Resisting Change... Haiz

Was filling out a form today, something that would help me expand opportunities for myself, but dammit... it took me SO LONG just to fill out that damn thing... almost 1 whole day... I sometimes really really wonder if I really really want to have all the changes that have recently come into my life.

Many years ago, I made a determination when I started out on my current spiritual path, that I was going to try to change my life. I keenly felt that I had wasted my time, especially in my youth and I decided that it was time to live for myself and be myself for a change. Instead of living for someone else and by the standards of others. But well, dammit, it's as if there is some great great reluctance in me to make these changes. I understand that I have a great desire to remain static and it has been a great pattern in my past lives, but I didn't think that it would be THIS BAD :P

Shucks... I really should stop this habit. :(

High Fashion At The Museum

Here are the pictures I took from the Christian Lacroix exhibition at the Singapore National Museum. Amazingly, when I went on the very last day of this particular exhibition, it was FREE ENTRY... hooray! I guess they really wanted as many people as possible to catch this show before it gets packed up...

Anyways, if you see a kind of black netting in front of the pictures, please do not adjust your screen because the museum did put up fine black netting in front of the costumes to protect them from curious onlookers I guess... Also, the lighting was pretty dark so if you can't see as much detail as you want, well, next time... go to catch this type of exhibit in person...

Most of the gowns and costumes are for film, theatre and opera, therefore they appear exaggerated. However, I am pretty sure that SOME of the outfits at least are true to historical record :P I'll let you know which ones when you come to them.

The following picture shows gowns that I think are pretty close to the ones worn by women from the 1800s on till the early 20th century.

The following outfits are from the opera Carmen.








The following outfits are for the Greek tragedy "Phedre". Apparently they were designed beautifully because the actors had to be on stage for the entire play, even if they were standing in the background. In terms of richness of the fabric and complexity of the costumes, they sort of remind me of Francis Ford Coppela's "Dracula" where he spent most of his budget on fabulous costumes for the actors. Unfortunately, all he got for that movie was a very memorable soundtrack, a song by Annie Lennox and an Oscar for best costume design. :P The movie itself was ... Ok-ay... but not as fabulous as the costumes that were in it.

For the guys who watched that very very LONG play which was featured in the semi-finals with The Shark's "Vampire Monologues"... "Phedre" was the Greek tragedy that the uber long romance was based on.


For some reason, when I saw the following gown with the hooded cape, it reminded me of what Marie de Medici wore in 1622 to a christening. Marie's dress was studded with 3000 diamonds and 39 000 pearls. Today that same dress is valued at around USD 9.75 million or SGD 14.2 million, and for the longest time, was the most expensive dress ever made, although... I think I have read a higher valuation figure in some other historical sources.




According to one of the museum guides, the actress who wore this burgundy gown loved it so much, she had Christian Lacroix make her an exact replica for her wedding. Apparently, her husband-to-be first saw her in this dress at the play and was so taken in by her appearance on stage that it became a case of "love at first sight"... I never knew a dress could be so pivotal in finding a lifetime of happiness... oh well... if only stories like that are true today.

I was particularly impressed by the men's outfits in this particular collection. I don't think I have ever seen anything quite so beautiful.




The following are some additional exhibits that were featured in some old time movie musicals.





Amazingly in the following picture, this shape of gown was actually worn by women... possibly in the late baroque or rococo period. I have seen similar examples when I was travelling around in Europe some years ago. The ladies get through doors by going in sideways and yeah, once one of those ladies sit on a couch, I don't think you can actually sit beside her. It sort of makes me wonder how gentlemen of that era dated.

Some more costumes from the movies.


The following gown is absolutely beautiful, I tend to think of it as the Tinkerbell gown. However, I think the lady wearing this gown should be on the skinny side. The high waist and cut of the outfit does tend to put a few pounds on the wearer.




And that's it folks. There were a lot of other pieces in this exhibit, but I think these were probably the most outstanding of the lot. It was certainly something worth going to.

"I have no money....".... Really?

Today I had a huge craving for steak, so I took some time out and went to a steak place for some dinner instead of the hawker stalls downstairs from my apartment. While at dinner, I had the chance to listen in on the conversation of a group of people beside me... now, I'm not naturally a busybody, but they spoke so loudly, I could not help but overhear what they had to say.

I'm not too sure about the identities of the people in this group, but I got the impression that the future son-in-law was taking his girlfriend and her parents out for a dinner. Although I am a pretty judgemental person, these days I usually allow people a chance to show me that they are okay... however, I took an instant dislike these people, I guess it had something to do with their tone of voice and they way they talked.

