After Singapore

I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more

Author: pascal

  • Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum

    Some of the 100 bowls where we can put a coin in each bowl Buddhists celebration day Vesak is observed as public holiday in Singapore. This year Vesak Day fell on Tuesday, making the day-off a bit awkward. It was just a one day holiday, so I couldn’t go too far (like, going back home to Indonesia), but spending the day at home was just plain stupid. I was in the condition of what Indonesians call “style-death” (mati gaya): I really didn’t know what to do for several hours in the morning.

    Well, the answer turned out to be actually simple: it’s a Buddhist day, so the best place to go is, the temple! There is a temple in Chinatown open for public, namely the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum (even from the name you know it’s way more than just a temple). This temple is 4 storeys high, plus a rooftop structure; and anyone regardless of religion can enter, as long as you wear decent clothes.

    The first storey is where I started. Many devotees came to pray, therefore it was quite crowded inside the building. There were some rituals can be done inside the temple. Some devotees queued to get a chance to “bath the Buddha statue”, which merely to pour fresh water into a small statue (my landlord told me about this earlier in the morning, so it’s nice to get a first view look). There was another interesting ritual, which was to put 100 coins into 100 bowls, placed contiguously next to the walls. It seemed that each bowl represent one god, as there were many god-like statues behind the bowls. That interested me to give it a try, by exchanging $10 notes with a hundred 10 cents coins. However, somehow I ran out of coins before I could put into the last four bowls; I must have mistakenly put more than a coin in the bowl before. Judging from the number of coins inside the last few bowls, seems that other people made the same mistake, anyway. Pity those poor last gods..

    Then I went to the 4th floor, which where the tooh relic was located. The place was more sacred, so we had to take off our shoes before entering the room, and we were not allowed to take photograph. Another devotees and some monks were praying in front of the tooth relic, separated by a huge glass wall. By now you should’ve suspect that there is something special about the relic. Well, aside from being sacred, it’s made from 320 kg of pure gold! (clink clink..). In this floor, people could also pour some water to the statue there.

    Some of the 100,000 statues, each individually numbered

    Next stop is the rooftop. Remember there were 100 bowls in the first floor? I imagined the people working in the temple was very persistent having to maintain those 100 bowls… until I saw the 100,000 Buddhas pavilion! There were actually 100,000 small statues inside the pavilion, each individually numbered. There were also a giant cyclinder rolling inside the pavilion. Devotees could hold on to the cyclinder while walking around the pavilion.

    On the third floor there was a museum, showing yet another statues. And another devotees pouring water into the Buddha statue. But this time there was a printed description about the “Bathing the Buddha” ritual (finally, an explanation!). It originated from a story of 9 nagas spraying purified water into a newborn Buddha. Since then, devotees do this kind of ritual every 8th day of 4th lunar month anually.

    There was not much to see in 2nd floor, so it concluded my visit to the temple. Although I’m not a Buddhist, it was quite an interesting experience, especially to understand how people from different religion pay homage to the Gods.

     

    Buddha Tooth Rellic Temple and Museum is located at N° 288 South Bridge Road and accessible from either Chinatown or Tanjong Pagar MRT.

    To be continued… The Red Dot Design Museum.

  • Singapore Biennale 2011

    Biennale is Italian for “every other year”. In Singapore, the word is taken to name a bi-yearly art event that is held in various places. When I said various places, it did really vary. In this year biennale, it took place at a museum, abandoned airport, as well as the merlion statue near Esplanade Theater (which many people have mistaken it as reparation work).

    I’ve been to the 2009 Biennale with my friends, and I didn’t want to miss the 2011 one. This time, I also went with my friends, but we only went to the exhibits which are free of charge. We started around 10.30 in the morning by visiting the Old Kallang Airport. Some of us came early, while the rest were slightly late. While waiting the others, we walked around the grassfield in front of the building. It was interesting, because what I thought earlier as thrashes were acually artworks. There were opened briefcases with pots and plants inside it, or a glass box containing textbooks from the olden days.

