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Documenting life in Shanghai

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  • Art Journal Projects
  • Creative Happenings

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  • Documenting Life,  Travel journals,  Travels

    Documenting Rome: A Travel Journal Filled with Memories

    October 15, 2026 / No Comments

    This is the much-delayed second post from my Rome trip during the Jubilee Year last October. Life rather got in the way, so this one is fashionably late—but perhaps that’s fitting. Revisiting these pages has been a lovely way to relive the trip all over again. Rome in October was buzzing with pilgrims, tourists, and school groups (I realise that my photos don’t include any of the crowds! 😅). Exploring the city on my own during those first couple of days brought plenty of memorable moments—including accidentally letting myself into the wrong Airbnb building and then promptly getting locked inside! It wasn’t quite the start I’d imagined, but it certainly…

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    Travel Journal | Singapore

    July 2, 2026

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  • Documenting Life,  Travel journals,  Travels

    Travel Journal | Singapore

    July 2, 2026 / 2 Comments

    It’s been a little while since I last updated my blog. Life has been wonderfully full lately, so both my blog and Instagram have taken a bit of a back seat. But I wanted to share a recent trip that has already become a favourite in my travel journal. A couple of weeks ago, my team and I travelled to Singapore for our annual trip, timing it with a three-day public holiday to minimise time away from work. Before we left, my weather app insisted it would rain every single day we were there. Thankfully, the forecast was far more dramatic than reality, and we were treated to plenty of…

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    Travel Journal | Australia

    March 31, 2017

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  • Jeju Island
    Travel journals

    Travel Journal | Jeju Island

    July 17, 2025 / No Comments

    At the end of May, I made another trip to Jeju Island in South Korea. I’ve always wanted to see this place after a friend told me I should go. I organised our company retreat for a few days of team-building and relaxation. Another bonus was that it’s relatively cheap to fly there from Shanghai. This trip would be a great break to take before my kids return to Shanghai for their summer break. Let me take you on a trip around Jeju Island through my lens and my sketches. Day 1 Arrived in warm sunny weather. Immediately, we got a van to take us to the eastern side of…

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    Me and my Traveler’s Notebooks

    September 17, 2016

    Postrip Part 1: Europe Travel Album

    September 8, 2017

    Creating Art During Quarantine

    January 18, 2022
  • December Daily,  Documenting Life

    Documenting December 2023

    December 12, 2024 / No Comments

    Of all my December Daily projects, this one holds the record for taking the longest to complete! After 13 years of doing this, I usually finish by the end of December and proudly place the album on the shelf. However, this time, life sidetracked me—I only made it halfway to Day 12 before everything else took over. I’m sure many of you can relate to the challenges of finding time for our creative projects amidst the hustle and bustle of life. By November, I was finally determined to finish the album—and I did! The process was not just about documenting the days but also about navigating my emotions and finding…

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    Documenting | December Daily 2014

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  • Documenting Life,  Travel journals,  Travels

    A Summer of Transitions

    November 27, 2024 / No Comments

    The past two months have been a whirlwind of significant life events, including graduation and university preparations. The journey involved challenges but also moments of gratitude, connection, and reflection, documented through sketches and memories shared on Instagram.

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    Travel Album | USA+CAN Summer 2017 (Part 2)

    November 10, 2017

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  • Travel journals,  Travels,  Urban Sketching

    Travel Journal | Osaka 2024

    May 21, 2024 /

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    Travel Journal | Kalanggaman Island

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    Jeju Island

    Travel Journal | Jeju Island

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  • Documenting Life,  Project Life,  Scrapbook,  Shanghai living

    The Year 2022 That Was

    March 2, 2023 / No Comments

    GRATEFUL! That’s the only word that somehow keeps popping up in my head while I was finishing up my 2022 Project Life album. Honestly, there had been so many events that happened during 2022 that just made me feel so angry and frustrated and overwhelmed. But as I was going through our life in photos, I cannot help feel rather ashamed for letting all the negativity overshadow ALL the goodness of the past year. It had been an emotional rollercoaster to say the least. You can read some more via this post. We had the most strict (to say the least) lockdown which was initially slated for 4-5 days that…

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    Urban Sketching: The Bund

    September 1, 2023

    #the100shanghaivignettes Part 4

    March 10, 2023

    #WEEKINTHELIFE2015

    October 25, 2015
  • Art Journals,  December Daily,  Documenting Life

    Documenting December

    January 19, 2023 / No Comments

    What can I say? December turned out so completely different from what I had envisioned to be and what I had hoped it to be. Things that were part of our everyday almost since 2020 like scanning QR codes, PCR testing at least every 72 hrs, checking of green codes in public places and other restrictions, were suddenly lifted. Suddenly, the COVID virus spread like wildfire and once again, Shanghai buckled down from COVID infections, everything (at least almost everything) went upside down fast. I was feeling like another lockdown (like what happened in March/April of 2022) was happening as the city suddenly went silent by mid-December. Schools had already…

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  • Documenting Life,  Travel journals,  Travels

    Travel Journal | Holland

    October 10, 2022 / No Comments

    The final leg of our Europe 2019 adventure was Holland or the Netherlands. Yes, it is indeed 2019 because for so many reasons, this journal took longer to finish. Unlike the other 2 journals of this trip, I actually didn’t get any pages done while on the trip. I had ran out of paste/glue by the time we were almost halfway through our Finland trip. And we did try to find stationery stores but either ran out of time or just couldn’t find any. Lesson learned: Bring more the next time we actually can travel out of China again (yes, it’s been 3 years… and counting… since pandemic hit). For…

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    Travel Journal | Russia

    November 14, 2019
    Taipei 2016

    Travel Journal | Taipei 2016

    June 20, 2016

    Documenting December 2023

    December 12, 2024
  • Documenting Life,  Project Life,  Scrapbook

    Project Life 2021

    June 7, 2022 / No Comments

    Not sure how many scrapbookers out there who still do Project Life but over the years, my experience with this project has been mixed… It has been rewarding big time and at times, draining. These past few years, I’ve stopped buying or subscribing to kits because I feel the key is to: Use what I have on hand Focus more on the stories and document it Importantly lessen the consumerism aspect Anyways, the #shanghailockdown2022 has certainly given me time to finish up this 2021 album. This is a 6×8 album compared to the 9×12 that I have had the past few years (I do have 12×12 in the beginning). After…

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    Get Messy 2022

    February 25, 2022

    December Daily 2016 | Part 2

    February 6, 2017

    Adventures of the #fiveoclockclub

    November 23, 2023
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Latest Instagram Post
Walked around with my friend, Mo, and ended up in one of Shanghai’s most touristy areas yesterday. I think the sheer amount of people suddenly felt overwhelming 😓. We were lucky to find a place to sit, sketch, and chat. 🤦🏽‍♀️ Plus, I broke my pencil ✏️ in half 🫣.

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Shanghai Sketching Groups

Blogposts

  • Oct 15, 2026 Documenting Rome: A Travel Journal Filled with Memories
  • Jul 02, 2026 Travel Journal | Singapore
  • Feb 25, 2026 Embarking on the #100daysofmailcollage
  • Nov 13, 2025 Sketching Rome: Two Sketchbooks, Ten Days, Countless Moments
  • Aug 21, 2025 A Whirlwind of a Summer
© 2025 Arlyna
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