Art Science Museum @ Marina Bay Sands

The Marina Bay district of Singapore (heart of the downtown) has had construction ongoing since we arrived last year.  Several projects have completed, with several more still in progress.  The overall  area development is the flagship project of Singapore, and when completed will rival or exceed the spectacular views of The Bund in Shanghai.
The Marina Bay Sands integrated resort/casino opened last year, and in February, the Art & Science Museum attached to this complex opened.  This past weekend we went to check it out.  It, like many museums, is not a cheap date--  S$30.00 for adults for entry.  (I compare this with the US$26.00 and US$14.00 parking it cost to enter the newly rebuilt California Academy of Sciences Museum in San Francisco that we recently visited--  also a spendy day out).

Art Science Museum--  Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

The building housing the museum is unique--  it is shaped like a lotus flower, and sits on the edge of the bay.  The building has four floors--  the top floor gallery is dedicated to art and design--  with a large display on the design concepts that went into the museum building.
During our visit we toured three exhibits (not including the fourth floor art/design exhibit).
Shipwrecked:  Tang Treasures and Monsoon Winds
This exhibit was fabulous, featuring many artifacts, primarily pottery, recovered from a ninth century ship that sank near the Indonesian island of Gelitung.  The ship was Arab, and its discovery in 1998 was the first proof that Arab sea traders ventured as far as East Asia as early as the Tang Dynasty.  The pottery came mostly from central China (Xi'an), where a city of 1 million people mass produced goods, including pottery, for trade.  Thousands of pieces of pottery, and some gold and silver items were found in the wreck.
Traveling The Silk Road:  Ancient Pathway to the Modern World
This exhibit had few, if any artifacts, but presented a history of the Silk Road-- the trade route(s) between central China and Baghdad in the Middle East.  Four cities were highlighted along the route (Xi'an, Turfan, Samarkand, and Baghdad) and their role in servicing the traders and caravans of the route.  Although trade occurred for many items, silk was a major trade item, and often was used as currency for other goods and services along the route.  A part of the exhibition detailed the history of silk and how it is made--  fascinating.  (Silk worms are as domesticated as cows are--  they are blind, eat only mulberry leaves, and would now perish if left to fend for themselves in the wild.  Silk cocoons are literally unravelled to harvest the silk threads.  The coccoon must be boiled in water prior to unraveling, which is fatal to the pupae).

Silk Cocoons--  Each of these cocoons contains a silk pupae.  The cocoons are dropped in boiling water to break down the sticky binding agent.  The end of the threads are located, then "unwound" from the cocoon onto a reel, then processed for thread.

Genghis Khan
This exhibit highlighted the life and history of the famous 13th century Mongolian invader, and the empire he and his descendents created by conquering neighboring territories.  The Mongol empire stretched from Baghdad in the Middle East to the shores of the Pacific (although the Mongols were unsuccessful in conquering Japan), and from the edges of the Russian empire down to India.  The exhibit included many weapons and other artfifacts of the Mongol era, and described how Genghis was both ruthless and wise in his governance and organization.

Despite the expense I would recommend a visit to the museum, should you find yourself in Singapore for a visit.

A run on feathers...

Oh, this can't be good.  With a pseudo fly fishing theme, I thought it necessary not to pass up commenting on a recent news article I came across regarding chicken feathers, or "hackle" used in tying fishing flies.  It seems fashion has invaded the local fly and tackle shops.  Women's beauty salon owners are buying up entire supplies of hackle feathers, normally sold as the construction material for fishing flies, and causing dramatic rise in prices and stock-outs.
The feathers are being used in a new hair fashion--  hair extensions with the colorful feathers.  It began in Boulder Colorado, and is spreading worldwide.  With Miley Cyrus and other celebrities taking up the style, there will be a crush of teen emulation, and a bigger run on the fly shops for hackle.
What does this mean to the fly tyers and anglers?  Undoubtedly higher prices-- both for the raw materials for those anglers tying their own flies, and the flies supplied in the shop for those that don't.  Premium hackle feathers used for fly tying are expensive to begin with (as much as $60 or more for one high grade chicken cape), as they are from chickens bred specifically to produce feathers ideally shaped for tying the flies.  Prices are reportedly doubling overnight as a result of the run on the fly shop's supplies.
And I can only assume this can't be particularly good for the chickens out there either.

Update:  10 March   A video showing the new feather fashion.

Singapore Chinese Orchestra

Much like our concerts in the botanical gardens of Boise during the summer, Singapore has similar events in its own botanical garden.  Tonight we met our friends Stephan and Lubka for a picnic dinner and a wonderful one hour concert (free) in the Singapore botanical gardens.  The concert featured the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, and was part of the celebration ramp up for Chinese new years.

The band shell and outdoor amphitheatre couldn't be better.  The band shell is at the bottom of a gradually sloping hillside, on a pier structure with a koi pond surrounding it.  There are trees and shade along the edges of the hillside, and it provide a very pleasant environment for music and a picnic.

The orchestra was splendid, playing traditional Chinese new year music.  Although the instruments were mostly Asian (some research will be required to properly identify the instruments), the music bore a strong similarity to western culture classical music.  My ignorance of the history of the Asian music and the instruments is great--  I am wondering  if western stringed instruments have roots in the east, or if these developed independently?

UPDATE:  A quick check of Wikipedia informs me the primary instruments in the orchestra are erhu, a 2-stringed instrument played with a bow, from a family of bowed instruments called huquin.  These instruments evolved out of central Asia, and have roots over a thousand years old.  As my hypothesis proposed, the violin and other stringed instruments of western culture emerged out of Northern Italy in the 16th century, and are likely descendants of the huquin instruments, invented much earlier.