    Inside the building, there were even weirder exhibitions. In one big room, there was a giant mock up of a fabric factory, with the resulting giant fabrics all around, made of papers and wires. In another half-painted room, there were furnitures from Ikea. The room that interested me the most was a simple dark room, with only neon lamps bent and placed to represent the phrase “Don’t Worry”. It was very simple, yet very subtle. Another interesting exhibition is, well, not the exhibition itself, but a sign that said something like this: “On 13 March 2011, a cleaner accidentally removed some stuffs, which he didn’t know they are part of the artwork”. Well, you never know how an artwork can transform to something else more interesting.

    Nearing lunchtime, we were starting to get hungry, and there was only a small coffee shop there in Old Kallang Airport, so we decided to move to another exhibition, Hotel Merlion, because it’s closer  to various restaurants in the city. This is the exhibit most visible to tourists, as it is located at the center of the city, and without the makeover itself, Merlion has already been a tourist destination. From outside, it looked like just a red box covering the Merlion statue.

    We had to wait in line to get into the room, and there were about 50 persons in the line. However, the organizer has managed it nicely so that people won’t have to wait so long, as well as having ample time inside to enjoy the room. As usual, there was an annoying behavior from  some people, trying to have 2-3 people in the queue, then “smuggling” another 4 to join them by cutting the line, after their turn to enter the exhibit was about to come. I was standing in front of them, so it didn’t make our turn slower. But it did affect our experience inside the hotel, since the organizer has limited the number of persons inside the room to avoid overcrowding.

    After few minutes of sightseeing and photo taking, the organizer asked us to leave the room to give chance to another eager tourists. And that marked the end of our tour to the Biennale. Quite a short trip, but it was interesting.

    Trivia: The Merlion Hotel did serve as a real hotel room at night, for few months. People can check in the late evening, and have to check out in the morning. Booking was made through phone call to a certain phone number served by a single operatory only. It was fully booked just an hour after the line was opened [1].

  • Pascal’s Guide to Everyday Happiness

    I love Sunday, because it’s a holiday.My New $24 watch. It's not beatuiful, but very useful: dual timezone, alarm clock, stopwatch and background light

    I love Saturday, because it’s a holiday, too.

    I love Friday, because it’s the last day before Holiday.

    I love Thursday, because tomorrow is TGIF (Thank God It’s Friday).

    I love Wednesday, because I would start to enjoy the days starting from tomorrow.

    I love Monday and Tuesday, because without them, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday would be just an ordinary day.

  • The Amazing Races

    It just happened that when I landed in Jakarta, Justin Bieber was about to land, too.
    Justin Bieber Fans at Soekarno Hatta

    There are two ways to react to disturbances in your travel. One is to curse, of course. The other one is to enjoy it as a challenge, as the people in the Amazing Race game. This easter, I went for a short trip to Indonesia and had an opportunity to appreciate that fact. For this trip, I took a flight from Singapore to Jakarta, continued with a intercity (mini)bus to Bandung, spent one night there, another intercity bus to Jakarta, spent another night, and back to Singapore.

    My first challenge started when I landed in Jakarta. It was to arrive in Bandung as fast as possible to, you know, meet my girlfriend. After touchdown at around 10.30 in the morning, I rushed to find the earliest bus that depart to Bandung. Unfortunately the first bus was already full and the next departure would be two hours later. I then decided to take a “premium” bus, in which each passenger will be delivered to their final destination, instead of the bus terminal. That day was a public holiday adjacent to normal weekend, therefore as predicted the traffic was awful. Even worse, I was unlucky to be the last person to be delivered, after wandering around Bandung and the suburbs. In total, I spent 5 hours on the road! I admit that I failed on my first challenge. Anyhow I was lucky that my girlfriend was understanding enough for my lateness.