Firstly, I felt a little sorry for the gal because it seemed like the man she was gonna get married to has quite an aggressive personality, a huge sense of ego, he is also pretty judgemental (like me.... haiz).... except that he has a complete lack of decorum and diplomacy. I have honestly never seen any prospective groom-to-be act in such rude manner to his prospective parents-in-law. However, as the evening wore on, it became quite apparent to me that the mother-in-law and daughter weren't exactly great people either. For one thing, their famliy seemed to have a substantial number of relatives who somehow have a considerable gambling addiction and they always seem to be lending these gamblers substantial sums of money.

Now, here's the really really funny part. The prospective groom mentioned at one point that the notion of money and of losing control of his money really really gets him riled up. In fact, he doesn't seem to like his own relatives spending their own money friviously. It is therefore pretty strange that he is getting married to this gal :P I guess, it is prehaps an opportunity that I have been given to witness that quite literally everyone on this planet is surrounded by people who reflect his lessons back at himself.

It's also a reflection for me. I am certainly one who is extremely riled up by the notion of money. However, over time, I have learned to control my own outbursts regarding the spending of cash. Also, I am learning the difference between having abundance (having all that you need to survive) and accumulating wealth (just having lots and lots of money).

I guess what I learnt from these people is that... one can have a lot of money, but might not necessarily enjoy having all that money. Certainly, I think the prospective parents-in-law might be tolerating the young man in part because he might have a lot of money. He did mention at one point that his relatives are rich enough to own their own private boat.

Anyways, seeing them kinda reminds me of someone I knew well in a previous lifetime. I got to know the person in question when I was incarnate as an Englishman in the period of the World Wars. Yes, I do actually remember with some detail, the lifetimes I have led, although I might not often speak to friends directly about them.

As I was saying, I knew this fella in my previous lifetime. I was working in government in the time of the Second World War. He was a pretty interesting fellow. I guess a wee bit indulgent and not always the best disciplined of men, but he never lacked courage and tenacity although he could be easily discouraged and go into bouts of depression so deep he often referred to these bouts as his "black dog".

I suppose he was a great mirror to me about my own issues... especially the issue of abundance. I have always felt that of all men, he was one who would never have issues regarding money. In his lifetime, I watched him rise to the apex of worldwide fame, so that almost every person in the civilized world knew who he was. You could say today, he is more famous than Angelina Jolie or Brad Pitt. And certainly, more respected than .... Nelson Mandela for instance...

And yet, he was always dogged by issues of money... especially having "no money"... At first, I could not understand why he was always taking up so many projects... working tirelessly ... it was like he was always fearful that he would not have enough for his old age or his family... I would have thought that with his level of fame, he would have no problem getting money through books or talks or even appearance fees...

And yet.... alas.... despite having the whole world at his feet, this most respected of men never felt secure... never truly enjoyed the fruits of his labour... Well, I'm one to talk... after all, I was... am still... more or less in the same boat as him...

In stark contrast, I recently met a young man who...by his own admission never has more than $2000 in his bank account and YET, is able to travel around the world and do whatever the heck he wants. He was recently in London and apparently living it up... going to the West End every evening... enjoying the sights... all that... and never having S$2000 in his account.

How is that possible?

I suppose it is tied in to skills in money management... I notice that he never overspends what he has and lives within means... taking delight with whatever he has... and never fearing what comes tomorrow. I suppose it is also helped by the fact that his family are devoted worshippers at a local Chinese temple and that they are not only practitioners at the temple but also its patrons... (they are ordinary working people)... I guess their faith in their gods sustains them and in the end, provides for them. I suppose that is ONE WAY of getting through life without fear or worry of tomorrow.

However, in such manner, I have no gods in which I might lean on... As I understand it, the creator I believe in neither requires nor desires my worship and certainly isn't about to spoon-feed me on my path through life.

The idea of having a god that looks after everything for me for the price of my worship and devotion certainly is tempting, but I know that that is not my path and certainly I think my own creator would be disappointed if I were to treat him as do others treat their gods. Turning to the divine with a multitude of platitudes and requests and offerings... using the divine like a device... but without truly having a desire to understand the personality of that divinity.

Well, I guess I better stop there before I start sounding judgemental, after all, it is in the paths of some others to worship, offer sacrifices and devotion to a god.

