Second day of 2016 went well...

Today felt like a Sunday even though it's only Saturday.

The day turned out to be quite fruitful and I'm happy about it.

In the morning, I went to the gym to attend Vinyasa class. The teacher for the class I attended is one of my favorites. Since I have not been practicing, it was a challenge. I could do certain poses but I definitely still have a long way to go. It was a good workout though since I sweat it out. The left knee survived although it doesn't feel as strong as my right leg. For the meantime, I think I will be doing less Pump and more yoga classes, Body Balance. On the side, I'll do the weights. On off days, I'm thinking I can do short, light jogs.

After gym, I passed by the kopitiam for a quick brunch. Then, I headed back home to change my clothes.

The afternoon agenda was a guided tour at the National Gallery. Today was the second time I led a group around the Singapore Gallery. And I must say that I did a lot better today than my maiden tour last week. I felt I was more confident today. I felt I knew the gallery better. I adjusted my tour - I dropped some of the artworks that I talked about previously and I added some of the other art works that are closer to my heart. Of course, what also made the tour more enjoyable and twice as fun was the group itself. I led a group of 20 people - Singaporeans, Americans, Japanese. Several members of the group were responsive to my questions and many were willing to share their thoughts about the painting.

I was smiling on the inside when I saw several heads nodding in agreement, when there were smiles on some of the faces, and of course, when they applauded at the end of the tour. The other proof I have that the tour went well was that I took almost an hour and a half to finish the tour. Last week, I completed the tour in under an hour. Today, it was much better. I should however learn to stick to the 60 minute or so tour time since another group will need the headsets that we used. Oh, there was also one guy who walked up to me after the tour and told me that he had also previously attended my guided tour at the National Museum. I really appreciated the kind words he and a number of other guests gave.

Anyway, I was happy with how the tour went today. Round 2 of tours tomorrow. ;)

I left the gallery and walked to nearby Funan where I grabbed a late lunch at Subway. Thinking that it was part of the $5 meal, I ordered the Italian BMT. Ugh! It turned out that it wasn't and I paid more than what I wanted. Haha!

The last stop was the National Library. It wasn't as crowded and I easily found a study space. Spent a few hours at the library before packing up my stuff and heading back home.

Now, I'm just taking a break and then I'll study again for an hour before calling it a day... a long day.

Packed weekend, as usual...

It's a long weekend. Most of my friends are overseas for a holiday trip. RKGreg and MkSurf8 are in Perth. Tian3x is in Bandung. Even Mon is out of town for the weekend. Hehe. We were messaging each other yesterday and he said that he was on his way to JB with colleagues for an overnight stay.

It really didn't occur to me to plan an overseas trip as I am saving for the trip to Cambodia with Mom by end of June. Yeah, Cambodia is very budget-friendly but I'm buying plane tickets for two, hotel accomms for two, tour packages for two. Hehe! Not that I'm complaining. I'm really looking forward to the trip because 1.) Mom has no idea that we're going to Siem Reap (I just told her that I'll meet her in KL); 2.) it's her birthday on the third day of the trip and she has always wanted to visit Siem Reap.

Anyway, Friday and Saturday were still busy (as expected). Friday late afternoon, I made the trip to the East to join the send-off dinner for Rej. Her best gal pals hosted an intimate dinner at Jackie's place in Tampines. Initially, I told Rej to meet me at the airport for dinner since we didn't get to spend a lot of time chatting last Tuesday. Plans changed because of the dinner. A lot of food, of course! Good food! Hehe! After dinner, Jackie and her fam drove Rej to the airport. It was really nice seeing her. She'll be back in August so there's not enough time to miss this friend. Haha!

Yesterday, I went to Pump with Jon in the morning. We went for the usual class at Westgate. Jon thankfully made it in the nick of time to secure the last slot for the class. Yahoo! Again, because of the energy-draining heat, I found Pump to be quite tough. Gym was followed by a well-deserved lunch at Din Tai Fung.

In the afternoon, I headed to the museum for volunteer work. I had a big diverse group. About 22 people - Americans, Indians, Singaporeans, Indonesian, Malaysian and Irish! Interesting group to guide. The last agenda for the day was dinner with Richie and Ian. It was a rather impromptu dinner. Since Mon was out of town, I figured Richie might want to have dinner. The three of us just had a simple dinner at The Asian Kitchen in Raffles Link before parting ways.

