Went to NUS Museum earlier today. It’s my 10th museum/gallery visit for the year so far.

That’s cool right. It’s just May and I have already visited a total of 10 museums/galleries in Singapore this year. I have just done the 10th earlier today with a visit to the NUS Museum (NUS stands for National University of Singapore). Soon, I will be running out of cool museums/galleries to visit in this city state (as I have already visited many other museums/galleries in Singapore in the past before 2024 too). Haha…

NUS Museum is the oldest university museum in Singapore and is actually located right besides the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (that I have just visited two months ago) in the NUS main campus at Kent Ridge. It took me nearly one and a half hour to reach there from my home in Paya Lebar. The museum is established in 1955 and the entrance to the museum is free for everyone.

The museum is surprisingly quite huge, has 3 levels and contains over 8000 artefacts and artworks divided across four collections. The collections include Chinese, Indian and Southeast Asian materials, consisting of traditional sculptures and paintings, bronzes, jades, ceramics, textiles, and modern and contemporary art. Some of the collections date back to several thousand years ago. Here are some of the pictures I took during my visit to the museum earlier today;

Some of the exhibits are quite fascinating and thought provoking (but there are some that look way inferior though and not worth putting up for display…just my personal thought). It would be cool if NUS is actively obtaining more collections so that this museum could be further expanded not only for the tourists but also for students especially those who are pursuing higher studies in art or history. I spent close to 2 hours in the museum; very pleasant visit and it was not crowded.

Spent my Saturday in the two cooled conservatories at Gardens by the Bay; Cloud Forest and Flower Dome.

I think this is my fourth or fifth time of my visit to the the pair of huge glass-covered conservatories at Gardens by the Bay (named Cloud Forest and Flower Dome respectively). This time I’m heading there to check out the sakura blossom theme (2024 edition) happening only in this month (from 22 March to 21 April 2024 to be exact) in Flower Dome.

Don’t have the opportunity or budget to go to Japan to see sakura trees (cherry blossom) and so this is a good alternative (much more economical because it’s only SGD20 to enter both conservatories). Haha…Weather has been intensely warm recently too. Hence, it’s good to spend the hot afternoon inside these air-conditioned glasshouses. And of course there’s so much to see in there.

Me and my friend first went in to the Cloud Forest and spent a little over an hour in there. Scenes of cooling mist, playful elevated walkways, beautiful waterfall and sprouting landscapes in there continue to overwhelm me despite having visited the place multiple times. Even the giant column-less glass structure itself is an impressive sight to see along with spectacular views of the outside (Marina Bay Sands, CBD skyline, etc).

After that, we moved to the adjacent Flower Dome. Crowds are visibly larger in here due to the sakura blossom theme only happening in this conservatory. The air-conditioning here is also noticeably colder compared to Cloud Forest. Mesmerized by all the colourful and fascinating flowers (and sculptures/artistic installations) on display in here. There’s quite a huge variety of flowers in here. There are also various mini-gardens dedicated to different regions of the world.

The highlight of our visit today is of course the cherry blossom trees (and peach blossom too) set at the centre of the conservatory along with some gorgeous Japanese themed decorations such as suspended colourful paper cranes, Torri (traditional Japanese gate), replica of Golden Pavilion of Rokuonji Temple in Japan, paper lanterns, wishing well, etc. We spent about two hours in there and ended our visit after a quick glance through the gift shop at the exit.

Beautiful, isn’t it? As mentioned earlier, I have visited both conservatories a couple of times already and yet I still find the place very captivating and deserve repeated visits. The only thing is that it is weekend today and so there’s just too many people in there. We then made our way to the nearby Satay by the Bay hawker centre to have our dinner (got to eat my favourite satay there) and then walked back to the Marina Bay Sands waterfront promenade to see the daily water and light show called Spectra (I watched it for countless time already) before calling it a day.

Explored Fort Canning Park today. There’s so much to see here.

Ohh…it’s already the last day of the month. The Easter long weekend is ending in a few hours too. I spent my afternoon today at the Fort Canning Park. I have been to this park before few years ago but that particular visit was quite a brief one and didn’t cover many parts of the park.

