National Exhibitions

On Sunday John and I went in to Bugis to have lunch before we met our friend. We decided to visit the Food Junction's food court, this only being our second visit even though we have been in the area many times. I had no specific desires and so John had to take the lead. After passing by every stall possible we retraced our steps and ordered Indonesian food. John had nasi briyani, chicken breast with curry rice, and I had ayam penyet, a mild chicken leg with plain rice under chicken floss (I also added more vegetables than the lady served me). We had not yet reserved a table, by placing napkins or something like it on top, and thought we would find one quite easily in a very busy food court at the busiest lunch hour on a Sunday. But before we went to hunt down a table we bought drinks. Might as well since we had no idea where we were going. We had food in one hand and drinks in the other and started looking for a table. There! Without much confusion or searching we found one, made our way to it before it was taken and had our meal hot and tasty. Very good - the chicken floss on top of the rice was delicious!

We were close to the National Museum and so we decided to walk there. It was a thirty four degrees hot winter day (so strange) and we were sweating before even making it out in the sun. We used John's new phone to get directions and started walking. Soon I realised we had walked there once before, with Annika and Thomas in September 2016. I had to send them the information about our situation and got a response that they were having minus five degrees and a grey sky. Such different worlds and yet the same planet.

We arrived at the museum some half an hour before we were supposed to meet our friend. At first we thought we would go inside and see some exhibitions without him. There was a small line up to the counter where we then could see the pricing for the two exhibitions. One being the permanent gallery showing Life of Singapore and the other was down in the basement called What Is Not Visible Is Not Invisible. We were unsure which ones our friend wanted to see and concluded we should wait. We sat outside in the open doorway, which cooled us with freezing AC from the lobby, until John received a text saying our friend would be even later than expected. Business meeting or something like it.

John and I bought two tickets for all exhibitions, costing us eighteen Singaporean dollars each. We took the elevator up to the second floor (yes, we were at the first floor but who can handle stairs when it is sweaty business to just exist?) and entered the first room - Life in Singapore: Modern Colony. It displayed clothes and furniture from the 1920s to 1930s. I found it a bit bleak and boring, which was sad since I truly enjoy hearing about that decade. I found a gramophone that I would want to own, but sadly it was hidden behind reflective glass and I could not get a good look.

Second room showed Life in Singapore: Surviving Syonan (~1940s - 1950s). Personally I thought this was the most interesting since I know shamefully little about history. I had John hanging over my shoulder while reading facts hanging on the wall. I walked around and understood the people, the why and how, the build up since, and at one point it dawned on me - this was not long ago. While in there our friend arrived and came to meet us. I greeted and then walked away, perhaps looked a bit insolent but I was deeply focused on the story in the room and the artefacts from that time.

Third exhibition we saw was called Life in Singapore: Growing Up (1950s - 1960s) where they had the an old bike belonging to LKY, the Father of Singapore. It was mainly about school - songs, books, toys, etc. but in a smaller room furthest in I found something I have never seen and was mesmerised by. I forgot to take a photo of the description so I have no idea what is it called. Apart from this confusing creature there were three windows displaying different things. Our friend explained them. In one there was small games like marbles, small sandbags and a slingshot. In the next one over they showed hairstyles from the time when Elvis Presley was huge. In the last they showed food which our friend explained was special treats from the different nationalities living in Singapore during that time.

Last exhibition that is permanently there was Life in Singapore: Voices of Singapore (1970s). This room had a strange display of pictures from around Singapore during that decade, but it was made of several small screens that did not lay flat together but stuck out from the wall in different forms. Looked like cubes in various sizes placed in an illogical order. I sat down behind two men that enjoyed the view and soon I discovered that those two men were from Sweden! The world is huge but our planet is small. I enjoyed their conversation much more than the photos from Singapore. After they headed to the backroom I looked at the posters of movies, covers from music albums and a dress and a suit from a famous performance which I knew nothing about.

    In the backroom there were seats made to look like cars to create the feeling of a drive-in theatre. The screen showed old videos from the 70s. I took a seat at the back of a truck but realised it was not very comfortable. When a couple of women left, John wanted to sit in the front car and so we moved over there. The seats were comfortable but now we had the frame around the front window of the car in the middle of the screen.

We were then done with the permanent exhibitions and crossed into the Glass Atrium. It reminded me of an airport in Stockholm. The vast space to the ceiling, the escalators everywhere, the walls covered by windows. It was a lifting feeling to walk out there. We entered the Glass Rotunda and found ourselves on a bridge where the ceiling was bent and showed falling flowers. Immediate interest! We crossed the bridge and came out on a ramp which led in a full circle around the spherical room. Along the ramp was a playing video of a forest. To be honest not very good looking or well made since the animals were stiff and got stuck. It was still lovely to see. It went from daytime, to a cave (when under the platform from where the forest had begun) and into the night of the forest. 