    The second challenge was when I was about to leave Bandung. My plan was to take another intercity bus bound for Jakarta at 3PM, expecting to arrive Jakarta 3 hours later, so I could catch the Easter eve mass at 7PM. I reserved a cab by phone for 2PM; 1 hour before is more than enough, I thought; which proven to be wrong. I started to worry when the cab company called 20 minutes before 2, saying that they haven’t found a free cab for me. At 2 sharp, they called again, informing the same news. Therefore, I went for plan B: take the infamous Bandung public transport angkot. I had to take the angkot to train station, and transfer to either another angkot or flag a cab there. Quite a pessimistic idea, but there was still hope. Another unfortunate event, after few kilometers the angkot did what is known as ngetem: the driver stopped and wait for another passenger to get in, with the hope of getting more money from more passengers. Based on my 4 years experience in Bandung as a student, this ngetem ceremony could take at least 15 minutes, while the time was already 2.20. I then alight and tried to flag a cab passing by, with no luck. Most drivers were reluctant as the bus terminal is located at a heavy traffic area. I spent about 10 minutes trying to flag a cab with no luck. Finally, it’s time for plan C…

    While looking for a cab, I spotted a Damri bus stop, while the bus was there waiting for passengers. To be honest, though I’m a regular angkot user, I have never taken a Damri bus in Bandung before. What caught my attention was the sign on the bus front window, saying that the next stop is Pasteur, which is very close to the bus terminal I was heading to. The driver was not there yet, so I confirmed with a lady who sat at the front seat. She said it’s possible to alight at the terminal, but I had to tell the driver beforehand. After 15 minutes of waiting, the bus finally started to move. It was obvious that I will miss the 3PM intercity bus, but I still had hope for the next one at 4PM. When I told my girlfriend about my decision to take Damri bus, her response was a suprise and a simple and clear “awas copet” (watch out for thieves). Given the bus condition, it seemed very prone to criminal activities, after all. Thank God all my valuables including my self were save. The official price for one trip is IDR 5,000 (SGD 1), and you’re entitled to a receipt as a proof of payment. As instructed by the lady, I told the driver to stop at the intercity bus terminal. I really looked like “a new guy in town”, so the driver joked me that the price to stop at the terminal is 50,000 (in a half-serious tone). I joked him back with a question “could you remove one zero for me?” with a smile. I didn’t want to assume anything about him, but finally I gave him only IDR 5,000, the official price (I didn’t get a receipt after all). Well Mr. Driver, if you read this post, I did it for your own good.

    I was late for the 3PM bus, and the 4PM bus is full. The best option I could take was to put myself into the 4PM waiting list. It was very anxious, as my name was not called even as late as 5 minutes after 4. Luckily some passenger didn’t show up at the terminal, and the seat was given up to me. I arrived 3 hours later at the Jakarta terminal, and I rushed to take a cab to get to the church. As the distance to the church was not too far, the driver asked to pay a fixed price instead of using the distance meter. I accepted it, but really regret it later. It’s not that the price was too expensive, but somehow I indirectly helped the driver to corrupt his employer money.

    The rest of the journey was not very eventful, though. It was more of spending quality time with my family, and resting my body after the adventurous trip to Bandung.

  • Weekend Refreshment: Singapore Botanic Garden

    The past week has been quite exhausting, so I switched back to mother nature for a weekend refreshment. This time, it’s the Singapore Botanical Garden. I’ve been here before (the post here and here), and many time I went through some part of the garden when I jog. Anyhow, it’s still interesting to visit, and this time I visited also the National Orchid Garden, for a student entrance fee of $1 (public is $5).

    I don’t have enough time to write now, so I just share some pictures here. Click on the pictures to see the larger version, or click here to see the track that I walked through.

     

  • Batam Island, Indonesia

    BatamThis Christmas holiday, I spent one night in Batam for transit to Jakarta. Reason? Just for adventure. There is actually not much tourist attraction in Batam, as told by my friend. One spot that may stand out would be Nongsapura, an upscale resorts area Northeast of Batam. Staying there will cost me at least S$200 per night, so I decided to stay at a cheaper area instead, but take a peek of Nongsapura by getting a ferry to the Nongsapura terminal instead of the usual Batam Center terminal.

