Brief visit from Duncan, holiday booked!

My working week ended with dinner/drinks at Grapevine. Unfortunately the current owners are moving on so we are hoping it won't change too much. Craig and Melisa had bought along a friend, who was moving on to Siem Reap for a for days. I had been thinking about visiting there myself but wasn't keen to go alone, but something to think about!

I didn't walk on Monday as the 'walk' was actually a bike ride  and we all know that isn't a good idea for me. being at East Coast Park, it wasn't real easy to access, and as I was feeling a bit óut-of-sorts'anyway I decided to sleep in. In the afternoon I went for a visit to the Red Dot Museum in Chinatown, and luckily this time it was open.

 "The Red Dot Design Museum presents the latest trends in the international design scene with a collection of more than 1,000 exhibits in the field of product design and communication design from over 50 countries. Every one of these exhibits is a winner of the international Red Dot Design Award, one of the world’s leading and largest design competitions.

Every year, design experts from all over the world decide which products, design concepts and communication design works will be on display in the Red Dot Design Museum. They make up the jury for the world renowned Red Dot competitions for Product Design, Communication Design and Design Concept. All entries are tested, discussed and assessed for their innovative design quality based on different criteria depending on their task and purpose. Only the best designs pass through the rigorous adjudication process to receive the coveted Red Dot quality seal - and thus their deserved place in the Red Dot Design Museum."

I particularly liked a couple of the lights, especially the very clever 'book light'.

The red dot museum is across the road from the URA building so I had a wander through there again finding another art exhibition this time by the Singapore Sketchers.

After a quiet night in, I woke on Tuesday morning having made the decision to go to Siem Reap and Bangkok in the upcoming holiday, so before I could change my mind I booked some airline tickets and sent a few inquiries off to a couple of travel companies. I'll get to see Ankor Wat, do some birding and visit Duncan for a few days so I am looking forward to the break now.

I met Libby and Eric at Dhoby Ghaut, mid-afternoon, and we visited the recently opened Fort Canning Arts Centre. Singapore Pinacothèque de Paris marks the first expansion outside Europe of the renowned Pinacothèque de Paris, heralding a pioneering international private museum in a thriving arts and lifestyle hub. 
‘Pinacothèque’ translates as ‘box of paintings’ and refers to a place where paintings (or any image) are kept in which private collector pieces are displayed for public appreciation. As we are all 'Seniors' and local residents it cost us all of $9 each for 2 exhibitions, and there is a free shuttle bus between the 3 main galleries in town.
In the Collections Gallery we saw The Cabinet of Curiosities, a permanent collection featuring 40 original masterpieces, many loaned from private collectors including works the likes of Modigliani, Tintoretto, Pollock, Picasso and art of the tribal peoples of Southeast Asia.

Not one of my favourite Monet's 

Upstairs we visited The Myth of Cleopatra exhibition which was very interesting. From what I can gather she married 2 of her brothers! as well as having a fling with Big Julie and Marc Antony...and all before she died at 39.

The display included wall frescoes from Pompeii and costumes and footage from the Elizabeth Taylor movie.

After this dose of culture the shuttle bus just happened to drop us near the Irish Bar in Bras Basah where we had time for a refreshing drink before meeting up with some others at Gluttons Corner. I could not be much of a glutton as I was under starting orders for a colonoscopy later in the week. 

I then attended my first show at the Esplanade Theatres where we saw  renowned National Geographic photographer,Steve Winter, presenting My Nine Lives. Interestingly he took his first animal photo at the age of 34 and is now an advocate for Big Cats. He was very passionate about protecting the big cats and his photos are amazing. Most of them were taken by cameras set up and activated by a tripping device.

As we left to walk back to Clark Quay we caught the laser show on Marina Bay. 

As we were catching the train from Clark Quay we decided to have a nightcap at Sque Bar, where I was welcomed, and farewelled, with a big hug from Joe, the barman. A bit of a worry that, but he was very keen to know when Michael would be back in town, so it is on the must-do list for his next visit at the end of September.

On Wednesday morning it was great to welcome Duncan on his stopover visit on his way to Bangkok. Despite the fact that I wasn't allowed to eat much we met up with Robert and Maria over lunch in Kovan, before Duncan rode with me to work...his first ride on the LRT.  He was able to show Eric that he did like something about the Beatles...he was wearing John Lennon style sunglasses!

He departed for his latest adventure early Thursday morning and I readied myself to drink the 2l of pre-colonoscopy muck...not a fun day! Over here they don't knock you out for the procedure, just administer a calming sedative! It all ended well with the doctor giving me the all clear, before Robert, as my responsible adult, accompanied me to dinner at Marche. I think I should ask for one of those sedatives every night as it was the best nights sleep I had had in ages.