbook.
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque’s design and construction ‘unites the world’, using artisans and materials from many countries including Italy, Germany, Morocco, Pakistan, India, Turkey, Malaysia, Iran, China, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Greece and United Arab Emirates. Natural materials were chosen for much of its design and construction due to their long-lasting qualities, including marble stone, gold, semi-precious stones, crystals and ceramics.
This is the view from main entrance of Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi.
The design of the Sheikh Zayed Mosque has been inspired by both Mughal and Moorish mosque architecture, particularly the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan and the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco being direct influences. The dome layout and floorplan of the mosque was inspired by the Badshahi Mosque and the architecture was inspired by both Mughal and Moorish design. Its archways are quintessentially Moorish and its minarets classically Arab. The design of the mosque can be best described as a fusion of Arab, Mughal and Moorish architecture.
Beautiful columns at the archway.
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque has many special and unique elements: The carpet in the main prayer hall is considered to be the world’s largest carpet made by Iran’s Carpet Company and designed by Iranian artist Ali Khaliqi. This carpet measures 5,627 m2 (60,570 sq ft), and was made by around 1,200-1,300 carpet knotters. The weight of this carpet is 35 ton and is predominantly made from wool (originating from New Zealand and Iran). There are 2,268,000,000 knots within the carpet and it took approximately two years to complete. The companies like amacarpetcleaningmandurah.com need to be contacted if they need any kind of cleaning services.
Inside mosque.
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque has seven imported chandeliers from Germany that incorporate millions of Swarovski crystals. The largest chandelier is the second largest known chandelier inside a mosque, the third largest in the world and has a 10 m (33 ft) diameter and a 15 m (49 ft) height.
Beautiful chandelier.
The 99 names (qualities or attributes) of God (Allah) are featured on the Qibla wall in traditional Kufic calligraphy, designed by the prominent UAE calligrapher – Mohammed Mandi Al Tamimi. The Qibla wall also features subtle fibre-optic lighting, which is integrated as part of the organic design.
Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Zayed_Mosque
http://www.szgmc.ae/en/ -
Gorey-inspired project: C is for Cinderella
Here is Cinderella. In my imagination, something gone so wrong after the clock struck 12 midnight. The pumpkin somehow did not turned back to its original size.
-
Gorey-inspired project: B is for Baloo
Remember Baloo from The Jungle Book? I twisted his fate and in my imagination, he got eaten by Shere Khan, the tiger. How can a tiger resists a bear.