🇸🇬 Exploring Singapore: Lunch, Singapore River, Merlion, National Museum, Light to Night Festival,

🇸🇬 Exploring Singapore: Lunch, Singapore River, Merlion, National Museum, Light to Night Festival,

It was a really hot day. Was the rainy season of December and January finally over? This time, I visited the National museum, before going to take an evening walk along the Singapore River, visiting the Merlion and finally ending my day at the Light to Night festival to see the light projections.

Good morning, from Bugis. I got here by bus but it was also possible to come here by MRT, using the Bugis Station. I would take an early lunch at the mall first. Weather was so hot so I shall try to find some food indoors with air-conditioning.

It was only around 10:40am so some of the shops and kiosks were still not opened yet. Found this shop which sold fishball noodles. The price was slightly expensive for fishball noodles. I usually have fishball noodles at the hawker centre but since the weather was so hot….

Was this supposed to be a popular shop? It was even in Michelin Bib Gourmand back in 2016. I would need to collect the food myself and return the trays after use as well. I ordered the signature fishball noodles.

After about 10 mins, my food was finally here. I chose yellow noodles with soy sauce. The portion seemed quite small, just a little bit of noodles. However, there was quite a few ingredients including fried fish cake, boiled fish ball and fish dumpling. Before eating, mix the noodles up with the sauce.

Overall, the taste of the noodles was nice but the portion was a little small. And I even had to self-collect and return the trays after use myself. My next stop was the National Museum and I would be taking a bus from Bugis to the National Museum.

It would just be a short bus ride, for about 10 minutes. The entrance to Fort Canning Park was nearby too. However, the weather was too hot for me to be walking in the park now. A short walk away was the National Museum.

The National Museum had an iconic wide façade with a large dome. There was a special exhibition on history of travel in Singapore. It started since May last year and would be closing in February this year. So I went today before it closed for good.

The National Museum building was also a National Monument of Singapore. I had to get my tickets at the self-service kiosk and there was a someone to help.

Admission was free for Singaporeans and permanent residents but at least $10 for tourists and foreign residents. 32 00:03:05,000 –> 00:03:13,000 It was free admission for me and I was provided with a sticker. The dome was a popular photo spot.

The first floor also had a Museum shop and a cafe. I also realised that the Level 2 exhibits were mostly closed for refresh. The special exhibition was downstairs. It was a small exhibition with a collection of specimens and photos of how travel was like in Singapore in the past.

Items on display included old photos, old baggage tags, hotel uniform and menus from restaurants. Overall, the exhibition was ok if it were free but probably not so worth it if you need to pay for it. Next, I briefly went through the Singapore History Gallery.

The first artefact was the Singapore Stone, a stone fragment with undeciphered inscription. This showed that the island was probably inhabited since the 13th to 14th century. After that, the British came and Singapore became a British colony and a port city. Migrants from China and Indian came as well.

Then there was World War 2 and the Japanese occupation. There were some short clips for everyone to watch as well. After the war, came the decolonisation, before a brief merger with Malaysia and then separation to become an independent country.

And then came the industrialisation and nation building to become Singapore today. After the museum tour, I went back to the bus stop and took a bus down a couple of stops to Dhoby Ghaut. I stopped by the nearby mall to have a short meal.

This time I decided to try some Vietnamese food at Paper Rice Vietnamese Kitchen. It was having a tea time deal of 25% discount too. The Banh Mi looked nice. I ordered the Chicken Banh Mi.

This was the price before discount. You only get the discount by paying at the counter. After the discount, it cost $8.91. They even used a robot for food delivery. Banh Mi came with some sauce and rice cracker as well.

There were many vegetables such as carrots and cucumber in the Banh Mi, so it was quite crunchy and refreshing. However, the amount of chicken meat didn’t seem a lot. After my meal, I headed back to the train station. I took one stop from Dhoby Ghaut to City Hall Station.

Let’s first get out of the station. Behind the station was St Andrew’s Cathedral. I was not able to get a clear view of the Cathedral though. I would be watching the Light to Night light projection show.

The festival would only last for 3 weeks from 19 January to 8 February around the Civic District. It was only about 6:30pm. Since the light show would only start from 7:30pm, I would take a walk around the Civic District and Singapore River area first.

There were several important buildings and landmarks in this area. This was the Parliament House of Singapore and opposite was the Supreme Court (High Court). Nearby was the Singapore River and on the opposite bank was the CBD.

