Two Sundays ago, David and I attended Night Fest 2010! I was really excited about it because it is uncommon to see art & cultural festival in Singapore! I knew about this event through facebook, a.k.a the entertainment branch of Google in today's age I'd say.
Our first station was the World's Slowest SMS Billboard at the Singapore Art Museum (SAM)! The setting looked like some construction scaffolding, but you know something was different about it from the big mobile numbers hanging on top. It was probably this that aroused the public's curiosity to stop and appreciate the installation!
SMS a text message to the number stated and your message will be displayed manually, character by character, by the people stationed on the scaffold. The alphabet and number cards on the ground will be tied to a string and then drawn up to the respective people on the scaffold. You can imagine
HOW SLOW IT WAS TO DISPLAY ONE MESSAGE!
Nevertheless, I thought it makes a brilliant idea for proposals! Imagine you see the people up there trying to make out a message which turns out to be,
"WILL YOU MARRY ME, XXX?"
and then next to you your man is down on his knees!
WAHAHAHAHAHA!!! IM SO GONNA BE A ROMANTIC BOYFRIEND IN MY NEXT LIFE!! AND DAVID CHEN IM NOT HINTING YOU AND YOU CAN FORGET ABOUT THIS METHOD OR ANYTHING SIMILAR. GOOD LUCK!
HAHAHAHA OKAY OKAY I STLL LOVE YOU!!
After all the daydreaming, we proceeded to
8Q opposite SAM where the
Flea-tique is!! It was really nice to see some vintage cameras on sale amidst the dozens of fashion apparel and "
pre-loved" goods. Oh c'mon,
JUST SAY 2ND-HAND LAH! "Pre-loved" is such a disgusting beautification word in marketing and publicity strategies.
Of course, the focus of the festival is much more than the flea market. Here are a few exhibitions and performances I had caught that night.
New World 2010 is the theme for Night Fest this year. The florescent light tubes that formed the word were secured to the steel framework structure that doubles up as a "photography template" on the opposite side!
This one was cute! There were several dancers, all dressed in the 60s fashion, grooving to the beats of retro chinese songs! The audience were also encouraged to join them and the response from both the young and the old was pretty good!
These huge "satellite dishes" outside the National Museum are props for a play that is scheduled at 1am that night! As much as I wanted to catch the highlight of this festival, its a pity that we barely have the energy to wait overnight.
We also visited the 4 galleries inside National Museum which showcased Singapore's food, fashion, photography and entertainment history. Anyway, these galleries are not exclusive for the Festival and you can visit them anytime. Best of all, admission is free!
These tents were part of an art installation in the Museum. Many children were attracted to it and the kids looked so cute with the big headphones and small televisions inside every tent!
David: You go in you go in I help you take photo! This is so cute!
Me: okay okay!!
TOTALLY NOT CUTE AT ALL PLEASE. I LOOKED SO OVERSIZED IN THE TENT! Worse thing is,
ME: eee cute meh, you want go in take photo?
DAVID: huh Don't want la! inside so dirty so many people stepped in with their shoes...
ME: WAH PIANG THEN U STILL ASK ME GO IN!
PEOPLE LIKE HIM... DRIVES ME CRAZY!
There was also outdoor movie screening at the museum's bus bay. It was showing the 1963 chinese classic, 梁山伯与朱英台！ I loved this show but the version I'd ever watched was the one starring 吴奇隆!
*Can't help but feeling young all over again HAHAHA*
Hohoho! Behind the museum is
MY FAVOURITE ESCALATOR! If Im not wrong its the only outdoor escalator in Singapore! I love how the sides are just green lawns which made the experience on the escalator very fantasy-like. I told David it looked literally like stairways to heaven! HAHAHAHA!!
I had probably covered only 10% of the Night Fest because we missed many other performances inside SAM, Peranakan Museum and Substation. It will probably take another evening to fully experience the event! Perhaps it was due to the many free admissions during the Festival, the response from the public was encouraging! There were groups of people at any one performance space at all time, to say the least.
This is one step closer to a thriving art scene in Singapore!! :D
The night ended with a late dinner at Hogs Breath @ Chijmes! Frankly, Chijmes is only good for the rich expats and for watching World Cup. The food in every restaurant is overpriced! I can definitely get similar ambience elsewhere, e.g. Mel's Place @ Kuo Chuan Ave, if you think thats what you are paying for.