When I got home, there was still time to FaceTime with Tipz. Hehe! Surprisingly, he was still awake. Well, not really surprisingly, since he usually sleeps late. I was complaining of the hot weather. He was complaining of the cold weather in Sydney. Hehe! We had a good chitchat for close to an hour before saying buh bye. Good catchup. I can't wait to visit Sydney!

Moving on, the weather these past few days has been close to unbearable. I really shouldn't be complaining given that India is experiencing 50 degrees lately and a thousand lives were already lost. I'm just saying that it has been very hot in the island lately. It's the kind of heat that saps the energy out of you. It's no wonder then that I've been sleeping very early (10PM, 1030PM). Hehe!

Alright, I have to end this post as I am going for a nature walk this morning. God help us with the heat. Hehe! It's a packed Sunday as well - nature walk, museum visit and Mass.

Have a blessed Sunday!

Long Saturday...

It's a tiring Saturday.

To make up for a booboo last April, I volunteered to do three guiding shifts for the month of May. Hehe. Usually, volunteers are only asked to give one guided tour per month.

In any case, it was good that I volunteered to do three shifts for May as there seems to be not enough volunteers for the month. I dunno, perhaps people were or are planning to go on hols.

My first shift today was at 1130. Whenever I do this time slot, almost always I would get about just five to six visitors. Maybe it's too early for museum guests, maybe museum guests prefer to have lunch first. So I was pleasantly surprised when I had a group of about 15 people for the 1130 tour! 7 Singaporeans, 2 British, 2 Americans, 4 Indians.

The tour lasted for about an hour and a half. The main reason was I was overlapping with another guided tour. Hehe. At some points, I had to stop and wait for the other group to move forward. At some points, they had to wait for me to move forward.

My first tour ended a little past one. It gave me enough time to have coffee. I walked over to the neighbouring SMU where I got myself a kopi si and just sat down at one of the uni's benches to relax for a bit.

Close to 2PM, I headed back to the museum for my second shift.

The second shift was rather surprising because I started with a small group (for a 2PM time slot). As I expected though, more people would join once we went into the galleries. I wasn't able to get a proper count of the number of people who joined the tour. I do remember that my group included 1 Thai, 1 Taiwanese, 1 Japanese, 2 Americans, and 8 Singaporeans.

This lasted just a little over an hour, which was also good. I think both tours went well because 1.) there was an applause as I gave my closing lines and 2.) some people walked up to me to say thank you for the tour.

The last agenda for the day was anticipated Mass at St. Ignatius. I wasn't feeling very well but I went for the Mass anyway since I want to have a slow Sunday. I enjoyed the Mass! The priest was vgoood! I have to say that the Jesuits really do know how to engage the crowd, just like the Franciscans. Hehe!

Quite a busy Saturday...

Very looking weekend...

I just got back a few minutes ago.

It was definitely a long Saturday and Sunday for me. Haha! Where I got my energy to survive today and yesterday, I have no idea but I am certainly grateful. Haha!

Saturday.

With only less than six hours of sleep, I managed to reach Fort Canning by 830. Thanks to coffee and because the topics were very interesting, I survived sitting through a three-hour lecture without dozing off. Haha! When the lecture ended, I thought of going home to get some sleep. Instead, I headed to Cathay to go the gym. I brought my gym gear with me and I was set to go for Combat. There was a part of me that was a bit worried about fainting in class (LOL!) because I really felt that I needed some sleep. Thankfully, I survived the 60-minute class. From Cathay, I could've gone home and slept. Instead, I walked over to the bus stop at YMCA, took the bus headed to River Valley, got off at Great World City and walked over to the Church of St. Bernadette. I wasn't sure if I would have time to go to Mass today so I thought it a good idea to go for the anticipated Mass last night. It was a good idea because as it turned out, Sunday was also a packed day. Haha!

Sunday.

The good thing about today was that I got more than 6 hours of sleep. Last night, I reached home at 9PM. I was fast asleep by 930PM. I got up this morning at 6AM (still!) and made it to Fort Canning by 830 for another three-hour lecture. The topic for this morning's lecture was a lot lighter than yesterday's. That made the session this morning a lot more relaxed. After the lecture, I walked over to Somerset because I wanted to spend a few hours at the library. It was my first time to visit the library at Orchard Gateway. I liked it. There aren't enough tables, but they have a section which looks like a mini- mini- amphitheatre where one can sit on the steps and do his/her work. That's exactly what I did. From 130 to 4PM, I just sat there and worked on the things I wanted to study. From Orchard Gateway, I walked over to Paragon. There was a 450PM Pump class. It's my first time to attend a Sunday afternoon Pump class. Knowing that I won't be able to go to Pump tomorrow night as there's a visiting ex-colleague from the Philippines, I decided it would be best to go to the gym today. Hehe!

