Bras Basah

Hi friend, let me take you through the Journey in Bras Basah! 

So I went to this field trip with Joanne thus quite a few photos I’ll feature her inside the pictures but we certainly have fun exploring bras basah :) 

Firstly, let’s start off my selected precinct by introducing the background. Bras Basah is actually counted as one of the oldest district, Bras Basah is the transliteration of “wet rice” from Malay word of “beras basah”. The Straits Times Weekly published an article named The Night Soil Carrier in 16 February 1982 in turn became the most trust able source for the origin of the name “Bras Basah”. It was said that the saturated and rotten rice’s detestable smell from the sailing vessels need to be transported from ships to a site out of the Center city thus given a name to the road of “wet rice” in Malay.

The Key attractions in the Bras Basah precinct are namely the National Museum, Singapore Art Museum (SAM), Peranakan Museum, Maghain Aboth Synagogue, Armenian Church, St Joseph’s Church. Joanne and I wanted to go to SAM and national museum first so off we went!

-During the trip on bus-

I was scrolling my play store for new apps on the way to Bras Basah, I came across this Bras Basah app. 

 

This application is available in apple or play store for everyone to download free! This App is available for those who are keen to know more about the history, significance of Singapore’s Monuments and Museums in Bugis Bras Basah (BBB) district named “Walk Singapore: Bras Basah.Bugis”. It is a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) app as they will be offering different tour routes for you to explore the interesting facts and landmarks of BBB.  One bad thing about this application is that it can only be used when your GPS is on, thus consume a lot of battery and data. However I’ve tried using it as I was there but the app kept crashes when I want to use it corresponding to the google map to find my way.

The streets of Bras Basah have a coffee shop nearby so you can actually smell the food aroma along the pathway.

 What I not like about the district is the smell of exhaust gas from the vehicles on the pathway of Bras Basah Road! As there is a hotel and churches located along the road, there is a lot of tour busses and cars driving or stopping nearby thus the exhaust gases actually polluted the air which is quite bad in Bras Basah Road. 


And also one bad thing about Bras Basah district is that the the place itself is not fully sheltered! With our unpredictable seasons in Singapore, it'll be best if you would carry an umbrella when you visit this district. :)

Quiet Street because it's a weekday at non-peak hours!!

So we finally reached our first stop which is the Singapore Art Museum! 

There is a lot of exhibitions spreading evenly on the 3 different levels and we really saw a lot of art pieces throughout the whole journey spent at SAM and you can refer to the pictures below!!

Reached and all excited

Really cute exhibitions! (Above)

The one below is really one of my favorite?!? 

It's so pretty and fantasy I like all the diamonds and space rockets :)

Afterwards we headed to the SAM at 8Q which is also the Singapore Contemporary art museum. SAM at 8Q is actually more engaging and fun as compared to SAM. They have a short film room which offers cartoon films made by different schools and a stimulation room which made us cycle on a bicycle to generate energy for to light up the LED panel or for sounds to come out from the radio.

Me enjoying the film sitting on the carpeted floor!

 They actually provide instructions on how to weave on the walls and the art-kit are free to use!

You can choose to bring home your art pieces or leave it in the museum itself shown in the second picture (:

There is also a interactive area called "Kiko's Secret where kids can actually take the acrylic shapes from the boxes and try to place it in the right place on the wall! 

 

I also found some cute friends in the exhibition of "We built this estate!" @ level 1 where their back is attached with velcro so that kids can actually stick it on the wall wherever they like, building their own estate out of their imagination. 

Lastly i went to an exhibitions that is full or sweets named "Dream House" where our inner wishes for the future can be nourished, They allow us to "decorate" the candy tree by hanging a candy-like ornaments on the tree which is quite special :)

However one thing that is lack in this exhibition is the scent of sweets! If it includes that it'll be a very special exhibition i suppose.

After visiting SAM and SAM 8Q, we went to have our photo taking at their photo booth located near the entrance of SAM at 8Q! It is cheap as it only cost $2 for 2 strips of photos a black & white and another with colors.

We were happy because it’s so worth our time and it is free admission for Singapore citizens!

Next up on our itinerary we went to the National Museum! A really beautiful place and I can feel the classy vibe atmosphere provided by the museum. 

Yay we reached After a walking distance of like 10 mins?

Face isn't pretty because of the sun but still a nice shot. hahaha

Got Our Tickets (Free admission) with Joanne Ft. My Hand :)

Spot me if you can!!!

We went to an exhibition – Singapura: 700 Years which talks about the main thing (history) that happened in Singapore for these 700 years. 

End of an Era and hopscotch which depicts the contrast of old era and newer era?

Japanese Invasion..

Having fun in the 90s section in the playground settings!

They also provide a few exhibits with perfume plus string attached on it for us to smell and it really stimulates the atmosphere and give me the experience of what they experienced and how it smells like in the early stages. I remembered one that I smelled is some kind of rose and lemon mixture if I am not wrong. Didn’t take a photo as the lighting were too bad and dark for it.

So after the exhibition we went up to the second level and these were what we saw!
The PLAY area was created for the children by involving them with interactive exhibitions so that they will be engaged with learning too!

#RememberingLKY, Thanks for everything, Mr Lee.

So this marks the end of our trip to National Museum!

After walking around for the whole day, we decided to go to the national library and have a short break!

  

Just at the entrance level, there is an arts exhibition functioning in the free space. When I walk  towards the escalator of the library, I saw quite a few of people wearing dance kind of outfit it caught my attention. So I look around and saw the directory, found out that there is a drama theater located at the third, fourth, fifth storeys of the building which is owned and managed by the National Arts Council. The drama Center has a theater with seating capacity of 615, a black box and 3 multi-purpose function rooms filled with well-equipped lighting, sound system and an orchestra pit and I was amazed at how cool the facilities were.

The amount of Arts and Culture's Books...

A Picture of the National Museum.

Was finding books about the museums and I couldn't find it. So I went to approach a Librarian and she brought me to the local books shelf and I can't deny that she's super friendly and nice??

Next up, the Bras Basah Complex! Apart from the Museums and monuments I head down to the Bras Basah Complex which is filled with arts, books, music and literatures for a non-prestige experience. 

Reached and the weather is scorching hot??

Just when I walked down the complex, I saw an old bookshop at a corner which look so familiar.

Guess where this is? It was the place that my mum used to bring me to when I am young to buy some affordable second hand comics, story books and assessments! I used to spend hours reading and digging (finding) books which I really love in the whole pile of books placed in the shop or outside the shop. Thinking back these were the carefree and happy days I’ve been through as a kid and I am glad that I’ve spent some quality time with my mummy wherever we are.

To sum off this trip, I really urged you to visit the Bras Basah district if you have time to! A really pretty place to explore with different museums and monuments to go to. If you are tired of the atmosphere that museums provides you with, take a break from the sophisticated and artistic museums and start to appreciate old buildings like bras basah complex which has collections of lots of different kinds of books, magazines and even instruments! So wait no more and visit this cultural district soon (: