Saturday, August 14, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Kitsch Delirium at the Haw Par Villa in Singapore
The Haw Par Villa is without a doubt the kingdom of kitsch.
This park is located on the south coast of Sinagpore , 262 Pair Panjang Road. The entrance is free. It was built in 1937 by Aw Boon Haw, owner of Tiger Blam, in honor of his brother Boon Par. The tiger balm is an ancestral chinese balm composed of medicinal plants used for pain relief.
We went to the park by taxi. The taxi driver was a bit surprised when we announced our destination. He explained to us that this park was unfortunately ran down and that it would take a lot of money to rehabilitate it. The driver also told us that some of the things portrayed in the park can be misunderstood and misinterpreted by westerners.
In this park, there are a lot of statues staged to illustrate Chinese moral values.
We started our visit with the courts of hell. I'm not putting up pictures of the judgements of hell because they can be quite gore.
Zapin D' Muara at the Malay heritage center of Singapore
Last weekend at the Malay heritage center, located in the Arab street district, the Zapin'D Muara event took place. This event was part of the Singapore Arts Festival.
Zapin is a traditional dance from Indonesia and Malaysia. This dance originated in the middle east and was introduced in southeast Asia by arabic muslim missionaries in the 14th century. In the past, Zapin was only danced by men during religious ceremonies. Today, men and women dance Zapin in shows accompanied by musicians and singers.
This celebration was a great way to encounter and discover the Malay culture in Singapore. Surprisingly, there weren't many of tourists at this event.
Zapin dance show
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