The day ended with dinner, dessert and such a good chitchat with Mon, Rich and PG Boy. For the nth time, Mon, Rich and I had Thai again at Korat Thai. PG Boy initially couldn't join us but then messaged again at the last minute to say he was free. I really, really, really love Korat Thai. Forget about where it's located The food is really good. That makes it worth a visit. Good thing PG Boy was able to join because I thought he would enjoy the place. I was right. The evening ended with dessert and loooong conversations at P.S. Cafe Palais. We just talked about all sorts of things. I really felt it was a good ending to the very long and tiring weekend.

Now that I'm working from home, I have more time on Sunday to go out and see friends. Previously, I would prefer to just stay home on a Sunday afternoon so I can prep for Monday. That has changed since I started working from home.

I am ready to call it a night. It was a long weekend but a very good one. Yay!

Docent training with Guggenheim's Director of Education...

While almost everyone I know back in Manila (including my own family) celebrated Mother's Day, I was at faraway Gillman Barracks and attended a whole day docent training for a special exhibit.

No Country: Contemporary Art for South and Southeast Asia is the inaugural exhibit of the Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative. The exhibit was first presented at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The exhibit then traveled to Hong Kong before arriving in Singapore.

We had two speakers for the day. In the morning, the curator June Yap talked about all the works on display. She started by giving a backstory on the homeland of each artist. This was followed by talking about the art work. It was quite interesting.

I must say though that the afternoon session was much more enjoyable and inspiring. Guggenheim Museum's Director of Education Sharon Vatsky spent a few hours talking to the group about possible ways to guide for the exhibit. It was such a fantastic session. After a brief talk at the conference room, we moved to the exhibit venue where she conducted a walkthrough for us. It is just amazing how we spent a little over an hour discussing just three works.

Aside from learning about the exhibit, I certainly picked up a lot of other ideas that may be used when guiding for the museum. I was really glad I got to attend the session. If that was how sessions are conducted in contemporary art museums, then I am quite sure more people will be open to understanding and even possibly appreciating contemporary art.

Another interesting thing about the exhibit is that it seems fitting that it is staged in Singapore since most of the artists feature come from this region. Two paintings by Filipino artists Poklong Anading and Norberto Roldan are included in the exhibit. I met Norberto Roldan several years ago at Green Papaya gallery. He sold me 5 collages by Geraldine Javier. I also became a frequent visitor of the gallery and eventually bought a few more pieces by Mariano Ching and Jonathan Olazo. Really glad to see his work here in Singapore.

No Country touches on themes such as ethno-nationalism, national identity in an age of globalisation, to name a few. The 22 works on display include paintings, sculpture, photography, video, and installation. The exhibit will run until July 20 at the Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA), Singapore, a national research centre of Nanyang Technological University.

One very good guided tour...

Earlier, I had my monthly guided tour at the National Museum of Singapore.

For the first time, the group I guided was composed of all Singaporeans. There were about 12 people in the group. Two young couples, three married couples who are probably in their fifties or early sixties, a granddaughter (I assume), and a young woman.

Though I've been guiding for several months now, I still get nervous just before I start the tour. I'm worried that I won't be able to answer a question (It has happened a couple of times. My mentor said, "It's fine. We are not expected to know everything because we are all volunteers.). And to be honest, I sometimes feel strange that I talk about Singapore history to citizens.

This is why I think the intro to the tour is very important. It is the point when the docent establishes rapport with the tour group. It is the moment when the docent gets an idea whether the tour needs to be adjusted or revised. The few minutes before the intro are also important as it is a brief opportunity to get to know the guests joining the tour.

Earlier, I just gave my usual intro. My name. Where I'm from. That I'm a museum volunteer. That I love museums. That I love volunteering. That I've been volunteering even when I was still in the Philippines.

It didn't take long before I felt much more comfortable in giving the tour. The curiosity, the friendliness, the genuine interest of almost everyone in the group contributed to making the tour an enjoyable one.