A Night At The Museum

A week ago on a Sunday, Wolfy and I decided to go to the National Museum because it was apparently "International Museum Day" and entry to all museums in Singapore was free and because I had been there recently, and was not able to take the pictures I wanted because my camera battery ran out. I don't usually go to museums in Singapore because there really isn't anything I want to see here and most of my friends aren't the museum-going sort.

Well, because we had a late night outing the day before, I guess when I met up with the guys, we were all feeling a little bit tired. We had a nice lunch and then decided to go to the museum. I suggested taking the bus, but Bob suggested walking since we were pretty nearby in Orchard. Upon hindsight, taking the bus would have been a much better idea. Because there are so many things that would waylay the guys en route to where we were going.

In particular, Bob discovered a really plush sitting area with red cushions in the shopping area that came up opposite the road from Centrepoint. We really shouldn't have gone in, but I thought at that time, why not? That was a huge mistake, because the moment we sat down on those plush seats, Wolfy fell asleep. Since he was sleeping so soundly, we decided to let him sleep a little since he had a late night.

We woke him up at about 5ish so we could still get to the museum. I had thought that apart from the history section, the rest of the gallery would be open till 8 at least.

Well, we got to the museum finally at about 10 mins to 6. And guess what... when I got to the gallery I wanted to see, I saw the museum people closing the doors in my face :P Apparently, the nice exhibits close at 6pm on the dot... Why that is so, I cannot understand. I would have thought the museum would get MORE traffic if it opened up later into the night. At least until 8. I think museums around the world really should consider extending their opening hours, or start admissions late and stay open later. With the trend towards nightlife, it might be a good idea to do so.

Since we were there already and not wanting to waste that free entry day, we decided to take a look around. We browse the Living Galleries, which was not really a bad idea since they had pretty interesting displays of everyday life in Singapore in the past. The Living Galleries covered everything from clothing and cosmetics to Film and Food.

I must say I was pretty impressed by the way the displays were done. They were pretty innovative. The Food gallery was quite a sight with really great displays of spices in jars. The only thing I found disconcerting about it was the fact that, at one point where I was focused on the process of capturing photos of the exhibits, Wolfy tapped on my shoulder and pointed out to me that we were ALL ALONE in the gallery.

The Food Gallery in particular had this true-to-life ambient sound recording playing in the background that mimicked the sound of people moving around and the banging of cooking pots. Being engrossed as I was with the exhibits, I didn't notice that all the people who came in with us had already left. :P

It was a little creepy but we sort of laughed it off ... its pretty silly to get frightened by a bit of human ingenuity.

Well, that set the stage for the really creepy thing that happened next.

Trying... in typical Singaporean fashion, to maximise our free entry into the museum, we looked around for a gallery we hadn't been to yet. I spotted a doorway in the circular walkway on the second floor of the entry area of the museum. It seemed pretty empty since it was already evening and the sun had set and the doorway to the gallery was not in a prominant area.

Even from the outside it looked pretty creepy through the glass doors because the colour scheme of the room was black or dark, offset by whitish, classic wall cornices. What made it worse was the huge black and white photos from the 1800s to early 1900s. It was like looking at Time itself being frozen... and not in a good way.

I was about to give this gallery a skip, but the Singaporean in me drove me to try and "maximise" our freebie. I went in and started taking pictures of the silver jewellery. I remember in particular I was trying to take a close-up of a rather unique looking silver tasbir when I was interrupted by a noise from my left. Shifting my eyeballs slightly, I caught sight of two pairs of feet in what looked like canvas shoes or sneakers of a couple walking out. I got the impression that the guy pushed the glass door and got out first, followed by a lady. Thinking nothing of it, I snapped away until Wolfy tapped me on the shoulder again.

"Did you see that guy, he was talking to nothing..." there was a strange look on his face. I wasn't too sure what he was saying until he repeated his statement again and explained himself. Apparently this young teenage fellow with a backpack and sneakers turned, smiled and made a noise or comment (something like "wow") to the empty air beside him. The expression on the young man's face was that of a guy trying to impress his gal.

I guess Wolfy was trying to get me to confirm that he had indeed seen a flesh and blood person... since he does sometimes see "people" who aren't there.

Since I had heard the sound, I was able to confirm at least that he had indeed seen someone. However, I said that there were two people, not just one. He however, only saw the guy. Well, since this was uber weird, Wolfy pushed open the glass door to try and find that strange teenage guy. Unfortunately, there was no one outside when we looked out. Wolfy was certain that this same strange young man was sitting alone on one of the benches in the Food Gallery when we were wandering around in it. I hadn't noticed him since I was busy taking pictures.

