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In The Paper

Free Art Friday (The Sequel)

SINGAPORE - Plastered on the building of Raffles City is Fantasmas (Phantoms) an artwork by Isaac Montoya, a Spanish artist. What passersby see is the psychedelic design of the portrait is of a woman screaming. Two very different images are revealed once one looks through a red and blue filter… like so …

…and these are the images which are revealed…

Pretty amazing isn’t it? This has to be one of the most unique and creative artworks I have seen in a while. Hopefully, I will manage to find the rest of the Biennale artworks around town.

My Date

SINGAPORE - Sticky Date Pudding @ PS. Cafe. This had to be one of the best desserts I have tried in this city. The date pudding was warm and moist, and the sticky nutty toffee made it extra sinful. I felt really gluttonous eating it all by myself, but at the same time it was too good to share.

Free Art on a Friday

I was riding the bus home at noon and decided to hop off for a bit and check out the SAM. Fortunate for me, all exhibits are free from 12 noon to 2 in the afternoon. I had seen most of the exhibit in my last visit to the SAM in June. However, there was one particular exhibit that I thought was quite interesting. It was by a Balinese artist, Masriadi. At only 34 he has accomplish quite a collection of contemporary art works. In my opinion, a few of his works were reminiscent of the oeuvre of Dali and Picasso. The painstaking attention to detail of his work is simply incredible.

His works are currently being housed at the SAM 8Q Building. Not quite as special as the main Singapore Art Museum, but still has its own charm. However, imagine my surprise when I walked in the lobby of 8Q and the first thing I see is this…

I must check out Biennale next.

vvvrrroooommmmm

Chillin’ in Silly SG

I have no words, just laughter.

I hate…

Job hunting…

i-Nako

Apple is killing me

It’s Legen… wait for it…

HIMYM, for those who haven’t seen it, is a sitcom that is based on the main character narrating to his kids in the year 2030, the series of events that led him to meet their mother and these events occurs in the now (2006-2007). It has got that Friends formula but with a twist of ‘Lemon Law’. However, it’s Barney (Neil Patrick Harris), this crass, womanizing, catch-phrase spewing, ‘legen… wait for it’, suit wearing, dary… character, is what I find most amusing about the show. Another thing I like about the show is that they make a lot of references to things when I was growing up that I can relate to.

Here is a clip of my favorite bit in the show. The Halloween episode…

And another… A parody of HIMYM and Barney’s ‘earlier career’…

…dary.

Flood

A cat pees and the city is under water. This was the scene today and it felt weird seeing a sea of water around me while in the car. Needless to say, people stranded unable to commute home. And of course, traffic.

It made me think of this movie. Anyone seen it? Comments? Violent reactions? If anything, David Suchet stars in it, so perhaps it has the potential to be good?

1,2,3,4

1. I know I have abandoned my blog posts about my last travel, but a lot has been going on and I haven’t really been able to get myself to write. Hopefully, I will get back to it soon.

2. I always feel like, somebody’s watching meeee, oohh ohhh, I can’t enjoy my tea
I am still debating about becoming an anonymous ‘blogger’, not that a lot of people read my blog, but it feels like a violation of my thoughts. Also recently, I have been having this awkward feeling towards blogs as it being a self-promotional tool. It doesn’t help when your name is plastered on the URL. I guess this explains my resistance to carrying on blogging. Does blogging encourage self-centeredness?

3. Received very good news today, which has put me in a better mood.

4. Speaking of better moods… watch this clip and tell me that this does not make you smile? Feist meets Sesame Street.

Tiene Un Wedgie

Is it just me? But, what’s up with Nadal and his wedgies? Porque amigo?

Hahahaha!

I Have SIN! Day Two (Part Two)

The evening of my second day in S’pore, was spent wandering around Tanjong Pagar and Chinatown. I quite liked this area in this city, it reminded me of the Soho area in London. Only, in my opinion, not as happening as Soho — specially on a Saturday night.

I was wondering what and where to eat for dinner. Though I had a few places on my list, I wanted to try something typically Singaporean. That’s when I found a Hawker Centre near me - Maxwell Food Centre.

More than the food, I found the pun signage in this hawker centre a lot more interesting. For example…

Why not buy some bread at Bread Pitt or some soy drink at Mr. Bean? They really love their puns… expect more in future posts.