As with the other tours that I give, I would always engage the guests. I avoid a monologue as much as I can because I certainly do not want to attend a monologue if it were the other way around. This afternoon, I can say that the group was able to do that.

I was really happy that the group was composed of young adults and seniors. At certain points, I would ask the seniors to share briefly about what they know/recall about the artefact. Paintings are also a favourite subject of mine because it is a chance for me to get everyone to talk and give their opinions about the painting.

By the end of the tour, I have already had created a good relationship with the group. I know that because as soon as I bid everyone to have a nice afternoon, the group applauded and most of the guests shook hands with me and sincerely thanked me for the time. One uncle even said, "Salamat po."

This was definitely one of my favourite and memorable tours.

As a side note: I've recently been seeing some online articles about the upcoming Philippine Independence Day with a lot of negative comments from I dunno if they're locals, PRs. I dunno if these people are posting with the real identities. Nevertheless, the content is just filled with hatred and negativity.

I actually wonder what percentage of the citizenship feel this way towards foreigners. Sure, there are those who are really anti-foreigner, but there is a part of me that believes it is a small percentage. Is it being too dreamy? Too wishful thinking? Too optimistic? I don't think so. A part of me really believes that there is a bigger "open-to-discussion, open-minded" group. Otherwise, I wouldn't have good Singaporean friends. Otherwise, I don't think my friendship with KK or with BT or with BC or with LL or with JL or with DP and PK or even WC would develop into a real friendship. Otherwise, the group I've had earlier wouldn't be sincerely applauding and shaking my hands after the tour even if a foreigner was talking about their nation's history.

During the recent Eurotrip, I had a very good experience in Brussels which my Filipino friend Gemma later pointed out to me. She has been living in Brussels for almost a year now and it has been a good experience for her. She shared that one thing she really loved about living in Brussels was that people do not "profile" people based on the colour of their skin or the shape of their eyes. Whether you're black or Caucasian or Asian, the first thing you would be asked is "English or French?" (referring to the language to be used in conversing). I had that experience at the hotel where we were stayed. The concierge's first question after politely greeting me was "English or French?" I thought it was really nice. I thought it would be great if it were like that everywhere. Okay, now this part I know is wishful thinking. But the earlier one, I know there is still hope.

One last visit to A Changed World exhibit...

Liu Kang's National Day

Chua Mia Tee's National Language Class

Chen Wen Hsi's Gibbons Game

Cheong Soo Pieng's Singapore River

Georgette Chen's Malayan Fruits

When I learned from senior museum guides that there will be an exhibit featuring Singapore artists, I knew it was one exhibit I would be keen to guide for.

My late father Antonio Morales, or Tonyo as he was called by us his family and his relatives, was an artist.

What would otherwise be just another drab wall in our home became an art space featuring Tonyo's works.

As a kid, I have memories of seeing him paint late at night when everyone else was asleep. His only companion would be his canvas, his brushes and paint tubes and a radio that played classical music.

It was him Tonyo who planted the seeds of my interest in the art world.

And so I thought what better way to say thank you to my Dad than by talking and sharing with strangers my love for artists and the visual arts.

Last October, the National Museum of Singapore staged an art exhibit entitled A Changed World: Singapore Art from the 1950s - 1970s.

It featured over 120 art pieces done by artists between the 1950s-1970s. Why this period? If one were to review Singapore history, 1950s to 1970s was a period of immense change.

The change served as an inspiration for the artists living then.

On one hand, there was a group of artists who responded to the politico-economic situation through their pieces. Their main objective was to use art as a vehicle to make people aware of the plight of the masses.

On the other hand, migrant artists created works as a response to the new environment, the changed world they were living in.

After the country achieved full independence in 1959, the succeeding years also served as another trigger for artists to further develop their work. One group wanted to capture the rapidly changing physical landscape as a result of nation-building efforts. Another group explored abstract art, seeing it as a new medium that would bring Singapore arts to the international scene.

The exhibit came to a close last Sunday. I had no plans of heading down to the city, but I felt that I wanted to bid the exhibit a proper farewell. Besides, I didn't know when I would see these pieces again. While walking around the exhibit, I realised that it was the only time that I actually had the time to really appreciate the talent and skill of the people who created the pieces on display.

My father introduced me to the great Filipino artists such as Amorsolo, Manansala, Ocampo, Bencab, and my personal favorite, Anita Magsaysay-Ho.

