Life's Journey: Museum Festival (25 July 2008)

I have always hated to go museums.. To me, museums are rather boring places to visit as you browse through the old artefacts and pictures that were already there way before you are even born. Well.. that's fine.. But there are usually restrictions such as you cannot touch this.. you cannot touch that.. Only see, no touch!! Well, the National Heritage Centre should start exploring more interactive options that allows visitors to experience the olden days themselves. Having hands on stuff to try out how it feels to be a Tok Tok hawker, etc.

I must say, the recent visit to the night museum was not bad... All thanks to this "Auntie me" who is always on the look out for bargains.. recommended the gal gang for a night out at the museum due to free admissions and some activites to keep us busy for the night. Surprisingly, we only managed to cover 2 museums that evening.

First stop: National Museum

This David sculpture by Michalegeo?? or something like that greeted us upon our entrance into the museum.. Note: Parental guidance advised.

There were also some sam sui womans stationed at a counter near there too. They could be hired as guides for the evening at $2 per person per museum. Well.. why pay when we could walk around for free was our concept.. and so.. our museum journey begins.

Well.. Let's move on.... Food Gallery

Singapore food in the olden days are more or less the same as current. Local favourites such as Char Kway Teow, Laksa, Carrot Cake, etc had been widely available in the past.. The only difference with the past were the stalls used to sell these delicacies.

E.g. Tok Tok mee (currently known as fishball noodle) was sold by having a boy holding a bamboo kind of stick and knocking on it.. shouting.. Tok, Tok, Tok, Tok... Tok, Tok... and the auntie upstairs (shophouse).. will shout.. wait.. I want....

You must be wondering why I have such vivid memories of the tok tok mee... Well.. I am not born in the shophouse era yet... Saw this on those normal local dramas which screen lifestyles of the olden days...

Fangz and me savouring the smell of the satay stall.. There is really the aromatic smell of Satay emitting from the stall...

Pull and smell the spices used in traditional Singapore food...

Guess the purpose of each equipment.

The Movies Gallery

Music has always been enjoyed by people irregardless of which era you comes from. Today, we have MP3s, DVD players, CD players, etc... In the past, only the rich could afford a radio or even a gramophone like the one shown in the picture.

As there were no TVs.. One of the entertainment in the past were watching outdoor movies. These outdoor cinemas have rows of benches and a big screen at the open field for people to gather and watch their shows. Tickets were very cheap then.. I think 10 cents, 20 cents.. Today.. a movie ticket cost at least $7.50 (weekdays) and $10.50 (weekends). See how much inflation has kicked in... Here's a vague impression of movies in the olden days.. (Yes.. its black and white.. no such thing as colour yet...)

Goofing around with light sticks in the "theatre"....

Besides outdoor movie, the opera is another form of entertainment for people in the past. The actors and actresses were be heavily make up and will wear exaggerated performance costumes as they play our characters of the epic tales on stage. Some could be mystical and legendary like Sun Wu Kong, Lady White Snake, etc.. whilst some could be based on historical events. The Chinese opera goes a long way back to the Chinese dynasty times.

The Fashion Gallery

No matter which era you belongs to.. fashion is always on the go for woman (especially)... They are always ready to follow the latest trends and designs... Fashion brings us into the clothes that people in the past used to wear... Quite similar to the fashion today though... Why not?? Retro is BACK!!!

By the way, I used to have this.. I think it belongs to my grandma.. Could have been an antique item... if we have not dumped it when we moved house...

Tired of seeing all the exhibits, we decided to head out... There were some interesting exhibits out there. E.g. The exhibt: "Baby, where are all the fine things you had promised me?" It featured a grown eurasian man in a tiny little house. He was playing the guitar when I peeped in.. Couldnt see his face.. could only figure out his legs.. Boy, he looks big!! How did he get in there??

Finally, 10.05pm... the display of the light show.. the highlight of the evening. This group of artistes from Australia are going to make use of light effects to turn the buildings of the National museum and National art museum into fine pieces of arts. It was beautiful... There were 11 designs showcased that night.. Here's a selective few....

Design 1

Design 2

Design 3

Design 4 and 5

There were a total of 5 museums open that evening.. but we were rather tired after the National museum... Still we made our way to the newly opened Peranakan museum for a peek.

It could be because we were tired or something, we dont really find the Peranakan museum attractive. The Peranakan museum had 10 categories of exhibits spread in a shophouse of about 3 levels. Some of the interesting ones are stuff such as Wedding and Food.