I was on my way home yesterday when I found a queue forming within Waterway Point. Some bank or insurance company had hired a balloon artist to give out free balloon sculptures. So I got in line! 
Ahead of me in the queue was a secondary school girl still in her school uniform. She’d gotten a chipmunk balloon sculpture that you can see ‘Uncle Bobby’ holding in the picture above. I was blown away! He even gave it a tail AND EYES! Plus a cute little red balloon nose. Since the balloon sculptor was taking requests, I asked for the ‘Enchanted Rose Bell Jar’ (made famous in the Beauty & The Beast movie) in balloon form. He made a balloon base for it so I can place it on my desk. How cool is that? And oh, the ‘rose’ isn’t tied down to anything so you can shake the ‘jar’ and it’ll move.
Here’s why I think Uncle Bobby is a fab Balloon Artist:
#1: His balloon sculptures look fabulous
Maybe he’s into that whole ‘skills upgrading thing’, and always coming up with new designs, practising, honing his craft? I don’t know as I didn’t ask. But it’s clear he’s talented at this. He works at lightning speed AND he still manages to offer eye contact to people in the queue.
#2: He is so entertaining
Watch him make these balloon sculptures and you’ll realise that sometimes certain balloon parts have to be burst. He immediately makes funny noises after each mini explosion so it becomes entertaining. And with his clown getup, I was really trying hard not to laugh.
#3: He’s engaging
He’ll talk to you as he’s making the balloon sculpture for you. And he’ll even get you involved by asking you to hold on to the inflated balloons for him.
Yes, I even asked for his age (he sheepishly said “30 something”) and why he calls himself an “Uncle” (hello? I’m 30+ too). His real name is Steve and his stage name is Bobby. Why Bobby? ‘Cos it sounds like “Po Pi” in Hokkien (he says) which loosely translates to divine protection or blessing?
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I hope Steve a.k.a. Uncle Bobby is back at Waterway Point again today. I’ll certainly want to make another outrageous balloon request and see what he comes up with.
*He has a Facebook page called ‘Uncle Bobby Balloon Art’ – you can head over to FB and check it out.