THE NUS MUSEUM

Away from the hustle and bustle of city life, located within the premises of the National University of Singapore, is the NUS Museum. This museum houses the following three art collections: The Chinese art collection displayed at the Lee Kong Chian Art Museum, the South and Southeast Asian collection displayed at the South and Southeast Asian Gallery, and the Ng Eng Teng collection.

You can access this wonderful facility through the freezing-cold NUS Cultural Centre. Entrance is free and it's alright to take photos (no flash please). The staff are very courteous and leave you alone to enjoy the rest of the exhibit.


7,000 years of Chinese art is on permanent display here at NUS.

A pillow. Must be a reason for headaches in the mornings. Kidding!

A demon to guard tombs.

A collection of Ming and Tang dynasty plates. Fantastic, 'no?

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate."

This one is a photo exhibit of Asian families in their new homes - new countries. The subjects were mostly Malays and Indonesians. An extensive collection of photos of living rooms are also on display. There probably were 1,000 photos here, enough to make one's head swirl.

I think this is by Ng Eng Teng, Singapore's foremost sculptor.

A woodblock print by Lim Mu Hue (1960s)

Thanks to NUS for the warm welcome. Hope to visit again soon!

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

Story and photos pending.

SINGAPORE: DAY THREE

Morning

National University of Singapore (NUS)
NUS Cultural Center
NUS Museum
Vivo City

Afternoon

Sentosa Island Resort
Vivo City

Last night, I decided to stay home after two days of non-stop tour of this city. It was too much for my poor feet. Anyway, at least I had the time to blog. Super special thanks to my cousin for making this trip possible. :-)

When I knew I was finally coming here, I made an itinerary which included, among the usual tourist attractions, some which are not. Anyway, discovering a city really depends on your interests. If you just want to shop here, then you just spend days in Singapore's many malls. if you want to just eat, the choices are mind-boggling. Let's just say that I wish to follow the least taken path.

My first stop on my 3rd day is the National University of Singapore. My curousity arose from my wanting to compare it to our own national university, as well as to visit it's more-than-50- years-old musem.

With our Filipino host at the NUS (Maraming salamt po!), we had breakfast at a nearby Indian restaurant called Cheese Roti Prata at Kent Ridge Road. I am already familiar with these foods because I reviewed Banana Leaf in Manila for a magazine. Anyway, the food was good and rather filling. And very affordable, too. This is my first ever meal in an Indian resto managed and staffed by Indians.

Ham and cheese prata with curry sauce.

Nasi mutton

That's mutton, veggies and rice wrapped in an egg blanket.

Students from nearby NUS also come here. There are also other restaurants in this area.

SINGAPORE: THE ASIAN CIVILISATIONS MUSEM

The main feature during my visit was the BEAUTY IN ASIA exhibit which discusses the concept of beauty in this part of the world.

The museum is housed at the Empress Place, formerly an office of the British colonial government.

Reception. Tickets are at SGD 8 (Php 240). As usual, taking photos (w/o flash) is allowed.

There's a small space here devoted to Singapore history as a fishing village. There are dioramas, too, which depict scenes of the old days when the river shaped the city into what it is now.

From old to the new. Forms of payment then and now.

And the adventure begins...

At every corner, there's a screen which feature a virtual guide. You can touch the screen and the image comes alive. Featured guides are from all nationalities that compose today's Singapore society.

This one supposedly represents Buddha's footstep. It's huge. Probably a meter long and half a meter wide. The size is just symbolic, of course, but he did make great strides when he was alive.

Wedding implements from Malaysia.

Headdress used by the bride.

An assortment of krises from Mindanao. This is for you, Tutubi!

A sample of the masks collection. These are from Thailand.

A sample of Indonesia's shadow puppetry called Wayang Kulit.

An assortment of musical instruments from all over Asia.

This is where you can lounge for a bit and listen to music made from the instruments featured above.

The astrolabe - the Arabs' gift to modern navigation.

Samples of plates from the Arab world. I like plates.

A slide show approximates the feeling of being inside an actual mosque.

And finally, to the special exhibition. Sorry if there are few photos from here. Most of it cannot be photographed. A few pieces of indigenous fabrics and clothing from the North represented the Philippines. Sadly, there was no mention of our extensive gold collections, pottery, and even tattoo traditions.

Lotus shoes. My first time to actually see samples of the shoes that made many Chinese women's feet disfigured all their lives. So amazing yet so sad. The concepts of beauty can sometimes be severe, many suffer from it.

Namaste! Welcome to India! A wooden door welcomes visitors to the India exhibit. This is the last part of the entire collection before you exit the building.

A representation of a dancer made up entirely of wood.

An interesting - and rare - representation of an emaciated Buddha.

The museum's shop. The Philippines is represented by fabrics from the Goulborn \ Silk Cocoon company which uses indigineous fiber into their articles of clothing.

Finally, I'm out into the sunshine! You can rest your tired feed here at the row of restaurants outside the ACM. The area is called Indochine. It has a fantastic view of the river and Boat Quay.

The Q Bar besides ACM.

The old Parliament House.

The Victoria Theatre. All of these buildings are just around the area of the ACM.

A statue of Sir Stamford Raffles, founder of modern Singapore, on Boat Quay. Thanks for the warm welcome, ACM! What a tour, eh? It's almost like I brought you in with me. Donations are welcome to offset the SGD 8 entrance fee, ha ha ha! Kidding.