1. Not ones' to call it quits on a long weekend just yet, Hubster and I set out an hour after we got home from Malacca, on Sunday evening, to catch 'The Art of the Brick' exhibit, on it's last day here at the Art & Science Museum at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.
This was our first time here and we were a bit surprised at how empty the museum was on a Sunday evening. Granted this was the Sunday of a long weekend, but our minds took us back to NYC, where most museums are usually packed on weekends and substantially trafficked even on weekdays/ evenings usually. Clearly, there is no point comparing the cultural capital of the US to Singapore, but it still did seem awkward that we were perhaps two out of the 30-40 odd people visiting the museum this Sunday.
2. The 'Art of the Brick' show, is essentially a Lego lover's dream come true.
Nathan Sawaya, an ex-lawyer from NYC, is the artist who builds three-dimensional sculptures and large-scale mosaics using minisule Lego bricks. His work is the ultimate apotheosis of the building unit - clearly illustrative of how far one can take a small module and build anything out of it, irrespective of size, scale, dimension or complexity. The show is not only inspiring but also engages the viewer to relate to it more effectively than other conventional art shows, simply because it uses at it's core, the most basic of all building units - a Lego brick, that is easily available and relatable to everyone, from having toyed around with, at least once in their growing years.
The long weekend capped off beautifully with this evening spent admiring Sawaya's works and documenting them pictorially for personal records.
3. The Visa-of-the-Week (to be sought after) was the UK Tourist Visa. Having been to the UK twice in the past, both at different points in our lives (when we were single), Hubster and I thought this would be a cake-walk. Little did we know the ordeal that lay ahead for us. I am not exaggerating when I say that in the number of visas that we've seeked in the past, the paperwork for this one certainly seemed more daunting somehow. Upon completion of the online paperwork, when we got ourselves a bio-metric appointment date at the UK VFS Centre in Singapore, we were promptly sent back home by the VFS, on grounds of not having enough 'Original' documentation. While we could have still taken the risk and gone ahead with our application, the nice lady at the VFS Counter advised that it would be better if we brought in our Original Marriage Certificate as well - even though we wanted our applications to be considered as two individual ones! There go all the hopes I had for getting me back, a nice British bloke from the trip!
Hubster, who's reached a point of questioning (Do we really need to make this detour to a country so ridiculous when it comes to Visa issuances, on our way to NYC this summer?) almost lost it when the VFS lady even suggested bringing our daughter's Birth Certificate (original) just in case!! And she was not even part of the Visa Application being an American citizen herself.
Surely other expats who live in Singapore, have at some point applied for Visas and have made do with whatever available paperwork their local companies could issue? In light of that, we thought it was outrageous that we were being told to bring original bank statements etc. We left the VFS office with a new appointment date in hand.
The humour that resulted out of this ordeal was when on a phone call with our American Bank, on requesting them to mail us 'Original Bank Statements' from NYC to Singapore, the Manager promptly told me "Ma'm, All I'd be doing is printing in colour, your online bank statements and mailing them to you. Wouldn't it be quicker for you to do that yourself then?"
Now if only these Brit's at the UK VFS here, realised life was all about convenience!
4. Friday evening was spent catching the latest Bollywood flick - Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani! Hubster and I both are Bollywood fans and love Hindi movies. The movie had it's foolish moments as is always the case with Dharma Production films, so we left our heads at home and watched the movie with our sappy hearts! Full of fun, music, fashion, glamour, dancing and some gorgeous cinematography and good looking actors, the movie was a perfect Friday evening flick. Add to that the audience and a packed-movie hall, we had "ceetee moments" and loud jokes all the time, which added more delight to the Hindi movie watching experience, just as it would be in a theatre in Mumbai. Sadly, this one being a popular show and since we got there just in time, we lost out on the must-have movie snack - the samosas, which had been sold-out by then as well!
5. Hubster and I spent Saturday night dining at yet another new find - Kazbar, a Middle Eastern/ Mediterranean restaurant/ lounge that had a warm ambience and cave-like romantic hideouts for couples. The drinks and food here measured up to everything we hoped it would, making this another return-to point, perhaps this time with friends. Considering we do not have much time left here in Singapore, I wonder how many of our 'return-to' places we'll be able to manage to go to, again!
The week ahead promises yet another maiden venture - What with me finally starting my Dragon Boating adventures, so there's much to look forward to!
