National Museum of Singapore

The National Museum of Singapore by night

The National Museum of Singapore was renovated about two years ago and is an absolutely beautiful architectural space - a seamless blend of the historic and modern. I heard it's just a short walk from the Dhoby Gaut MRT station (but I have the worst sense of direction, so naturally I got lost and by the time I arrived at the Museum I was all sticky and panting and stressed, and to be honest, in a pretty disgraceful state).

The interior of the Museum

All my stresses were alleviated however, by a 3-course lunch at Novus ($35 Mondays - Saturdays).

My crab & potato starter
(yes, I'm allergic to crab, no, it doesn't stop me from indulging once in a while)

Spot the Tash in the Steak

Aerial view

Hungry Mum & D

Dessert

After the free guided tour (very worth going on by the way), we had a look at the temporary exhibit "Come In: Interior Design as a Contemporary Art Medium in Germany". I was expecting interior design exhibits, but the artists actually created weird and whimsical installations that were just loosely based on interior design concepts. The pieces worked as a kind of social commentary on modern day life.

This was a reconstruction of the room of a man who planned a bomb attack in Europe - in the room itself, a TV played footage of the bombings




My favourite piece

The funniest thing I saw all day was this video of artist Hans Hemmert bouncing around in a yellow balloon to this catchy song "Shame on You". I know it doesn't sound particularly exciting, but watching the massive yellow balloon bounce around the screen was somehow really mesmerising and entertaining.

I also loved the Fashion and Food halls on the upper level of the Museum. The gorgeous fifties-style dresses were on display, funny videos about makeup application in the 60's and the room full of Southeast Asian herbs and spices entertained me all afternoon.