At the end of the ramp we came into the room underneath the bridge where this exhibition had started. Inside there was a fair amount of people laying on the floor, occupying huge pillows. I found a spot on one of the pillows where two girls tried to take it all to themselves. I puffed it up and asked John to lie down next to me. Suddenly the flowers were falling all around us. A forest grew around us and moon bears sat washing themselves in the night. It was peaceful and relaxing. 

There was a short exhibition about old trees. It was not very interesting. The photos were bleak which for me lost all of the trees energy and grandiosity. I suppose it was to get the feeling of it being really old photos but when photos looked like that the trees in the pictures were not that huge. I think the idea fell flat and it was a sad walk-through.

We came out into the Singapore History Gallery which displayed when the British arrived and made it their colony. There was a short opening of how it was before, with a ship to walk around and then the story of who came there and what happened. John read some of it to me and I understood some of it too. Not much. By that time my feet were beginning to hurt and I had to sit down while they kept walking around in the open space. John liked the hat tunnel and we strolled through it gleefully.

We kept walking further in and was suddenly in the invasion years again. A video showed how Japan worked its way down to Singapore and how many years that took. A small tank was in the middle of the room together with a chart of the commands in the Singaporean army. I sat down on old uncomfortable chairs to hear a man talk about the day it was clear they had given up. "The planes sounded differently. For days they had gone boom boom but that day it was just the sound of them passing by." (It is not a direct quote, but something like it.)

There was a lot to see in that section but I felt like I had enough information to process from the exhibition on the second floor so I did not read that much. Next room contained cardboard men with recorded voices and a podium where, if you stood just right, you could hear a speech from their recently deceased leader NAME? He seemed like a great person and a good man. He talked like he cared about the country and I am kind of sad that I missed out on him, having moved here only a years or two after he passed away.

After that I really wanted some sugar and the exit was just across from a café. My legs steered me in that direction but when I had entered John pointed out that we only had one more exhibition to see and then we could leave for dinner. I agreed and we escalated down to the basement.

This one was called What Is Not Visible Is Not Invisible. We showed our tickets and entered. This was a maze of small rooms showing things. First room was a thin blanket held up by ropes fastened in the ceiling. Underneath was a fan blowing up and forming a bulb in the sheet. Very inspirational? I have no idea. It continued like this. Videos showing nothing - a man sleep talking for four hours, a horse standing in the middle of a road for one and a half hour, a light slowly growing until the screen is completely white. It was very pretentious. Only fun room was when we came to the middle. There we found a ring with lamps where I stood and enjoyed myself. Then John saw a room full of balloons and could not contain himself and scattered inside. He laughed so much! He could not stand still when I wanted to take photos and when he did he wanted to make it extravagant (hide amongst the balloons and jump out in time for the photo). There was also a sheet hanging from the wall in the room, covered in blue paint and when I moved closer to read the name of the art it said Paint on sheet. Very inspirational!

We found a bomb shelter, which our friend said was not really a bomb shelter but a strong room. I found a camera in a corner and the screen outside so I asked John to step inside. Being the great man I love deeply he started acting out and striking pose after pose as if he was really in a strong room. At the stand where the screen was I found a large paper, Shelter Schematics, showing what potential psychological settings might happen when in there. On the other side there was a small crop-out shelter which I will not be doing.

We left the museum around five and took our friends' car to Arab Street. John have long wanted to go there but we had not before that day. It was beautiful, felt like being abroad all of a sudden! We searched for a place to have tap beer and dinner but were unable to find both. We decided to sit down at the most crowded bar and have appetisers. We drank really good beer that was well needed after a long day walking around the museum and also ordered satay to share. Here you get seven sticks of chicken and beef, a bowl of red onion and pressed rice. Also a bowl with the satay sauce of course. It was really good, I had the most because it was that good. No shame!

I looked at the map and discovered that one of the stared places was nearby. I have marked some restaurants we would like to visit and when in that area I can find exactly where to go. So I led the way to Kaw Kaw SG. It was a burger place with a lot on their menu, some expensive and some to a relatively good price. We ordered and waited. I had Classic Chicken which was a fried thigh between buns. It was good, not the best ever but surprisingly tasty! Maybe I had low expectations but it managed to exceed them at least. To that I had nachos but fries was also an option which John took to his Smokey Beef Bacon. Sadly enough the bacon was very chewy and he had to take it out of the burger. I tried a piece of the bacon and sat for minutes chewing. Bacon bad, burger good!

Of course our friend wanted to share dessert with us and we are not people that say no to desserts. He drove us to a side street near Bugis and ordered some very Chinese sweets. We had rice-balls with sesame inside, floating in a sea of sesame sauce. Ice cream with mango and shaved ice. A plate of mangoes which I tried to eat all by myself but John stopped me. We were really full after that. The time was almost nine when we eventually headed home. Our friend was kind enough to drive us. It was a good day. Both of us really enjoy museums and good food. I will start looking for another to visit soon!