Today I decided to explore every corner of this huge 18-hectare hill park. It was also not too sunny (cloudy with occasional rain in between) during my visit to the park early today. Once arrived at the park, I climbed a lot of steps to reach to the top of the 48-metres high hill where Raffles Garden, Raffles House and Fort Canning Lighthouse are located. Raffles House was once a place of residence for Sir Stamford Raffles, the British colonial official who was largely credited for the founding of contemporary Singapore.

I then walked the entire loop of the park that surrounds the Fort Canning Reservoir. I first passed through the Sang Nila Utama Garden (a historical garden with a series of Javanese split gates and ornamental pool) and then the Shrine of Sultan Iskandar Shah (or famously known as Parameswara, the last Sultan of this island kingdom). There are actually a lot of historical sites within this park.

I then went to visit the Fort Canning Heritage Gallery located inside the Fort Canning Centre building at the park right in front of the Fort Canning Green. The gallery spans two levels and traces the rich history of the hill and showcases the rare artefacts found there. After that, I checked out the adjacent 9-Pound Cannon, Artisan’s Garden (archeological excavation site with discovered artefacts that show possibility of a palace of a Malay kingdom on Fort Canning Hill), Spice Garden (replica of first experimental botanical garden by Stamford Raffles) and Farquhar Garden (previously owned by William Farquhar, the first ruler of British colony of Singapore).

After passing through the ASEAN Sculpture Garden, I made my way to the famous Tree Tunnel at the park. This is the most popular spot of the entire park due to a spot along the spiral staircase with a circular void above for fantastic pictures. There were so many people queueing for the photo spot eventhough it is already drizzling.

I then went to see the Fort Gate and visited the Battlebox, a historic World War II bunker constructed under the hill as an emergency, bomb-proof command centre during the Malayan Campaign and the Battle of Singapore. It is now a museum depicting the final days of the Battle of Singapore (when British lost the island to Japan invasion). Walking inside the underground labyrinth structure here makes me felt like I was in a movie set for a horror movie. Pretty cool experience visiting this museum though.

After that, I walked past the Jubilee Park and saw the Forbidden Spring (or known as ‘Pancur Larangan’, where the wife and consorts of the Malay kings used to bathe). I then reached the end of the loop after passing through the Five Kings’ Walk (a short walking trail with storyboards about Singapore’s five kings in the 14th century). There’s some good views over the city from this pathway leading back to the Raffles Garden.

I then made my way back home after spending 3 hours at the park. If you are going in a slow and a more relaxed pace (and if you are a history buff), you could easily spend more than half a day over there at this huge park located right in the middle of the city and has a lot to offer to visitors. There’s just so much things to see over there.

Went to the National Museum of Singapore today. It was my 4th museum visit for the year.

I was getting quite a severe sunburn after returning from the island hopping trip on last weekend. First time I’m getting sunburn to the point that both of my hands were very red and painful despite applying soothing aloe vera gel every day (now no longer painful but felt itchy and skin starts to peel off). I must be very tanned now as even my colleagues told me that I look ‘burnt’. Haha…

I was free this weekend and that means I’m up to continue on my mission to explore Singapore’s museums (including galleries) this year. I also would not want to go anywhere outdoors for now as it has been blazing hot recently (I also do not want to continue to harm/burn my skin anymore…haha). Museums would be the perfect place as they are indoors and air-conditioned. For today, I went to the mother of all museums in Singapore; the National Museum of Singapore.

It is my 4th museum visit for the year so far. I have actually been to this museum few years ago but could not remember much. It is the oldest museum in the country and is also one of the largest museums in Asia. Admission to the museum is complimentary for Singaporeans and permanent residents as usual except for access to special gallery/exhibition.

One point to note here is that some major sections of the museum are currently closed due to on-going renovation works unfortunately. Anyway, I do spent a good 2 hours plus in the museum in the afternoon just now. I was particularly very engaged to the Singapore History Gallery section on Level 1. This huge section charts the development of the island as it was known throughout the years as Temasek, Singapura, a Crown Colony, Syonan-To and finally Singapore.