This path along the Singapore River was relaxing for walking, cycling or even sitting around. This was the point where Sir Stamford Raffles first landed in Singapore on 28th January 1819. A short walk away, were the Fullerton Hotel and Cavenagh Bridge.

Fullerton Hotel building was formerly the general post office, built in 1928. Cavenagh Bridge is the oldest bridge along the Singapore River in its original form and also the first steel suspension bridge in Singapore.

It is now a pedestrian bridge. A nice view of the CBD and Singapore River could be seen from the bridge. This was the Former Empress Place Building, a colonial building that housed government offices from 1867 to 1989.

It is now the Asian Civilisations Museum. The light projections would be held in this area later. Dalhonsie Obelisk, built in the 1850s to honour the visit of the Marquis of Dalhousie, the Governor General of India.

There was also the Victoria Theatre and Victoria Concert Hall. Victoria Theatre was formerly the town hall built in the 1860s while the Victoria Concert Hall was the Victoria Memorial Hall was built in the early 1900s to commemorate Queen Victoria who passed away.

Anderson Bridge, the replacement bridge for the Cavenagh Bridge, which was first completed in 1910. It was a vehicular bridge but now used for pedestrians. There was a view of Marina Bay Sands from the bridge too. A short walk away was the Marina Bay waterfront and the Merlion Park.

This was the view of the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, Ferris wheel, Marina Bay Sands and of course the Merlion. The Merlion was a really popular photo spot and landmark of Singapore.

I walked back to the Victoria Theatre area again, but I still had some time before the light show started. So I continued my walk around the area. Behind the Victoria Theatre was the Arts House.

This was the Former Parliament House and Annex Building, a colonial building built in the 1820s. “Fill in the blanks” displays for the Light to Night Festival. Close to it was the Former Supreme Court with the copper-green dome, and adjoining it was the Former City Hall.

Both the buildings are now part of the National Gallery Singapore, an art museum. There were some food stalls, held in conjunction with the Light to Night Festival. It was already 7:15pm and the light projections were going to start in 15 minutes time.

As the sun set and sky grew dark, the Light to Night light projections started promptly at 7:30pm. Venue: National Gallery Singapore, Title: Temple of Love, Total Length: 3.5 mins Story was about a monster which appeared in the middle of the night to wreck havoc and to devour the world devour.

In the end Mother Nature appeared and healed the earth with her powerful hands. I walked back to The Arts House from the National Gallery. Venue: The Arts House at the Old Parliament, Title: Winter Sonata, Summer Mookata, Total Length: 4.5 mins Story was about the adventure of a superhero cat fighting intergalactic threats.

I felt that of all the projections, this was the easiest to understand. The Asian Civilisations Museum was just round the corner. Venue: Asian Civilisations Museum, Title: Passage, Total Length: 2.5 mins The story was supposed to tell Singapore’s transformation from a trading port to an independent city, through the perspective of ceramic bowls.

These ceramic bowls in the projection were also objects found in the Asian Civilisations Museum. I felt that, of all the projections, this was the most abstract and difficult to understand. Venue: Victoria Theatre & Victoria Concert Hall, Title: Embroidered Landscapes, Total Length: 7.5 mins

The projection was inspired from the costumes and music of Chinese Opera, something that was disappearing in Singapore. After that, I made my way back to the National Gallery and then back to City Hall MRT Station.

Along the way, I found a good photo spot for Saint Andrew’s Cathedral and it was nicely lit up at night. A few minutes later, I was back at City Hall MRT Station and that was also the end of my city walk. See you again next time!

I visited the National museum, before going to take an evening walk along the Singapore River, visiting the Merlion and finally ending my day at the Light to Night festival to see the light projections.

Please enjoy the video.

00:00 Introduction
00:51 Fishball Story
02:37 National Museum
04:30 Singapore History Gallery
05:44 Paper Rice Vietnamese Kitchen
07:15 Civic District
07:52 Singapore River
08:52 Merlion
09:51 Light to Night Festival
10:01 Light to Night Festival (National Gallery Singapore)
10:28 Light to Night Festival (Arts House at the Old Parliament)
10:55 Light to Night Festival (Asian Civilisations Museum)
11:13 Light to Night Festival (Victorial Theatre & Victoria Concert Hall)

* Google Translate was used to translate English subtitles to multiple languages. So there might be some errors in those languages.
* Although I try my best to be accurate, but some information on the video may not be 100% correct or subject to changes over time.

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