Stay tuned and Thanks for reading!
Love,
Shweyta
This was our first time here and we were a bit surprised at how empty the museum was on a Sunday evening. Granted this was the Sunday of a long weekend, but our minds took us back to NYC, where most museums are usually packed on weekends and substantially trafficked even on weekdays/ evenings usually. Clearly, there is no point comparing the cultural capital of the US to Singapore, but it still did seem awkward that we were perhaps two out of the 30-40 odd people visiting the museum this Sunday.
2. The 'Art of the Brick' show, is essentially a Lego lover's dream come true.
Nathan Sawaya, an ex-lawyer from NYC, is the artist who builds three-dimensional sculptures and large-scale mosaics using minisule Lego bricks. His work is the ultimate apotheosis of the building unit - clearly illustrative of how far one can take a small module and build anything out of it, irrespective of size, scale, dimension or complexity. The show is not only inspiring but also engages the viewer to relate to it more effectively than other conventional art shows, simply because it uses at it's core, the most basic of all building units - a Lego brick, that is easily available and relatable to everyone, from having toyed around with, at least once in their growing years.
The long weekend capped off beautifully with this evening spent admiring Sawaya's works and documenting them pictorially for personal records.
3. The Visa-of-the-Week (to be sought after) was the UK Tourist Visa. Having been to the UK twice in the past, both at different points in our lives (when we were single), Hubster and I thought this would be a cake-walk. Little did we know the ordeal that lay ahead for us. I am not exaggerating when I say that in the number of visas that we've seeked in the past, the paperwork for this one certainly seemed more daunting somehow. Upon completion of the online paperwork, when we got ourselves a bio-metric appointment date at the UK VFS Centre in Singapore, we were promptly sent back home by the VFS, on grounds of not having enough 'Original' documentation. While we could have still taken the risk and gone ahead with our application, the nice lady at the VFS Counter advised that it would be better if we brought in our Original Marriage Certificate as well - even though we wanted our applications to be considered as two individual ones! There go all the hopes I had for getting me back, a nice British bloke from the trip!
Hubster, who's reached a point of questioning (Do we really need to make this detour to a country so ridiculous when it comes to Visa issuances, on our way to NYC this summer?) almost lost it when the VFS lady even suggested bringing our daughter's Birth Certificate (original) just in case!! And she was not even part of the Visa Application being an American citizen herself.
Surely other expats who live in Singapore, have at some point applied for Visas and have made do with whatever available paperwork their local companies could issue? In light of that, we thought it was outrageous that we were being told to bring original bank statements etc. We left the VFS office with a new appointment date in hand.
The humour that resulted out of this ordeal was when on a phone call with our American Bank, on requesting them to mail us 'Original Bank Statements' from NYC to Singapore, the Manager promptly told me "Ma'm, All I'd be doing is printing in colour, your online bank statements and mailing them to you. Wouldn't it be quicker for you to do that yourself then?"
Now if only these Brit's at the UK VFS here, realised life was all about convenience!
4. Friday evening was spent catching the latest Bollywood flick - Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani! Hubster and I both are Bollywood fans and love Hindi movies. The movie had it's foolish moments as is always the case with Dharma Production films, so we left our heads at home and watched the movie with our sappy hearts! Full of fun, music, fashion, glamour, dancing and some gorgeous cinematography and good looking actors, the movie was a perfect Friday evening flick. Add to that the audience and a packed-movie hall, we had "ceetee moments" and loud jokes all the time, which added more delight to the Hindi movie watching experience, just as it would be in a theatre in Mumbai. Sadly, this one being a popular show and since we got there just in time, we lost out on the must-have movie snack - the samosas, which had been sold-out by then as well!
5. Hubster and I spent Saturday night dining at yet another new find - Kazbar, a Middle Eastern/ Mediterranean restaurant/ lounge that had a warm ambience and cave-like romantic hideouts for couples. The drinks and food here measured up to everything we hoped it would, making this another return-to point, perhaps this time with friends. Considering we do not have much time left here in Singapore, I wonder how many of our 'return-to' places we'll be able to manage to go to, again!
The week ahead promises yet another maiden venture - What with me finally starting my Dragon Boating adventures, so there's much to look forward to!
Stay tuned and Thanks for reading!
Love,
Shweyta
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