My visit today was slightly affected by a guided tour with a huge group of tourists; constantly interrupting my access/views and their docent spoke too loud when she was explaining to her group. I have to switch areas to avoid them. Anyway, I would be certainly coming back to visit this museum again once all of its refurbishment works are done.

Chill Saturday at the Peranakan Museum.

Finally, I’m back to resume my museum hopping mission on this weekend after having not able to do so since January. If you didn’t know, I had actually given myself a mission to visit as many museums or galleries in Singapore as I can this year. It is like I have given myself a new hobby on my free weekends although I’m not really a museum enthusiast.

Anyway, I do like to see interesting collections/displays though (but I will skip those explanation parts usually…haha) and will always be fascinated by the architecture of the museum itself. This time, I’m heading to Armenian Street to visit Peranakan Museum. The museum showcases the history of Peranakan cultures in Singapore as well as other Peranakan communities in Southeast Asia.

The below description from the museum explains the origin of ‘Peranakan’; South East Asia has long been a crossroads of the world, where trade has stimulated cultural exchange. Merchants and other travellers have connected the region to China, India, Middle East and Europe. Many of these people settled in this region and intermarried into local communities, creating a vibrant hybrid cultures which today are widely referred to as ‘Peranakan’.

The museum is not too huge and has 3 levels of galleries housed within a beautiful heritage building. Visit to this museum is complimentary for Singaporean and Permanent Resident (similarly to many other museums in Singapore too). I spent a little over an hour in there and had a great time exploring the various little sections of the museum. There wasn’t too many visitors during my visit early this afternoon too, making the visit more peaceful and relaxing.

There are a lot of instances where I took close-up of insanely beautiful and intricate details of the displays ranging from batik and jewellery to ceramic and even furniture. They were so cool! That’s it for my highlight of the museum visit today. I do wish the Peranakan Museum to be a bit larger though and has more seating areas for visitors. Now, which museum should I visit next?

Asian Civilisations Museum is my first museum stop of the year.

I think it has become one of my goals this year to visit as many museums/galleries as possible. There is actually quite a number of museums in Singapore that I can visit on my free time and it’s mostly free (as I’m a permanent resident here and gets to enjoy the no-fee admission benefit).

Just last month, I went to visit the National Gallery Singapore. Early this month, I had a brief visit to Singapore City Gallery at the URA Centre during my lunch time nearby my office. I will be going back for a more comprehensive visit to this gallery next time.

Today, I paid a visit to Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM), located near Raffles Place MRT station. The museum which looks small from the outside is actually quite big on the inside. It is Singapore’s museum of Asian antiquities and decorative art. The museum focuses on connections among cultures of Asia, and between Asia and the world through its beautiful collection of masterpieces.

The museum has 3 levels of galleries (divided into several themes), 2 restaurants and a souvenir shop. It took me about 2 hours to walk through the museum. It could easily take longer if you are keen to read more about the displays (which are quite impressive!). Here below are some of the photos I took during my visit early today;

Got to see all of the above free of charge. There is a special exhibition section that will incur charges and I give that a miss. This museum is way less crowded, quiet, comfortable and has some marvelous lightings to showcase the exhibits.

Over 3 hours of contemplation today in National Gallery Singapore.

We have made it to the last month of the year in what would be ‘the most wonderful time of the year’ in reference to Andy Williams’ classic Christmas song. I do really hope it would be wonderful with my incoming birthday, year-end staycation with family in Singapore, anticipated year end’s bonus, and of course the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Usually I would go for an outdoor leisurely walk on a fine Saturday but today I opted for somewhere indoor instead. The first place that came to my mind immediately is the National Gallery Singapore. I have been there once before (years ago) and since the exhibitions in there are ever changing, there is no reason to put off the idea of repeated visit to the gallery. I do not need to pay a single cent too to visit the gallery as I am a Singapore PR (except for admission to special exhibitions).

It’s a gorgeous looking building even from the exterior itself. The fascinating architecture of the complex that integrates contemporary elements to old buildings gave a masterful balance and harmony between heritage and modernity.