    There is no ferry going to Nongsapura that departs from the usual departure point Harbourfront. Instead, I had to go to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal, which I stupidly mistaken with the Changi Point Ferry Terminal. Assuming that I would go to the latter, I took a train to Pasir Ris station, and planned to continue my journey using a bus. Luckily, when I was there I had difficulties finding the correct bus stop, hence I took a cab instead. The driver knew that ferries to Batam only departs from Tanah Merah, not Changi Point Ferry Terminal. If I really took a bus, it would be too late for me.

    The trip to Batam’s Nongsapura takes about an hour, including boarding and leaving the ship. Nongsa terminal is located inside a small gulf, and upon reaching it, I saw two different views on each side. On my left side, there were upscale resorts, just what I was looking forward to see here. However, on my right side was a poor rural area, where people bathing in sea water, not for fun but because it’s much cheaper for them to do so. The terminal itself is pretty well decorated in with a tropical island theme. However, there were only one immigration officer to serve us, so it took sometime to clear the queue. On this trip, I stayed on a budget hotel, namely the SkyView hotel. It is located quite far from the terminal, so the only reasonable way to get there is by cab. The terminal itself is pretty remote, and the nearby resorts usually have their own shuttle bus to pick up tourists. Therefore I was left with the only option to take a cab for a whopping price of IDR 100.000.

    I reached the hotel about 5.30 PM, and as it was Christmas Eve, I started to walk around to look for a church to attend the Christmas Eve mass. The hotel receptionist recommended me a Batak-themed church, about 500 metres from the hotel. So I walked there and asked the schedule to the lady that stay there. However, she recommended me to go to another church instead, for the mass will be held using a traditional language that I will not understand. She recommended a church in Nagoya called “Immanuel”, which is not within walking distance from the hotel. Hence I took a taxi there, with another expensive price of IDR 30.000.

    Close to the church was a shopping mall “Nagoya Hill”, so I went there after the mass was ended. I took a pizza for dinner, and paid a visit to a bookstore. One magazine about tourism in Batam attracted me, as one article featured in the front page was about “budget hotels in Batam”. There was no price tag, so I just took it and proceeded to the cashier to pay. To my biggest surprise, the magazine costed IDR 50.000. I would have no problem to pay for a good magazine, but the value did not seem to worth for that magazine (for comparison, FHM Singapore costs SGD 6 or IDR 42.000). Hence I cancelled my purchase for the magazine. My trip back to hotel was also surprising: another IDR 50.000 for a cab ride back. Fixed price.

    The next day, I spent the morning jogging around the hotel area. It was not so nice as there were thrashes and some of them were burned causing me to inhale the smoke. After taking a shower, I went for the second time to Nagoya, but since I was not in a hurry, this time I asked the receptionist for a public transport to go there. She recommended an angkot (minibus) with her estimate price of IDR 6.000. I believe she just gave me a worst case number, since I really looked like a tourist. Turned out the driver only charged me IDR 3.000 for a one way trip. Different with angkots in Bandung, these angkots in Batam has a sliding door at the passenger deck that should be closed during the trip. When I was about to help a lady to close the door when she boarded the minibus, she said “no need, it will close automatically”, and reaffirmed by the driver. And she was right, when the minibus started to descend, gravity helped the door to close automatically. Clever!

    Just as told by my friend, there was not much to see in Batam, and that includes Nagoya. Probably one that could be interesting is the Pasar (market) Nagoya area. At one street, there were many people selling various kind of kripik (crackers) and asinan (fruits drenched in vinegar). Another street has series of Singapore style hawker centres, while some of them serves only Chinese vegetarian food. I had my brunch on one of the non-vegetarian hawker center, and turned out they also sell tea and coffee in Singapore term: teh for tea with milk or teh-o for tea without milk. There was also a building named “Batam Lucky Plaza” which sells mostly mobile phones and jewelleries. As I walked around, many people calling me “friend” to offer a cab or an ojek (motorcycle-cab). After about an hour, I returned back to my hotel to pack my things, as I would fly to Jakarta at 13.40 PM.

