An Night of Adventure in Singapore
It’s been a while since I wrote an entry on my daily life, probably because most of my days are just not worth writing about anymore – unfortunately. But I did do something worth writing about last weekend – and I have pictures too!
Singapore Art Festival – Hélios 2
So a few friends and I went to the Singapore Arts Festival opening act, Hélios II by French “dream architects” called La Compagnie Malabar. It was held at the newly constructed Marina Barrage.
Hélios is some sort of a post-modern, surrealist performance of the descent of a god. I’m not a Thespian or a great appreciator of the urban arts, so I honestly didn’t quite “get” it. I just read from the event site that there would be insects and “pyrotechnic displays” so I was anxiously waiting for the fireworks like a child waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve.
The Hélios insect-grasshopper-thingy with a dude on its forehead.
The performers with the insect-grasshopper-thingy.
The pyrotechnic display.
Another shot of pyrotechnic display.
Marina Barrage
After the performance, we walked around Marina Barrage, which is a dam constructed to be a freshwater reservoir and a public picnic spot. (Pretty neat idea!)
Here’s the bridge that apparently controls the water flow.
This is the pump house.
I don’t know what it is. It’s umm a romantic spot that lacks benches.
This the fountain to wash your legs for kids and big kids to play in.
View of Singapore City
The Marina Barrage being tucked away at the Southern tip of the island has an excellent view of the city. Note: I don’t own a DSLR or a tripod – and my camera was running out of battery from all the incessant zooming, so here’s a few crappy shots of the view.
This is the construction site of Marina Bay Sands, which will be Singapore’s first legal casino. It’ll be completed next year, I think.
And this is Downtown Singapore with the Singapore Flyer and the Suntec City Convention Center in sight.
Ayaschool at the Blujaz Cafe
After our evening stroll at the dam, we went to Bugis in search ofArab Street and Kampong Glam. That’s where there are rows and rows of shisha joints and a South East Asian delicacy (with Indian roots) called Roti Prata. We finally got there after getting lost and walking for about 30 minutes.
We originally wanted to try out the shisha, but I was distracted by the faint sound of jazz playing from an alley somewhere. Turned out there’s a jazz bar (with 2nd and 3rd floor playing club music) right around the corner called Blujaz Cafe.
There was a live band or rather a group friends, playing called Ayaschool led by Aya Sekine, an accomplished jazz pianist who happened to be an alumna from my high school, the Singapore American School. (Now I wished I talked to her!).
The laid back, funky ambiance.
The psychedelic art pieces.
My lime daiquiri at Blujaz Cafe.
…And the Adventure Continued
(Sorry, no pics my camera was flat by then!)
By the time we left the cafe, it was around 2am. We found a clothing store still open and decided to do some crazy late night shopping. And in our tipsy state we began to look for a late night snack. We walked for almost an hour, getting lost (again!) in the process only to end up exactly where we started – at the store. By then, most of the eateries in that area were closed and we decided to walk to Bencoolen Street to haunt the 24 hour Roti Prata joint.
By then, it was almost 4am. We feasted over the prata and the milkshakes, as if they were the rewards of a very long, arduous walk around town. And by 5am, lethargy and exhaustion finally set in, and we promptly retired for the night.
It was a lot of walking – probably about 10 kilometers – but a ton of fun! A really interesting getaway from the shopping and cafe chats that I have become all too accustomed in the weekends.
P.S. More pictures of my adventure on Flickr!
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Which Part of the World Should I Live In?
Found this mini quiz on the Twittersphere the other day. It shows you to which part of the world or rather, to which culture your personality is most suited.
The quiz scores you according to 4 categories:
America, England & Israel
“You are often business oriented and enjoy status symbols. You are confident and impatient and sometimes prone to making blunt statements. You see yourself as adventurous, skillful and competitive. The bottom line – you like to be in charge. Your main strengths – you are decisive and efficient, but can often be perceived as intimidating and alienating. You find inefficiency and indecision irritating and are motivated by a challenge. During group projects, you don’t want to be micromanaged and you expect others to be efficient and responsible.”
Italy, Lebanon & Brazil
“You are stylish, animated and talkative. You enjoy interacting with people and can be dramatic. You see yourself as an expert communicator who is compassionate and caring. The bottom line – you like to be admired. Your main strengths – you are persuasive, fun loving and optimistic, but you sometimes have trouble following through on commitments. You find routine boring and enjoy being in the public eye and receiving recognition. During group projects, you enjoy team members who are friendly and creative.”
Mexico, Netherlands & Thailand
“You are casual, conforming, quiet and relaxed. You tend to be loyal and agreeable and see yourself as responsible, helpful and dependable. The bottom line – you like to be liked. Your main strengths – you are patient and steadfast, but sometimes gullible and indecisive. You find insensitive, overbearing people irritating and work best with people who are sincere, good listeners and proceed at a leisurely pace.”
Germany, China & Japan
“You are formal, precise and conservative. You tend to be accurate, reserved and often uncompromising. The bottom line – you like to be correct. You see yourself as predictable and factual, but others sometimes see you as stubborn and unimaginative. In a business setting, you appreciate others who are consistent, well prepared and tie new ideas to what has proven to work well in the past.”
How did Ivy score?
Given my heavily American and British-influenced childhood, it’s not too surprising that I scored highest for “America, England & Israel”, with a whopping 11 points lead. With that said, I don’t think England is that similar to the US culturally-speaking. I’ve never been to Israel though. So I can’t really make a judgment there. I blame it on the fact that I owned a Malaysian passport for large part of my life. (Yes, Malaysians are not allowed to visit Israel).
As for Italy, Lebanon & Brazil, I scored a 6. Well, I’m a Sagittarius; being social is like breathing air.
For Mexico and friends, I scored an gasping 0. I think I need to learn how to chill and be more peace-loving. Maybe I what I need is more salsa and merengue in my life – both the dance and food are fine by me. 
And finally, for Germany, China & Japan, I scored a 1. So much for preserving my ancestral culture. LOL! To my defense, my moral code is heavily influenced by Confucianism, so I don’t think I’m as un-Chinese as this quiz claims.
Awesome Blogs on World Cultures
Since we’re on the topic on world cultures and my nomadic childhood, you might want to check out these great blogs on culture too!
- Pocket Cultures: Founded by Liz, a British expat living in Turkey, who’s passionate about raising awareness on different cultures. I recently wrote guest entry on the perils (and rewards) of learning Chinese.
- Denizen Mag: An awesome online magazine that captures the essence of the lives of third culture kids. Founded by Steph, a fellow TCK and fellow alumna of the Singapore American School.
- Aspiring Polyglot: Another lover of languages like me, although Kelly is just a whole lot more dedicated to language learning than I could ever be!
- Angry Angmo: An expat’s take on life in Singapore. Absolutely hilarious and true to life. I highly recommend this blog to anyone who’s just moved to Singapore. Made me wish I had kept an expat blog when I was living in Indonesia. Although my content could never be as amusing as his, since life in Jakarta revolved around escaping sinophobia, bomb threats and natural disasters. :S
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And on a completely unrelated note, I had a very authentic, enjoyable Korean dinner for the first time in Singapore, thanks to HisFoodBlog. Also met some wonderful people at Social Media Breakfast Dinner #6 today. Special thanks to Claudia and Daryl for organizing it!
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