Apart from the puns… I found this menu quite interesting…

Frog Congee anyone, for S$8? Maybe if I was with someone, I would have been inclined to try it. But because I was alone, and had never tried Frogs Legs Soup ever… I decided to skip this one… for now. The other stalls didn’t offer much, which I hadn’t already tried — typically Asian food. Had I come here straight from Europe deprived of the stuff… it would have been a different story. However, I did find something that tickled my taste buds…

Pandan Coconut Balls. I bought two pieces (self-control put to a test here!), and enjoyed every bit of it! Unfortunately, that was all the food experience I did in that place, that night.

I walked up the streets of Chinatown with my map and uncomfortable shoes. Trying to get my bearings and trying to find the places I wanted to check out in this area. I went a whole round trying to find the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, only to find out that if I walked straight out of my hotel for a few minutes, I would have seen it instantly.

It’s an extraordinary sight/site, and I am glad I got to see it at night all lit up. If I may digress, I also liked the fact it was along Sago St. (Tapioca Pearls in Tagalog, and used in a lot of local drinks) tee-hee. This temple is a Buddhist temple in the middle of Chinatown, designed in the traditional Tang Dynasty. I didn’t manage to go inside this temple (or any other temples in my trip as a matter of fact), however, the main attraction of this temple is a tooth relic of Buddha. It is placed in a two meter high stupa made of pure gold. In China, The Tang Dynasty is seen as the ‘golden ages’ of Buddhist art. Why is it called “Buddha Tooth Relic Temple though? Well, I read somewhere that Buddhist texts reveal that Buddha left behind four wisdom tooths and 40 tooth relics for the succeeding generations. Due to the religious significance of temples with relics they played an important role in spreading Buddhist beliefs.

A few meters away is yet another temple. The Sri Mariamman Temple — it’s the oldest (dating back to 1843) and first Hindu temple in Singapore, surprisingly enough, located in Chinatown. A sight to see both day AND night. The craftsmanship and maintenance of this building is remarkable. The temple is built in Dravidian style of architecture. Meaning, typically a pyramid shaped structure, which has intricately carved stones of deities, warriors and kings. The temple is dedicated to the goddess Mariamman, known for curing illnesses and diseases.

After feeding my sense of sight… it was now time to feed my sense of taste, for I was starving. Still not knowing what I really wanted… I wandered into back streets hoping to find something that would appeal to me. But then I got side track with two cool shops on Ann Siang Road. One of them I knew I wanted to check out, it was called Style Nordic. Everything Scandinavian (except the people working in it). The second shop was (surprise, surprise) — a bookshop.

My hunger had to wait, I had to check out this independent-retro, soho-like bookshop. I absolutely love that fact that they didn’t even have a sign for the shop. Just a scribble on the glass door with some black marker. The place was extremely cozy, surrounding me with books — better yet… my sort of books! I find books in Singapore quite expensive. So I had to sigh, and leave and then realize I was still starving.

I ended up walking to Club Street. I could hear a bar with what I think were drunken tourists, singing shouting to Mr. Brightside of The Killers on karaoke… “Jealousy, turning saints into the sea…swimming through sick lullabies…choking on your aaaaaalibis…” and I though — eerrr, no. So I found myself a quite place to dine (a little tooo quite)… I was the only one in the restaurant and this was a Saturday night!

At Eden Cafe, ironically enough their slogan is “where it all begins”, sadly enough for me is where it ended, having Saffron Salmon with Mushroom. The place, which again was recommended by the Singaporean blogger, which again, I must have ordered the wrong thing. Or was everything just tasting bitter because I was having to dine alone?

My feet were killing me and I decided that I wasn’t going to walk up and down this hilly area back to my hotel. I hailed a cab, and asked how much it was back to the hotel. Thinking it would be S$2.30 max, as it was very near (by taxi, not by painful shoes). But the driver replied S$8, and I said no thank you, and got out the taxi. It was S$8 from Orchard Road to my hotel. So I walked it. Slowly, but painfully.

Admittedly, this was a low end (only time in this trip) to the evening (not even going to disclose how pathetic the rest of the evening went).

However, the next day… it gets better.