    Conclusion

    Ferries from Singapore operates daily with a ticket price of around SGD 30, destined to Nongsapura and Batam Center (among other terminals, too), but the latter is recommended. Staying in SkyView hotel costs a mere IDR 160.000 per night for a standard room, but a superior room for IDR 180.000 seems to be a better bargain, with bigger room and 21″ TV (standard one is 14″). I would recommend to take public transport whenever possible, as cabs are very very expensive (however in the evening, it’s probably better to pay more rather to risk your safety). From the SkyView, it takes about 15 minutes to the city center Nagoya. There were also hotels at Nagoya, but they are generally more expensive.

  • St. John, Lazarus and Kusu Island

    Last weekend, I stumbled upon an article about Southern Islands in the Singapore Tourism Board’s website. Shortly after reading and googling several other sites, I said to myself “I have to go there!”. These islands are located south of Singapore, and  relatively untouched by civilization, even compared to Pulau Ubin.

    This Saturday, I have collected 8 persons including me, to go to some of the islands, namely St. John, Lazarus and Kusu island. Interestingly enough, Google Maps has very limited information about these islands. The islands do not have a shape information in roadmap view, and in satellite view the non-updated labels are only available in Malay language.

    On Saturdays, there are only three ferry round trips to this island, having the interval of 3 hours. That was why during our trip, we really had to come to the pier on time at 9 in the morning. Unfortunately, two of  us were late by few minutes, hence they couldn’t board the morning ferry. Waiting another 3 hours was not a very good option for them, therefore leaving only six of us continuing the journey. One of those six came in last minute in a rush, and we gave him claps cheers when he arrived.

    St. John

    After about 20 minutes journey, we arrived at the St. John island, a.k.a. Pulau Sakijang Bendera. Just as “advertised”, the island was quite quiet, with the exception of one worker fixing the concrete pathway. And if you have the same question as me, “whether I can get a GSM signal there?”, the answer is yes. Even better, you can also get Indonesian GSM signals too, probably from Batam. The next ferry will be at 12.45, so we had about 3 hours to spend in this island. So we walked, and after few meters, we arrived at the swimming lagoon, a relatively clean man made shore. We just played at the water and sat at the shelter nearby.

    We continued walking to the camp area, which has several “barracks” that can accommodate 60 persons each. This area is fenced, and there were several guard towers to watch the fences. At one gate, there is a sign “Out of Bound to non-campers”. But we didn’t care. Who cares? However after few steps walking inside, there were already a lady approaching us, saying that they are having private events in which they had booked the whole camp. Therefore we quit the area and walked to the other entrance that led to the camp office. I and David gave it a visit to check on the details of these.

    Card games at St. John Island

    Afterwards, we walked again towards the Marine Aquaculture Centre. Unfortunately, this place was closed for public and visitor must request a permit from another building not so close from there, so we skipped this. We walked again to the beach, but then we spent sometime on the benches playing cards. A regular card games, but this time we played far away from the concrete jungle, so you can see in the picture our very happy faces, far from city life stresses.

    Lazarus

    After few minutes playing, we walked again to Lazarus island, a.k.a. Pulau Sakijang Pelepah. It is accessible from Lazarus island through a man made land forming a bridge connecting those two bigger islands. As the sign read, public are “discouraged” to enter this area since it had yet to be developed, but again, why bother to care? It has another beautiful (well, compared to other Singapore’s beaches) but silent beaches. There too was a group of people taking photo shoots of a girl dressed in gown, probably for a magazine cover or something.

    Lazarus Island beach

    It was almost 12.45, so we headed back to the jetty. We still had some time near the jetty, so some of us had our lunch there. Then we boarded the ferry. It was a different ferry from previous one, and this one was better. There were the regular passenger cabin, the open space upper deck, and a VIP room. It was too comfortable in the VIP room that we stayed there for the journey. Fortunately, nobody asked us to leave that room.

    Kusu

    The last stop was Kusu Island, a.k.a. Pulau Tembakul. In some other months, this turtle-themed island is visited by pilgrims. But it was not that month when we went there, so the island was very quiet. Upon reaching the jetty, we were greeted by a lady who counted the number of people entering the island, as well as reminding us the time of last ferry, 4.30 PM. We fist visited the shore and stayed there for some time, enjoying the nature with background music from Buena Vista Social Club.

