Monthly Archives: September 2010

Bukit Brown Cemetery

I’ve been wanting to go to Bukit Brown Cemetery for the longest time and was very happy that I was allowed to tag along with a group of RI boys on a field trip there. The Bukit Brown Cemetery visit is part of one of their Geography DMPs (differentiated modules programme) and it was led by Charles and Raymond from API (Asia Paranormal Investigators).

Chinese tombstones are very interesting. By looking at a tombstone, you can tell which part of China the person was from, the names of their children, etc. We saw the grave of Tay Ho Swee and his mother and some other famous pioneers. We also got to see the largest tomb there which belongs to Ong Sam Leong and his wife and it’s supposedly the size of ten 3-room HDB flats. It was quite amazing! There were stone lions, Sikh guards and fairies protecting the tomb and the 24 paragons of filial piety are carved along the sides. There’s also a moat and the area in front of the tombstones is laid with Peranakan tiles. Another very important tomb in Bukit Brown Cemetery is that of LKY’s grandfather.

I really hope they don’t exhume the remains there and build over it anytime soon because it is so significant to Singapore’s history and there’s so much we can learn from the place. So here are some pictures taken at the cemetery.

our guides

silent sentry

fairy guardian

humongous tomb!

paragon of filial piety: feeding breast milk to mother-in-law who couldn’t chew

another Sikh guard

well-guarded tomb

Tay Ho Swee's tomb

singapore polo club is nearby

Mid-Autumn Festival

When I was a kid growing up in a shophouse in Little India, we used to celebrate Mid-Autumn festival by hanging up lanterns in the back lane behind where we were staying and eating mooncakes and drinking tea. It was lots of fun and I’m glad Anya got to celebrate in a similar way last night. My parents are moving to a new block next year and the place they’re staying at will be torn down. So mum’s been feeling a bit nostalgic and decided to get some neighbours together to celebrate downstairs with lanterns and mooncakes since it’s the last time they’d be at the old place.

with her hello kitty lantern

lantern fighting

she doesn’t get a candle cos she likes to squish her lantern

with the neighbour’s grandson

she wants their lanterns

Farmers’ Market at Loewen Gardens

We went to the Farmers’ Market at Loewen Gardens on Saturday to look around and have brunch. The market is held twice a month and there are lots of interesting stuff for sale but everything’s pretty expensive. But it was nice ‘cos it made us feel like we weren’t in Singapore. :) There’s a trampoline and a small playground there beside The Pantry Cafe for kids to play and some toys outside this cute little shop called ‘The Children’s Showcase’. We bought something there for Anya to wear for Halloween. Hehe. Also got her a new swimsuit and some cutlery.

the children’s showcase

bacon butty and vanilla cream drink

anya managed to pour lots of water onto her t-shirt

lots of food and drink…

Poster Boy

We went to take a look at the ‘Campaign City – Life in Posters’ exhibition at Evil Empire in Niven Rd because I thought it was an exhibition of Singapore’s campaign posters. But it turned out to be a rather pathetic display of about TEN posters which were re-imaginations of original campaign posters. I liked the one of a very tired-looking Singa but the rest were just so-so. There was this area where you could pose in front of the wall and recreate either a ‘Speak Mandarin’ or ‘Small Families’ campaign poster so Adrian did. An image of the original poster is below. I think the Speak Mandarin campaigns now are really much better. Haha.

courtesy begins with me

adrian likes to speak mandarin (yah right.)

so does she

Marche @ 313 Somerset

Lin & Kenneth came back from the US for a visit so we met up with them and celebrated their birthdays at Marche @ 313 Somerset. I love the fact that they have these mobile high chairs so that you can push your kid around to order food even if you’re alone with your kid. I also really like the little play area there cos there’s quite a bit that the kids can do there even though it’s a small area. A lot of parents like to leave their kid in there and just go off and eat but I think they should check on their kid now and then even if it’s a relatively big kid ‘cos sometimes kids just can’t behave! There was a girl there who kept hitting the other kids with her balloon and she even made Sam cry.

we’re all patapum fans