Anyways, I said that since the young guy wasn't there, we should just try to explore the rest of this black gallery. I saw an almost hidden passage to an inner room ("hidden" because the dark walls and evening lighting in the museum had a way of concealing the room from certain angles). This room had some chairs arranged as if there was a meeting in progress. As I was about to walk down the room, a funny feeling hit me. I wonder now if it was because of the strange encounter with the teenage guy. Although the light in the room was constant, I thought I saw something or somethings flickering in the air. like small slivers of images that should be there but somehow are not.

I said to Wolfy that I did not feel like going into that room and he immediately agreed with me. He felt that there were "things" in the room.

I guess, despite our Singaporean-ness, we decided that some freebies are not really worth going all the way for. Walking out of the museum, Wolfy said to me that he felt there were a lot of unseen presences in the National Museum, even back before it was renovated.

I suppose a ton of old things that were once used and owned by people might draw their spirits if concentrated in a particular place.

Well, if you have visited the National Museum and have seen something strange there, I'd like to know about it. OR, if you feel that any place like the National Museum is naturally creepy because of the architecture or lighting, I would also like to hear the skeptical view. Please post your views. :D

Stuck On Facebook!

It's been quite some time since I made a post here.... the reason for this is cos I'm currently stuck on Facebook! :( While the initial idea was to expand my social network and try to find better business opportunities, I guess I have a tendency to get addicted to applications... In particular, gaming applications.

I've always been a great game player, perhaps it is that desire in me for competition and to engage in some kind of strategic maneuvering. I think the addiction is getting a little bit lesser now... and I hope that it does since I really really really... NEED to get started on my new round of work related admin stuff and I have a dateline. :P

In the meantime, I am pondering whether I should spend some cash and go take pictures of the wonderful costumes at the Christian Lacroix exhibition. The last time I was there, my camera ran out of batts :P I realise that I really really like the heavy, luxurious style of the clothes. I wonder if this is just a phase... however, I don't think so since I've always liked the ruffles, lace and embroidery style but it is quite inappropriate to be dressed like that in Singapore.

I get the feeling looking at the clothes that I'm somehow looking back at something with a little feeling of nostalgia. Well, I'm not sure why that is...

By the way, the last time I was at the museum with Wolfy, I think we saw some guy... yes, a real flesh and blood person... talking with an invisible entity ... ghost perhaps... that's a strange tale I'll put down here later... if I have time and can remember to do so.

It's Friday... But Feels Like Monday :(

I woke up today depressed. This is not a good week. Next week is going to be worse :(

There were some interesting moments this week. I ended up going to places in Singapore I never knew existed and met some new people in the course of competing a project that one of my "sidelines" coughed up in recent months. I guess business wise its something I should have done long ago, but never really bothered to.

I'm kinda sitting in my office now. The weekly team meeting is in like... a few minutes and I SO do not want to be sitting in for it. I was up late at night trying my best to complete my project, but I got easily distracted. I guess I really must not feel like completing the project because I ended up pacing around my room feeling emo about a completely different thing :(

Looking back on last night, I suppose this is some kind of pattern where I have a problem successfully completing something that I started pretty well. :P I've gotta try to overcome this crap ...

Of Terrorists... And Psychic Detection... For Cash

I'm pretty surprised that its already been a year since Mas Selamat disappeared. I guess time really flies. This particular case would not have interested me much except that, like most people, I got a huge laugh over the incredible inaptness of the police over his escape... and, oh yeah... the guys wanted to pool our psychic talents together to try and find him and perhaps collect some bounty money.

Speaking of bounties... I think perhaps some readers to this blog might be banging their heads on the wall at this point at the mention that the cash bounty for the capture of Mas Selamat reached 1 million Sing dollars (the cash being put up by … not the government, but 2 private individuals.).

Honestly guys, even if we DID manage to locate Mas Selamat, I really really don’t think we have enough manpower and resources to actually capture him. Firstly, none of us are in the appropriate industries where we manhandle people on a regular basis. In addition, think about it, do any of us drive our own vehicle? Even if it is something like The Shark’s “stealth van”? And even if we don’t capture him directly, a vehicle is needed if we wanted to keep tabs on the intended target once the person in question is located.

A final word on the man… I’m still pretty amazed by the tenaciousness of Mas Selamat. It must take a very determined man to swim across the Johor strait even on the best of days.