Singapore Botanical Gardens Bandshell--  The Singapore Chinese Orchestra performed a free 1 hour concert featuring traditional Chinese New Years music.



Jim, Elaine, Stephan, Lubka, and Estelle--  A nice picnic dinner, complete with champagne.  The weather was mild, with some of the monsoon breezes keeping things cool.  A delightful evening of music, food, drink, and great conversation with friends.   Estelle wasn't as entertained as the rest of us, but I am certain enjoyed an evening out with "the folks", and the broad attention from the crowd at the gardens.  The cat had a quiet evening home alone without Estelle.

Six Degrees of Separation from Singapore

If Kevin Bacon is the center of the entertainment universe, and can be linked to any other actor by six steps of separation, then Singapore must share some similar weird connection like that, where everyone in the universe is somehow connected to this place.
Yesterday we experienced yet another one of those "You've got to be kidding" circumstances that seem to keep happening.   Elaine and I were in the Chinatown MRT station, when this tall person walked up to me to say hello.  The face was familiar, but the context was all wrong.  I looked, then looked again.  The person was Mark P., whom I worked with in Boise for many years.  I hadn't seen him in perhaps 20 years.
As it turns out, Mark (who still lives and works in Boise) was in Singapore on business-- his first visit.  He was in Chinatown to see some of the sights, as Singapore is preparing for Chinese New Years.  We met for dinner that evening, and caught up on the last 20 years.
One of these chance meetings alone would be unique, however, this is the third occasion where we have met someone with first or second order linkage back to our world in the U.S.
Perhaps there actually are only two or three hundred people in the world, who are moving about constantly.   This would make the chances of these odd encounters occurring much more likely and believable.
And yet they do happen.

Thaipusam Festival

Singapore is truly a melting pot of cultures and ethnicity, with resident communities of Arab, Tamil, Chinese, Malaysian , and many more.  One of the more unique of the many festivals and holidays celebrated in Singapore is the Hindu Thaipusam Festival.  This festival is held during the full moon of the Tamil month of Thai, which  falls in the Roman calendar months of January or February.  The festival is in honor to the god Murugan, who was created by the god Shiva to help lead the Devas to victory over the Asuras in battle.  Murugan is the Tamil God of War.  The festival is highlighted by a procession of followers showing their devotion to Murugan by carrying ornate Kavadi (burdens) which are attached to their bodies by hooks [more].

Thaipusam procession--  a devotee and his entourage shows his devotion to the god Murugan by bearing a kavadi (burden) in the procession between temples during the Thaipusam Festival 2011 in Singapore.

Casting About: Fly Fishing in Singapore

It's tough to be a fly fisherman in Singapore.   Not that it isn't done, here.  It's just mostly illegal to do so.  Or any type of fresh water fishing, except in designated areas.  This March 2009 New York Times piece pretty much captures the fresh water fly fishing scene here.

There are a number of tackle shops in town, but only one shop caters to fly anglers, the Coho Fishing Tackle.  It's clearly a business targeting a niche market, perhaps akin to the speak-easys in the U.S. during the days of prohibition.  If the fly fishing is not so friendly in Singapore, it is not so far from some good fly fishing destinations, for those that can afford it-- the shop can equip the holiday fly angler.  However each time I've visited, the place is busy, and they seem to be holding their own.  It's often the same people that I see in the shop each time--  after all, it's a fly shop, where conversation, story telling, and angler socializing occur more than large volumes of commerce.  Better than the corner bar.  It is a great little shop-- the staff are wonderful, and very knowledgeable.  I've spent a few Singapore dollars there myself, to fill in some "needed" fly tying materials that were absent or exhausted from my kit.

Another fly angling group in town are the Fly Fishing Singapore Forum.   It is mostly a social website, but is frequented by fly fishing enthusiasts that are a splinter group from a larger general fishing organization in Singapore.  Some of the group mebmers have been working with the Singapore government to expand areas in the republic for fly fishing, and champion the economic benefits that might be possible by creating a "blue ribbon" peacock bass fishery in Singapore.  The group has also staffed a few events to educate the public on fly fishing, and promotion of catch and release fishing, a practice that is almost unknown here-- most fish that are caught get invited home for dinner.

As noted, the fresh water reservoirs are off limits to fishing, except in very small designated areas.  Rangers patrol the reservoirs, and I'm told there is a fine when caught fishing in the restricted areas.  The joke is that a reason for using a back cast in Singapore is to force you to look over your shoulder from time to time to spot rangers.  Despite the restriction, I have talked to a few individuals in Singapore who brave the consequences of social disobedience to go after the peacock bass and snakeheads that ply the waters.  Apparently it is common transgression, and possibly the restriction is only weakly enforced.

I have not yet gone after illicit Singapore peacock bass, but I have recently learned that a new, larger species of peacock bass has been brought in and stocked in Reservoir by the local fly fishing faithful.  This may prove to be too much of a tempatation, and a Singapore experience that I should not miss while I am here.

Bali: Gunung Batur

The north-central region of Bali has several volcanoes which are the genesis of the island.  Several  of the volcano peaks can be seen from some areas of Ubud.  Gunung Batur (Mount Batur 1717m high (one map says 1412m) is one of the larger peaks.  The volcano last major eruption in 1963 causing several deaths.  Lava fields of Gunung Batur can be seen in the picture below, which are now quarried for the lava stone, used in construction and stone carvings.  The stone carvings are one of the export craft products of Bali.



Gunung Batur--  The volcano is 1717m high and had its last major eruption in 1963.