    Kusu Island beach

    Then we headed to the small temple there. There were some statues, and interestingly enough a sign describing about 5 different versions of tale on how this island was made. Inside the temple, there were real turtles who were taken care by the temple maintainer.

    There was also a wishing well, in which you need to throw a coin inside it after making a wish. But there were 3 bells inside the well that you need to hit one of them. I managed to hit 2 out of 3 times with 20 cents coins. But the best was thrown by Hafidh who made the bell rang sharply.

    There was not much to do left in this tiny island. So we just sat at a bench and chatted for half an hour while waiting for the next boat to depart at 2.30 PM.

    Just as we left Kusu island, it started to rain. We were considered very lucky, that the weather was just perfect when we were there: not to hot, but also not raining. About 20 minutes later, we were back at the mainland.

    Conclusion

    These southern islands are best if you want to rest and unwind, away from the busy civilization (turn off your data connection for best result). However, if you look for attractions, you may not find many of them here. This place, especially St. John, may be at is best if you have a gathering with your friends, as there were also barbeque pits and a bungalow that can accommodate 10 persons. Just be prepared with occasional noise like the pathway fixing we met upon arriving, or several fighter jets that were having some exercises there.

    St. John, Lazarus and Kusu Island is accessible by taking a ferry (provided by Island Cruise) from Marina South Pier. Only several trips per day, costing $15 for round trip to all the three islands. Marina South Pier is located at N° 31 Marina Coastal Drive, Singapore 018988.

  • Gemalto Dinner and Dance

    Gemalto D&D 2010
    Photo Courtesy of Steven Ma

    If you saw a crazy guy in full sport attire running around Sentosa beach last Saturday, well that’s me. While waiting for the Dinner and Dance to start later that evening, I spent few hours in Sentosa for sightseeing and jogging for exercise. It is one way to allow myself indulge with the food provided at the party. The Sentosa management may claim that it’s the Asia’s favorite playground, but personally I don’t really like Sentosa; with the artificial beaches and many constructions going on to replace old, non-money-making attractions. However, it is still an okay spot for relaxing.

    Where were we? Oh, right. In fact I went to Sentosa to attend the company’s annual Dinner and Dance which was held at the Resort World’s convention center. It was a costume party with a “movie character” theme. I didn’t wear any costume since I assumed many people in my department would not wear one too. I’m in R&D, by the way. It’s a decision I slightly regretted, since though not many, some people really wore costumes. It’s a once in a year experience to act crazy.

    The event was started by the company’s Asia president entering the venue, dressed as a Hongkong mafia, complete with 2 bodyguards that in fact are our own employees. As well said by the host Daniel Ong, it’s one chance that you see upper management people act funny. He talked about the company achievements in 2010, but I believe nobody really listened as we were already in party mode. The host on the other hand had successfully liven up the atmosphere with his witty jokes. One of my favorite was when a girl made mistake on her English grammar, he replied with “You speak bad England, huh?”

    There were some attractions, but for me the most interesting was the flashmob, where suddenly out of nowhere some people come to the  front to dance together with the same pattern. We only realized that one person on our table was missing when we saw him in front joining the dance.

    In this event, I also spent some time taking pictures with some characters, such as Nobita, Tinkerbell, Queen Amigdala and Robin Hood. Seemed that the weirder the costume a person wore, more people coming to them for taking pictures.

    The Dinner and Dance closed around 23.30 with the final draw for the 1st door prize, a travel package worth S$2,000 which I didn’t win. Afterwards, the dance floor was opened, but unfortunately my friends chose to go home since transport will be difficult after midnight. Therefore I decided to go with them since I didn’t want to go back alone.

    All in all, it was an exciting experience to have an annual party with colleagues, after what we have done together for the whole year. Looking forward for another great year! and party!

