Museums, Singapore

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When on holiday's, it always pays to check out the Information centre, just incase there is an interesting exhibition or perhaps an Opera, or musical, a sporting event, anything that you may wish to see.

I found out, that the National Museum had on display for a limited time...........

the "Treasures of Vacheron Constantin," - a Legacy of Watchmaking since 1755.

I read the brochure, and we went for a look, it didn't cost a cent!
There were many different watches on display from all era's, some of them were extremely beautiful. No expense was spared on the making of these watches. Many were bedecked with Rubie's, Emerald's and Diamond's. A lot of the Stop Watches were hand painted, some were porcelain watches.

I was so glad we were able to see this exhibition.
They even did FREE GUIDED TOURS!

Exhibition's are changing all the time.

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First of all, if you are not into Museum's, still do come here for a look, as the garden has many quirky sculpture's, and the colonial building is well worth seeing from the outside.
During colonial days, it was known as "Raffles' Library and Museum," - Singapore's first museum and library. Back then, it was mainly natural history and ethnography.

The oldest part of the Museum is the front block, where Raffle's Library & Museum was located in 1887.

There is a sad story about the building of the magnificent Dome. Two Chinese construction worker's had the job of building the Dome. Unfortunately, the Dome proved so daunting that it drove the first contractor to madness.

Well, the Museum grew and grew, with a new parallel rear block being added in 1907.
It became known as the Singapore History Museum, dedicated to the presentation of Singapore’s history and heritage in 1993, and in 2003, was renovated, and a glass Rotunda was added.
It re-opened in 2006 as the National Museum of Singapore and is Singapore's oldest museum.

OPEN.....10 - 6pm DAILY

ADMISSION IS FREE

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I'm actually surprised this place hasn't been reviewed before. Maybe because they opened quite recently. I found it through a brochure at the airport and was very satisfied with an overall experience.

1-Altitude Gallery seems to be an ideal start for every tourist heading to Singapore.
It's located at the rooftop of the highest building in the country at 282m so the view is simply stunning. You can see much more than from Singapore Flyer or even SkyPark at Marina Bay Sands. And what's the most important it's 360 degrees. Chinatown, Padang, Marina Bay and many more - all the famous places are clearly visible from here.

Everyone of us got an Ipod with a special app providing info about the place that we were looking at... literally... the ipod had a connection to sensors around the gallery, so the details popped up only when we were in specific locations. Pretty hi-tech, I hadn't been before to any place that actually used such technology.

Another thing - very nice souvenir photo. There is a camera situated at the corner of the gallery. As it's located high over your head (I guess no-one could possibly get the angle with a normal camera without using a ladder) you can get excellent shot with a Flyer and Marina Bay Sands perfectly in the background. And another benefit - we could almost immediately upload the picture online at the merchandise shop in the basement of the building.

All above included in an entry ticket - at 25 bucks I think it's worth it. I've been to Singapore Flyer and SkyPark, but I found 1-Altitude's offer better than the rest.

Any downsides.. yeah.. the place looks a bit messy with pub-like furniture all around as they operate a bar during night time, but to me these are little disadvantages as the general experience was pretty awesome.

Highly recommended for everyone looking for stunning view of Singapore, as long as you're not afraid of heights.. hehe....

PS. Staff was very friendly and helpful too.

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It was some years ago (sometimes feels like a life ago) that I was collecting stamps, but neverless I was happy when I found Singapore's Philatelic museum. It's located in an old building next to the Fort Canning Park, and here you can go through the history of both Singapore and its stamps.

Fun place to be mostly for those who are interested in stamps, but the historical view that follows with stamps makes it fun also for those who never has collected a stamp in their whole life.

There are different rooms with different exhibitions, five of them there on a permanent basis. On the second floor there were exhibitions that were there just temporarily, as the one about the Formula 1, with many stamps from all over the world celebrating the famous race serie.

At the start of the museum there is also a shop where you can buy both stamps and books, or send a special postcard to a fellow collector.

Entrance fee is 5 SGD (2,5 euro). 4 SGD for kids (3-12 years).

I'm not always a big fan of museums, but this was actually quite fun. Gave me back some inspiration to start up my stamp collection again, now I just need to get 36 hours in every day in my life, so that I have some time for it too...

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Do you collect stamps? If you do, you will love this museum. The exhibits include rare stamps from Singapore and other countries across the world. If you just want to buy some postcards and the postage needed to send them – just shop in the gift shop. I did this and wrote out some postcards for friends and family without the need to pay the entry fee. They also sell other souvenirs including fridge magnets. If you just need to entertain the kids, this is an excellent option. The Museum gives them a ‘Passport’ they can stamp at different exhibits within the museum to make it an interactive visit. The museum is housed in the historic former Methodist Book Room built in 1895.

The Museum provides also postal services so you can post letters & postcards with a SPM postmark (inside). Just outside they operate the only colonial (red) posting box left in Singapore. The fully operational sub-Post Office also sells first day covers and presentation packs.

MUSEUM HOURS:
Monday : 1 pm - 7 pm
Tuesday to Sunday : 9 am - 7 pm

This museum highlights the culture and history of the Peranakans. Honestly I had never heard of this culture at all. It was recommended to me by the tourist office when I asked what a good cultural activity would be. The Peranakan culture is the culture found in South East Asia made up of a mix of Asian cultures. Singapore is known as a melting pot of culture, and that melting pot created a new culture, the Peranakan. It has Chinese, Indian and Malay culture fused to create a new, unique culture. The museum first discusses what the culture is and give a little background and history. They is talks about various aspects of it, including everyday life, weddings, religious rituals, cuisine and public life. It is set up quite nicely and gives a nice overview of the culture. It was just the right size, I think I went through a little quickly because I was on a time crunch, but I was there for about 30 minutes and took in a good amount of info. They have guided tours or you can walk through at your leisure, which is what I did. It is clearly marked, in English and other languages (not sure which they are as they are Asian in nature) and easy to self navigate. I left there feeling informed, but not bogged down and overwhelmed. There are even activities for little kids, which include collecting embossed images throughout the museum, which adults can take part in as well, as I did!!! The price was resonable as well, 6 SGD for adults and 3 SGD for students. This museum is located just around the corner from the Singapore Art Museum. You can also get a join ticket with the Asian Civilizations museum, which I think is 10 SGD for both. I would recommend this museum!

This is the "hotbed of design & creativity" in Singapore.

Open Monday, Tuesday & Friday: 11am to 6pm
Saturday & Sunday: 11 to 8pm

Adults: SGD 5
Students: SGD 3
Children: SGD 3 (under 12)
Seniors: SGD 3

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After attending a mass at the Good Shepherd, we decided to take a walk in going back to our hostel in Little India. Passing by Bras Basah Rd., we saw this beautiful white building and we found out that this is the Singapore Art Museum which owns the largest collection of 20th century SG and Southeast Asian artwork in the world. We didn't explore what's inside the museum, tho. We just took picture of the building because we admired its beautiful architecture.