It took me over 3 hours to visit all the exhibitions (except for one that requires additional fees) that span across multiple levels of this massive gallery. I must say that the layout and circulation passages in this complex are quite confusing though. Visitor could miss out some galleries within the complex easily. Check out some of the pictures I took in the galleries below (pictures are allowed). There are a variety of exhibits on display. My principle when visiting any art gallery is that ‘you don’t need to understand art to enjoy art’. Haha…

By the way, there is also a rooftop area where visitors can observe some occasional outdoor installations, enjoy great views of the city and Marina Bay Sands, dine in the rooftop restaurant, or simply just chill up there.

National Gallery Singapore is definitely a great place to visit for both locals and tourists even if you are not the kind of people that are into arts. I have spent a good 3 hours in there today, observing, analyzing and even contemplating beyond the displayed arts.

Long weekend with family at Genting Highlands and had fun at its outdoor theme park.

Starting my post with a warm greeting to all my Hindu friends a Happy Deepavali. May this Festival of Lights bring peace and joy to you and your family. Thanks to the holiday on Monday today which gives us all an extended weekend. I took a day leave on last Friday and hence I got a long 4-days break (it still feels insufficient though…haha).

(Image source: The Brunei Subreddit)

I returned to KL on last Friday by express bus. I stayed only a night at my home as I went up to Genting Highlands for the weekend with my family for 3 days 2 nights stay. My eldest sister’s family also joined along. By the way, the view from my room is legit.

The first day up at Genting was quite a bad day for me. After I did a brief shopping at the SkyAvenue Complex, I then joined my parents at the casino. Besides than losing some money in the casino (my numbers just won’t show up in my roulette games), I also lost my Airpods Pro in there. It must have slipped out from my back pocket when I was there sitting down for my games. I have just bought it less than 2 months ago.  I only realized I lost it after I had a supper and then returned to my hotel’s room. I even made my way back to the casino to look for it and asked at the security office but to no success.

I have to buy it again soon (what a pain to my wallet…). Well, it is what it is. Got to still enjoy the rest of my trip here. On Sunday, me, my sister and her eldest son went to the Genting Skyworlds Theme Park. It was my first time visiting this outdoor theme park which had undergone huge transformation and only reopened last year after multiple delays. It costs RM151 per adult for the admission fee.

We were able to play most of the rides or attractions available in the park which is not huge though (and some of the attractions are not ready while few others also not available due to technical issues). Many rides will get your head spinning and dizzy. My three most favourite rides would be the ‘Independence Day: Defiance’ (flying theatre attraction), ‘Invasion of the Planet of the Apes’ (3D indoor ride) and ‘Acorn Adventure’ (roller coaster). These three are also among the most popular rides in the park too.

It was very rushed for us in the theme park as a lot of time was wasted on queueing and walking back and forth to reach to the next ride that we have made virtual reservation. We had to skip some of the rides and also missed our lunch too (only had a quick snack at the middle of the day). We stayed in the park till its closing time at 6pm to make the most out of it (we spent about 6 hours in there). Weather was on our side yesterday for us to enjoy the theme park (clear and sunny all day) which is in contrast to the usual misty and rainy outdoor in Genting Highlands.

In the evening, I went back to the casino for one last time (ended up losing some bucks again…). Anyway, it’s okay as I would just treat it as a little entertainment without the winning part. We made our way back down earlier today and I have a bit of a time now writing this post at home. A moment later, I got to go straight to airport for flight back to Singapore in the evening. Time flies. My long break is ending with quite a fun trip (but used up a lot more money than expected though…haha). Had to get back to work tomorrow to earn back on what’s been lost.

Becoming a tour guide for a friend for the weekend.

A friend of mine came over to visit Singapore. Here comes my role again to be a free-of-charge tour guide to bring my friend to explore as many main sights as possible over the weekend. Fortunately, I do not need to drag my office work to the weekend this round (been doing so for the past weekends of this month…I manage to finish the work for the week right before 2am on Friday’s night/ literally Saturday’s morning).

I first brought my friend to Chinatown for lunch yesterday and then visited the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple which is located in the same area. It is arguably the most famous Chinese temple in Singapore. Besides than the ground level that has the main prayer hall, the temple also has upper floors of galleries opened for public access.

