so in our bid to become more culturally attuned, de ming and I went to the Kangxi Exhibition at the Asian Civilisation Museum! haha, didn't know de ming is such a cultural person, and actually he knows a whole lot about chinese heritage. haha, it was like walking around the museum with my own tour guide la.



and the good thing is that admission is free for full-time students! so you just have to flash your student card and you'll get the sticker haha. so it's a good way to spend a very humid afternoon! the exhibition was pretty amazing. there were inksticks with engravings, porcelain bowls and paintings of all sorts. but i think the most impressive paintings were these two scrolls that were 22m in length. the painters painted over 44m worth of city life to celebrate kangxi's birthday and all the people in the scrolls had different expressions! can you imagine the amount of detail and work that went into the scrolls!


and because it was so darn hot, we had ice-creams on the way to our next stop, the peranakan museum!


the peranakan museum is super near SMU haha, de ming and I nearly got lost because we didn't know how to walk. but just as we were panicking, we walked further down the School of Accountancy and ta-dah we saw the sign for the museum! haha, it's like only a 1min walk from SOA actually.


this is peranakan jewellery that they use in peranakan weddings. de ming was commenting that their items are a curious mix of Chinese and Malay cultures. the carvings are Chinese in style but the colours used reflect the Malay taste. that's why they have silver and brass ornaments and dark wood carvings in weddings haha.


and this is the kam cheng that they talked about in little nonya. the colours of this covered container struck me the first time I saw it haha, I think it was the nicest kam cheng I saw in the museum.


okay this is not a real pig's trotter haha, but they had it on display as part of the wedding gifts that are given by the groom to the bride's family in a peranakan wedding.


and of course, de ming wouldn't leave until he found the signboard that they used in little nonya. the words 'zuiyuan' actually summarise the words on the four boards at the side. basically, it means not to forget your roots when you become rich in the future. pretty meaningful actually but this was on display in the part on deaths in a peranakan family so this is actually part of the ancestral altar.


and then we had some fun with the statutes outside the museum!


haha, actually very hard to believe that de ming is already 25 years old can! he was the one that suggested all these weird poses la!


this must be the one day where the statute of the grandfather outside the museum becomes a hot photo-taking item haha.


and the statute they have of the cat is actually the ACM mascot! it's a really nice touch actually haha.



then met chris for dinner haha, and because we're still on budget mode, we went to a malay roadside eatery near his old school. which actually was a nice experience because we were right in front of the fan haha, so it was quite cooling.


haha, and then we were trying to get secret candid shots of each other and this is my best! i can't help it if he's constantly in an emo pose haha.


and I like this one! the background makes me feel as if it's in a foreign place :) and it's true, we look better in black-and-white haha. i think it's because black and white gets rid of all the noise and distractions in the background of the picture, and the picture comes out looking very quiet and peaceful which is what I like haha. okay, that's my theory only.


and because I get hungry super fast, we went to the cottage pie cafe for dessert! I really like this place haha, it just has the right touch. now if we get rid of the taxi stand that's next to the cafe and add some quietness, it'll really be perfect haha.

so in our bid to become more culturally attuned, de ming and I went to the Kangxi Exhibition at the Asian Civilisation Museum! haha, didn't know de ming is such a cultural person, and actually he knows a whole lot about chinese heritage. haha, it was like walking around the museum with my own tour guide la.



and the good thing is that admission is free for full-time students! so you just have to flash your student card and you'll get the sticker haha. so it's a good way to spend a very humid afternoon! the exhibition was pretty amazing. there were inksticks with engravings, porcelain bowls and paintings of all sorts. but i think the most impressive paintings were these two scrolls that were 22m in length. the painters painted over 44m worth of city life to celebrate kangxi's birthday and all the people in the scrolls had different expressions! can you imagine the amount of detail and work that went into the scrolls!


and because it was so darn hot, we had ice-creams on the way to our next stop, the peranakan museum!


the peranakan museum is super near SMU haha, de ming and I nearly got lost because we didn't know how to walk. but just as we were panicking, we walked further down the School of Accountancy and ta-dah we saw the sign for the museum! haha, it's like only a 1min walk from SOA actually.


this is peranakan jewellery that they use in peranakan weddings. de ming was commenting that their items are a curious mix of Chinese and Malay cultures. the carvings are Chinese in style but the colours used reflect the Malay taste. that's why they have silver and brass ornaments and dark wood carvings in weddings haha.


and this is the kam cheng that they talked about in little nonya. the colours of this covered container struck me the first time I saw it haha, I think it was the nicest kam cheng I saw in the museum.


okay this is not a real pig's trotter haha, but they had it on display as part of the wedding gifts that are given by the groom to the bride's family in a peranakan wedding.


and of course, de ming wouldn't leave until he found the signboard that they used in little nonya. the words 'zuiyuan' actually summarise the words on the four boards at the side. basically, it means not to forget your roots when you become rich in the future. pretty meaningful actually but this was on display in the part on deaths in a peranakan family so this is actually part of the ancestral altar.


and then we had some fun with the statutes outside the museum!


haha, actually very hard to believe that de ming is already 25 years old can! he was the one that suggested all these weird poses la!


this must be the one day where the statute of the grandfather outside the museum becomes a hot photo-taking item haha.


and the statute they have of the cat is actually the ACM mascot! it's a really nice touch actually haha.



then met chris for dinner haha, and because we're still on budget mode, we went to a malay roadside eatery near his old school. which actually was a nice experience because we were right in front of the fan haha, so it was quite cooling.


haha, and then we were trying to get secret candid shots of each other and this is my best! i can't help it if he's constantly in an emo pose haha.


and I like this one! the background makes me feel as if it's in a foreign place :) and it's true, we look better in black-and-white haha. i think it's because black and white gets rid of all the noise and distractions in the background of the picture, and the picture comes out looking very quiet and peaceful which is what I like haha. okay, that's my theory only.


and because I get hungry super fast, we went to the cottage pie cafe for dessert! I really like this place haha, it just has the right touch. now if we get rid of the taxi stand that's next to the cafe and add some quietness, it'll really be perfect haha.