Singapore: Faces of the Asian Civilizations Museum

The Asian Civilizations Museum is considered the jewel in the crown of Singapore's museums, and it has a good collection of artifacts from Malaysian, Indonesian and Chinese cultures, with considerably smaller collections of Thai, Vietnamese and Burmese historical stuff. Japan and Korea are not represented at all.

I'm not going to bother with detailing the provenance or character of the pictures below, mostly because I wasn't up to recording them, but also because I just want to give a feel for the place, even though what follows is quite representative--of anything with a face, at least.


I have to say the collection is well-organized, even if the museum itself is a maze which requires you to backtrack through everything you've seen to get to the exit. Some of the oldest items are from 5th century China, Champas era Vietnam and Indonesia during the Hindu and/or Buddhist ascendancy.

Mind you, I didn't get to the "Faces" theme entirely on my own. At several points, there are stations (mainly for school groups, I imagine) where you can stamp, emboss or otherwise decorate a blank face template that has a plastic handle--think of a fan--in the style of the exhibit it is adjacent to. I picked one up as a souvenir, natch. If "Faces" of the museum is a good theme, the first shot below is surely a winner:


A couple of the more whimsical faces you could find here:


I don't want the theme to limit me, so here are two particular artifacts I thought were really cool. First is a "tea leaf crusher" and second is a hand-warmer--you put hot embers in the pan, and hold on as the heat is conducted along the pole. Both of these were of seventh century (I think) Chinese origin:


To get to the Asian Civilizations Museum, you come out of Raffles Place subway station and make your way across the bridge to your right. The museum is straight ahead. Adnission is a bit steep in my opinion at S$8.00.

Singapore: Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

I like to visit a Buddhist temple or two when I travel--the austere Japanese ones, opulent Chinese ones, the one built into a mountain in Taipei--and the opportunity to see one of the Buddha's "actual" teeth was an added bonus. The main chamber on the first floor is very nice:


The relic itself is to be found in a much smaller chamber on the fifth floor, but photography is not allowed. And the tooth itself is in a shrine some distance behind protective glass, and is practically invisible to the naked eye. The "no photo" rule was explained to me by the guard as being for security purposes: everything behind the glass, including the floor, is 24 kt gold, he said, and they don't want people to know. So don't tell anyone.

An added feature of the temple is a rooftop garden, a nice spot for meditation in the hurly-burly of Chinatown.


The temple is located in the Chinatown district, and Lonely Planet identifies the Chnatown subway stop was the most convenient one. This is incorrect. Outram Park is closer. Similarly, Promenade station is closer to the Singapore Flyer than is the City Hall station. I'm rather going off LP, lately.

Singapore: Botanic Gardens

Singapore's Botanic Gardens dates from 1859, making it one of the earliest entrants in the scientifically-managed public gardens arena. Handily, it is open from 5 am until 12 midnight every single day of the year, and has its own station on the Circle line. It's also free.

As you enter from the station, you encounter a trellis garden, then a bamboo section with perhaps two dozen varieties of bamboo, then a foliage garden.


From one end to the other is 1.6 miles, with lots of miles of paths and walkways, and occasional benches for resting.


Not long after looking at the map, I realized I needed to conserve (time and energy) resources, and made my way past the Children's Garden, the Medicinal Garden, the Spice Garden, etc., and made for the National Orchid Garden. There is an admission fee here, of I think S$5.00--perhaps accounting for the frown below:


I'm kidding, of course. My mood definitely improved, however, as I caught sight of the amazing variety of colors and delicate beauty.


Most of those I don't know the name of, but the last is what we called pussy willow growing up in Florida, and I'm sure everyone recognizes the broad weeping willow a few frames up.

There is a "cold room" in which high latitude and high altitude orchics are propagated, that even contains another waterfall.


I took right at 100 photos in my three hours here (including a great brunch), and have uploaded 23 of them for your enjoyment. So I hope you enjoy them at least 23% as much as I enjoyed taking them!

Singapore: Haw Par Villa

I came here with my family on a few occasions around 1970, when it was called Tiger Balm Gardens. So, forty-odd years later I wanted to see how it matches up with my memories; the answer is pretty close, except for the crowds. I wouldn't say it was crowded back then, but it wasn't nearly deserted like it was on this Sunday morning in February. I remembered some of the statuary fairly accurately.


Some of the imagery is quite tame:


... some of it is a bit odd:


... and some is really quite strange:


The Garden was built beginning in the 1930s by Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par, scions of the founder of the Tiger Balm company, which made (still makes) camphorated rubs that claim to be good for what ails you, from sore muscles to flatulence. I'm not sure how it inhibits gas, but it works pretty well on sore muscles, chapped lips and stuffy noses. Though the site is now owned by the Singapore government, there are a few remnants of the original advertizing:


The quality of the statues is variable. Some convey a very nice sense of motion:


But faces are not necessarily the strongest feature:


The Garden is divided into sections by theme. Here are a couple images from the "Pond of Legacy":


The most renown section of the Garden is the Ten Gates of Hell, which supposedly illustrates (in gruesome detail) the punishments for various sins according to Chinese mythology.


Admission is free, and the theme park is located directly adjacent to its own subway station on the Circle line.