The Art House

After our ACM trip, me and Lionel walked to the art house to take a look. It closes at 10pm everyday and admission is free. Went to the galleries and took some pictures.

Israel - Birth of a Nation

The Chamber



We went to Geylang to eat our all time favourite Pig organ soup after that. It's the best I ever eaten so far especially the big intestine. Very satisfied after the meal and headed for home.
A very artistic day!

Beauty in Asia - 200 BCE to Today

I was on leave yesterday to help out in my dad's claims and gst as it's the end month. He had requested for me to help him finish his paperwork as he was too busy at the site lately. Finished the work in the afternoon and accompanied my parents to my dad's office at Serangoon. Lionel was supposed to meet me there as we had wanted to go for dinner before going to the Asian Civilisation Museum. Had registered for a talk on the Taiwan Atayal facial tattoo (More is available in the previous post) at 7pm in the evening. However due to some last minute hospitalisation of his driver, Lionel had to drive a batch of workers from their factory to Paya Lebar interchange at 6pm, which would probably finish earliest at 6.30pm. Thought we might not be able to make it for the show already, he suggested that i follow him to the pickup of the passengers and we will go straight to ACM with the mini bus.

Lionel sped all the way and had a headache to where shall we park the mini bus as parking lots were limited at the area and we were running late. We turned into Empress place and incidentally saw a car moving out a lot. We couldn't believe our luck as there are only about 10 lots there. We zoomed in and made our way to the ACM, still stunned by the hengness. It was a parking heng-like-shit day as Lionel claimed. Haha. We reached around 6.50pm and had some time to walk around before the presentation began.

Nothing is beautiful or ugly in itself,
beauty lies in the beholder's eye.
The more a thing attracts, the lovelier it seems.

This exhibition bring forth the many facets of beauty across Asian cultures, time and space. It is hoped that visitors will be exposed to the different notions of what is beautiful and that the experience they encounter from visiting the gallery will help them find both the outer and inner beauty of the people and things they encounter. It's still on till the 23 Sept and more information can be found at http://www.acm.org.sg/.

We had some time to walk around the museum after the talk too and took some pictures.

Taiwanese Atayal Facial Tattoo

Registered myself and Lionel for a talk and presentation about the Taiwanese Atayal Tribe and their form of facial tattoo yesterday at the Asian Civilisation Museum(ACM). Had chanced upon this exhibition weeks ago and found that ACM organises different activities at the last Friday every month. For the month of July, the topic is the Atayal facial tattoo tradition which is now a dying artform. The speaker Tien Kuei-Shih is a truck driver who pursues his passion for photography in his free time. He combines this with his passion for his indigenous heritage and has committed himself with the task of photographing and documenting the remaining living Atayal tribal persons with facial tattoos. Within the next ten years all living record of this culture may be gone, so he has been giving speeches around the world these years to raise awareness of this culture.

His presentation documents the Atayal Facial Tattoo Culture that was once an essential part of the Atayal tribal culture. Once considered fierce headhunters, the Atayal tribal people used facial tattoos as a way to distinguish themselves from other tribes. As a child every Atayal tribal person was given a stripe tattoo on the forehead to distinguish that they were a part of the tribe. This practice prevented accidental killings of their own people. The facial tattoos were also a way of recognizing maturity among tribal members. The women were required to prove their cooking and weaving skills before receiving their v-shaped tattoo on their face and become eligible for marriage. The men were required to return with the head of an enemy to prove their manhood and earn their stripe tattoo on their chin.

Wrinkles have stealthily covered the faces of those remaining with the facial tattoos. The youngest is in their 80's and the oldest is over 106. All of the survivors have gone through the Japanese Resistance and the Japanese Occupation. One can see them as the best providers of oral narrative on Taiwanese history. As much historical and cultural importance as they represent, they cannot defend themselves against time. It is estimated that it will take no more than 10 years for all of the facially tattoed Atayal to pass away.

Having watched some videos and learning their stories, different feelings overwhelmed me. The speaker had indeed put in his heart and soul for this project in the cause of documenting this tradition. He had seen many of them passed away last few years and while he was here in Singapore, he received news that another had passed away 2 days ago. Due to time constraint, we could not finish watching the live footage he had taken in Taiwan with these survivors. I actually plucked up my courage after the presentation to ask him if i could get the videos from him as i had my thumbdrive with me but was rejected. His reply was...Come to Taiwan and I show you haha.

The evening ended with a short performance by the Atayal Heritage Ensemble. A great evening indeed!

Marina Square

A picture with the Simpsons!

Watched 'Vacancy' today as me and Lionel had nothing much to do in the evening.

This riveting thriller features Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale as a couple whose car breaks down, stranding them at a very dangerous hotel. Director Nimrod Antal carefully builds the suspense as the film gradually leads to horror when the hotel turns out to be a snuff film operation, with cameras everywhere and lots of truly horrific videos of past murders (shot in the same room) lying atop the TV set. The couple needs to think fast before they become the next victims.

I thought it was quite nice as it kept me in suspense throughout the whole show however the ending was lousy and predictable. Lionel finds it alright but would much prefer a storyline with more twists to it. Next movie to watch would be 'Alone'. I love horror and thrilling shows!

China trip

Me and my boss in China. This was taken in the VIP room before her speech. I got to see all the big shots in the insurance industry and also the mayor of Shenzhen. I must say it was quite an eye opener. However as i was the one preparing her speech for 3000 people, I felt nervous too. When she stepped into the hall, she was surrounded by so many fans that i, standing beside her, felt like a star too. haha..but with some awakward feeling. After her speech, she was quickly ushered to the car while me at the other side packing her laptop had to run behind her as the guards(6 security) had begun closing the event hall door to prevent more fans from running after her. I had to explain to them before they let me out of the hall. Can you imagine how popular my boss is? Its like seeing fans chasing for RAIN. Really! Pic says it all!

My hotel room. Was very nice, big n comfortable. A 5-star hotel in Shenzhen and service was good. First night shared a suite with my boss, next few nights got my own room as her husband and son had arrived. No complaints!

Monday Blues

My first post of the season!
Monday blues as usual as i could not wake up for every mondays..i woke up at 1.35pm on Sunday and couldnt get to sleep that night. Sundays are alwiz mahjong days for me but i had been losing for last 2 weeks..sian but it's all about the process- fun and exciting. Will jia you next time round. Had an even greater shock at night when i realised my hp bill for June was 300 plus. Couldn't believe it as i did not know that overseas call are damn expensive. Was in China for 5 days for biz trip earlier the month that explains why. Well, never thought it would be to that extent. Anyway, too much spending in June liao. Spent over 1k on shopping and now a bomb on the bill. Waiting for my payday on 28th.
haa...