Sentosa Island, Singapore

Hi Everyone,
  Bugis is one of those words that would make an American kid laugh and a parent frown when hearing their child say Bugis, Bugis, Bugis.  In some ways that would be an accurate assessment.  According to Wikepedia,  “Bugis Street, in the city-state of Singapore, was renowned internationally from the 1950s to the 1980s for its nightly gathering of transwomen, a phenomenon which made it one of Singapore’s top tourist destinations during that period. Underground digging to construct the Bugis MRT station prior to that also caused the upheaval and termination of nightly transgender sex bazaar culture, marking the end of a colourful and unique era in Singapore’s history.  An attempt by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board to bring back the former glamor was unsuccessful.”     It goes on to explain where the name Bugis originated.  “According to knowledgeable long-term residents of the area, before the arrival of the British, there used to be a large canal which ran through the area where the Bugis, a seafaring people from South Sulawesi province in Indonesia, could sail up, moor their boats and trade with Singaporean merchants.It was these people after whom the thoroughfare was named. The Bugis, or Buginese, also put their sailing skills to less benign uses and gained a reputation in the region as being a race of bloodthirsty pirates.”  When we were in Makassar,  which is in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, our guide Ruslie said the same thing about the Buginese seafarers.  But what Bugis means to me is National Library, the Bras Basah Complex with lots of great used books stores, Commercial Straits Art Co, Art Friend, the Singapore Art Museum and lots of places I haven’t yet discovered. 

  I spent most of Thursday visiting most of those places. 

  Before leaving the boat I made sure I had (top to bottom) my Singpore map, blue MRT card for the Singapore subway system, white One15 Marina card for buses to and from Sentosa Island, the MRT map, the street atlas page with the library and other good places high-lighted in yellow, the Sentosa Island and the one15 bus schedules and the Vivo City Mall directory in case I absolutely couldn’t avoid going to Vivo City Mall for printer paper.  I also had my phone..not in the picture.  Randal and I left the marina on the 9:15 Blue Sentosa Island bus.  It dropped us off at the entrance to the mall and we walked to the MRT entrance.  Randal was going off to do his thing and I to do mine, but we both were headed the same way on the MRT.  I got off at the Bugis MRT and by 10:15 I was at the National Library Central Library.  http://www.nlb.gov.sg/

  from Wikepedia

I spent almost 2 hours browsing the really large watercolor collection choosing the ones with “The Beginner” in the title.   I was in the part of the library with the circulating collection and it was quite busy which was nice to see.  But it was quiet and roomy and very comfortable.  The staff was very helpful too.  I would have stayed much longer, but the Singapore Art Museum has free admission hours between noon and 2 pm. 

Before I went off to the museum I had to,  HAD TO  stop at the Commercial Straits Art Co. just across North Bridge Street from the library.  http://www.straitscomart.com/   Luckily the library and the museum are free!  Then it was off to the museum which was just a fast 10 minute walk.

The regular admission to the museum is 8 Sing dollars, about $5.50 US.  That’s not tons of money, but free is better.

http://www.singart.com/museum.php?page=the_building   is the link to the museum page that shows photos of the building which had originally been a Catholic School.

  photo from Wikepedia

Much of the collection was too modern and performace related for me, but I really liked the 3rd floor gallery with the current exhibition of local artists.   http://apad.org.sg/  is a link to the The Angkatan Pelukis Aneka Daya (Association of Artists of Various Resources) known as APAD, founded on 29 July 1962.  The exhibit included some wonderful watercolor paintings.  I did stop at the Museum shop and spent just $4 US.  As I was finally leaving the museum I thanked the man at the desk for having the free hours.  He asked me to do a quick survey and then gave me a free museum bag!

By then it was about 2:15 and I still had to buy computer paper and get some food!  I walked into the Raffles City Mall which has an MRT stop attached but in the entire mall there was not one place to buy computer paper.  At least that’s what a very knowledgeable local told me.  She said the electronics shop on the 3rd floor might…..  I just left and continued walking back towards the library and went next door to the Bras Basha Complex where along with used book shops they have stores that do sell computer paper.  I bought some, the 100 gram weight and put it into my new museum bag.  Then it was off for lunch at the Toast Box which I had eyed earlier in the day.

  Kaya Toast  photo from http://www.mylittlefoodblog.com/

It looked exactly like this.  It tasted just like toast with butter and marmalade.  I was starving and the toast and tea at the Toast Box were just as wonderful as High Tea at Raffles Hotel which I doubt we’ll do since men must wear long pants and Randal has vowed never to do that again.  It took longer to convince the cashier that I wanted to order tea with no milk or sugar than to gobble down my toast and tea. The British drink tea with milk and sugar so it is supposed that all westerners do the same.  I knew the toast would have enough sugar without adding more to the tea.    “Kaya, also called srikaya (from the word meaning “rich” in Malay based on its golden color) or coconut egg jam, is a coconut jam made from coconut milk, duck or chicken eggs which are flavored by pandan leaf and sweetened with sugar. The spread originated in Southeast Asia, most likely Indonesia or Malaysia. This is reflected by its tropical ingredients santan (coconut milk) and pandan leaf. Kaya is sweet and creamy, available as a golden brown or green colored spread depending on the amount of pandan and extent of caramelization of the sugar. As with other jams, kaya is typically spread on toast to make kaya toast and eaten in the morning but is enjoyed throughout the day. It is also used with glutinous rice to make kuih seri kaya.”  Wikepedia  

Then it was time to Go Home!  I found my way back to the Bugis MRT.  At HarbourFront caught the 3:15 bus back to Sentosa Cove and was back on the boat before 4. 

You can see from this email that I didn’t have my camera with me.  I have found it almost impossible to buy AA batteries that last longer than 20 photos and many batteries won’t work at all. The fact the Duracell is going to be made in China is not encouraging.   The local Giant brand wouldn’t take even one photo.  So I’m going back to my old Kodak with the lithium rechargeable.  Also,  I knew that no photos would be allowed in either the library or museum.  And though I know everything on Wikepedia isn’t accurate, by their own admission, the photos are not copywritten and they do have info you can’t find easily about local kinds of things. 

  Remember the game, “In my bag I have..” and you would go through the alphabet naming everything in the bag.  All my bags were full by the time I got home.  That was another reason I didn’t take the camera; I had enough to carry.  But from now on I will.  I miss it when I don’t have it.

  Water, sweater for the AC in buildings and MRT, umbrella for the afternoon rain, stuff I bought at the art store, freebies from the library, a “thing” from the museum shop and my museum gift bag that carried the photocopier paper home.  I had the small sketch book thinking I would have time to sketch.  Next time.  It certainly felt heavier than it looks.  By the time I have the umbrella, sweater, water bottle, pocketbook, maps, keys, camera in my backpack, it already weight a ton. 

Ruth Johnson

DoraMac