We then went over to Orchard, the most bustling shopping street in the country. We explored the ION Orchard mall and Wisma Atria mall (and had dinner at the latter). Halloween is not even over and Christmas decorations are already starting to appear along the street. Christmas is still almost two months away!

As evening arrives, we made our way to Marina Bay Sands to watch the daily light and water show at the promenade. I have watched it countless times and hoping that it will be replaced with a new one though. After that, we walked over the mall, passing through the iconic hotel towers and reached another not-to-be-missed attraction for tourist in Singapore; the Gardens by the Bay. We were there for another show (this one is light and sound show) happening also daily at the Supertree Groove. We ended the day back at Chinatown and had dessert as supper.

I still have a bit of time left today with my friend before he leaves later in the afternoon. I brought him to visit the top floor deck (50th storey) of The Pinnacle@Duxton for spectacular views of the city, Besides than being an award-winning architectural masterpiece, the complex is also the world’s tallest public residential buildings. I have been up here before few years ago and the views never get old. The admission fee is still priced at affordable SGD$6 per pax. It’s also a very beautiful clear day today (very sunny too) and hence I could see all the way to Indonesia from up there on one side.

After that, we went to Plaza Singapura mall for lunch and a brief window shopping before saying goodbye to my friend. My role as tour guide officially comes to an end. Haha…I’m enjoying it. October 2023 has been a really exciting and eventful month; I was so heavily occupied with work and at the same time got to enjoy the weekends going to different places. Overall, it just feels so overwhelming.

Sleepy Sunday morning at Bird Paradise @ Mandai.

What an eventful weekend! In less than 4 hours after I reached home at around 3am today (from my visit to the Halloween Horror Nights 11 at Universal Studios Singapore last evening), I head out again. Definitely not getting enough sleep. By the way, you can check out my review/first-time experience of the Halloween event at USS in my previous post below.

Where was I heading out on this early Sunday morning when all I need was a much needed sleep after the night I just had? I went to visit the Bird Paradise at Mandai Wildlife Reserve with a friend. My kind landlord gave me a pair of admission tickets to a community event in the bird park today (which grant access to the park subsequently). It’s free and so why not? Haha. (Normal admission price is SGD$48 for an adult!).

We entered the park at around 8.30am and went straight to the Sky Amphitheatre to watch a special bird presentation along with the community event ceremony which is also attended by Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Lawrence Wong. The bird show was okay but nothing extraordinary (except for a part where a parrot sings ‘Happy Birthday’ song!). After that, we explored all the different sections of the bird park (Crimson Wetlands, Wings of Asia, Australian Outback, Amazonian Jewels, Heart of Africa, Lory Loft, Mysterious Papua, Winged Sanctuary, Songs of the Forest and Penguin Cove).

The park is quite huge but we manage to walk through the entire park in less than 3 hours. That’s mainly due to us not being keen birdwatchers and that I am still feeling exhausted from the USS trip just a couple of hours ago. It was also very hot this morning (many places in the park are not sheltered). The indoor air-conditioned spaces between zones do provide a bit of relief though.

This bird park is only opened early this year after it is being relocated from its former location at Jurong (previously called Jurong Bird Park and I visited that before too). Since it is quite a recent thing in town, I’m surprised by the lack of visitors to the park on a beautiful Sunday’s morning (crowds are a very common sight in Singapore). To be honest, I myself also find the park just mediocre except for the Penguin Cove. That’s the only zone where me and my friend were most interested in (how you can not from those adorable little penguins!).

I saw more fire extinguishers than birds along the walkways in the park. Haha…it’s true! The park is also famous for the frequent electric shock visitors would have after touching the railings or steel surfaces in the park (this got on the news last time). I encountered it a couple of times myself today. That’s definitely not a pleasant experience for visitors.

Anyway, we left the park at around noon and had lunch there before heading back to our respective home. I immediately took a shower and went for a 2-hour nap for a quick recharge before uploading my photos of the weekend into my social medias and updating my blog right now. What a weekend! Looking forward to a good sleep later tonight and my flu to go away (caught flu for few days already).