    As a bonus, here is a picture of Sentosa beach in panoramic mode (click the picture for more):

  • NUS Museum

    After giving up persuading my friend to go to CSI Exhibition ($20 for geek stuff, too expensive!), I finally decided to go to NUS (National University of Singapore) Museum instead, alone. It’s funny that I have been taking the master course for 2 years here in NUS, but only recently I visited the museum.

    The museum is located next to the University Cultural Center, another building which is normally visited by the lovely PM Lee at least once a year. The museum has 3 levels, and the main entrance leads you to the 2nd level. Nobody was there except the receptionist when I entered the museum. She reminded me to not using flash while taking photographs, answered with a short confirmation from me.

    The 2nd level exhibits fossils and artifacts from the past, as well as their sculptures and paintings. There was one room also showing pictures and stories of mystical rituals in Singapore. From the past. There is no more ghost now in Singapore.

    I then walked down the stairs to the 1st level. There was only 2 persons there, a security guard and another receptionist. The guard kept looking at me while I was walking towards the exhibition room, and even when I browsed inside. It’s a pity for him, there’s nobody else he can watch to fulfill his duty. The receptionist looked as bored as the guard, constantly looking at the LCD monitor she had. And when I walked past her, I could see her playing the Solitaire game. Pity her, too.

    Oh, the exhibition. At the 1st level, there were 2 rooms. One room displayed ancient Chinese ceramics, while the other exhibited paint themed work of modern artists, in collaboration with a paint company. There I found another visitor, at last. I just smiled at her and spoke no more. While looking at the works, my head hit a signboard hanged to the ceiling, and made it swing lightly. The sign read “I would tell the truth”. Well, I tell you the truth that I did hit that signboard.

    Then I moved to the 3rd floor, where artistic but freaky sculptures are exhibited. Some of them showed nudity, but not in pornographic style.

    This 3rd floor finalized my visit to the museum. Pretty exciting visit, though very quiet inside.

    NUS Museum is located at N° 50 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 119279. Admission is free.

  • Somerset Food Night

    Few days back, my friend Handy told me that there is a nice padang* restaurant near Somerset MRT, namely The Warung M Nasir (WMN). Well, it’s Saturday night and I don’t want to spend my weekend at home, so I asked him to have our dinner there.

    We were supposed to meet at 7PM, but I arrived slightly earlier. While waiting for him, I saw an advertisement of a cafe called “J-Town”, which at first I thought have something to do with Japanese culture. Turned out the J stands for Jakarta, and they sell Indonesian light meals like siomay or sweet martabak. Sticking to the plan, we still went to the WMN, and planned to get some dessert at J-Town afterwards.

    WMN occupies a small building in Kiliney Road, and they serve several types of food to choose, just like in a Malay economic rice stall. I ordered a chicken rendang with daun singkong (cassava leaves) and boiled egg, with a carbonated soft drink. It costed $6.80, pretty affordable though more expensive than normal nasi padang.The place itself is quite cozy, with the theme of 80’s. Probably that’s why we saw several expatriates dining there, too.

    Afterwards, as planned we headed to J-Town, which is located at the basement of Midpoint Orchard building. It is a small shop with only few tables, but the martabak was very nice.They serve basic flavors like chocolate and cheese, as well as a special one which is durian flavor. For hardcore fans of martabak, also available is the plain one, without any additional flavorings. Other than martabak, they also sell basic meals like fried rice and fried noodle, but we haven’t tried them yet.

    One tip if you, like us, tried to save money by buying drinks in 7-11 instead of at the stall, forget it. The bottled water there may be a bit expensive for about $1.40, but turned out the 7-11 in Orchard Road sells them even more expensive, $2.15 for Indonesian brand Aqua. However since it was Saturday night, we don’t really mind about the extra dollars though.

    Warung M. Nasir is located at N° 69 Killiney Road, Singapore 239526, while J-Town is at Midpoint Orchard Building B1-04, N° 220 Orchard Road, Singapore 238852. Both are a stone throw away from Sommerset MRT.

    * Refers to either a city in West Sumatra or a Bahasa term for “field”, usually used to refer certain style of food with specific spices.