It would have been great if I had the opportunity to introduce him to Cheong Soo Pieng, Chen Wen Hsi, Chuah Thean Teng, Georgette Chen, and Lai Foong Moi. These are but a few Singapore (and Malayan) artists who quickly became a favourite.

Even if I didn't get the chance to bring my Dad to the exhibit, I am quite sure he was happily watching from above.

Saturdate at the museum with Farquhar and Raffles...

I had a good tour at the History Gallery this noontime.

Today is an open house at the National Museum (as well as the other museums) so it was quite expected that there will be a bigger crowd today.

My tour was at 1130AM. By the time I headed to the Guided Tour Meeting Point, there were already a number of people waiting.

Since the group was big enough, I decided to start the tour on time.

It turned out to be one of my favourite tours. The group was composed mostly of senior citizens and two families. My friend Jean and her fiancé Jim.

One reason I really liked this tour was because the most members of the tour were quite responsive to the questions I fielded. That way, it was more enjoyable for me.

When I reached the gallery for the Japanese occupation, one of the senior museum volunteers Mike joined the group.

I tried not to look at him so that I wouldn't be nervous. Hehe!

As I reached the end of the tour, I gave the conclusion I usually give and I was just very happy when the audience applauded after. A few of the guests even gave positive feedback "Well done!" "Excellent!" which I always appreciate as it encourages me to do better.

The group was composed of 9 Singaporeans, 6 Brits, 3 Chinese, 2 Americans, 1 Filipino.

From the museum, I had lunch with Jim and Jean at Plaza Singapura.

Afterwards, I decided to head home to rest before going for a jog.

Out of curiosity, I checked the self-scheduling calendar for the other exhibit. I went cold when I saw my name was scheduled for the 2PM tour today.

Kill me now. How could I have missed it?!

I relied heavily on the schedule on my mobile phone that I missed my tour. Argh! Argh!

I sent an email now to the museum volunteer reps to inform them of my oversight. Hopefully, I will be allowed to make up for this mistake by giving a tour tomorrow instead.

Sigh! Oh well...

Lesson learned: Check. Double Check. Triple Check.

A good day at the museum...

Last Sunday was my last guiding duty for the year at the National Museum.

I had a back-to-back shift - 11:30AM at the History Gallery; 2PM for A Changed World.

For the 11:30 tour, I had three guests - 2 Singaporean women who have not been to the museum in a long time and one lady from Macau who was on her last vacation day. She was flying back to Macau that night.

Meanwhile, I had four guests, all women, for A Changed World - 1 Lithuanian; 1 Portuguese; and 2 Singaporeans.

The Changed World tour was done in less than an hour. I dunno. I felt like the guests weren't that into it or that they were rushing so I ended up talking less about the pieces. Hehe!

I wonder how A Changed World can be more interesting for guests who are not really into visual arts.

Hmm...

The History Gallery tour in the morning, on the other hand, was a good experience. Though it was a very small group, I was happy that the women stayed with the tour til the end.

It was a nice group because everyone would share something when we talked about certain artefacts. The Singaporean women also shared that it was their first time to hear some of the things I shared during the tour.

At the end of the tour, all three guests thanked me for my time. I was very happy because they gave good feedback. The one that gave me the biggest smile was the compliment from the Macau lady. Hehe!

It kept me smiling the entire day.

Busy Saturday...

Today was quite a busy day, but it was a very good one. LOL!

I woke up at 5AM (yes, at 5AM!) because I wanted to do a run through of my tour for the nth time. Though my tour was still scheduled for 2PM, I still went to the museum quite early. Why? So that I can do one more round and one more real walkthrough. Haha!

When the hour finally came, I was definitely prepared. I was still a bit nervous but it didn't take that long before I became much more comfortable.

I started my tour with a small group - 6 Singaporeans (a Malay couple with their two young boys; 2 Chinese uncles), 3 Indians (another couple and a toddler) and 1 Pakistani lady.

At some point, the tour became quite big (more than 15 people). And then, it was back to the original group of 10. Hehe!

It was quite okay, because the group was interested in the art pieces on display. The Singaporean uncles knew some of the artists. The Pakistani lady, a doctor who is here on holiday, was very much interested in arts. The boys of the Malay couple were also very much interested to learn about Singapore artists and art history. It was really quite nice seeing the boys very interested in arts at a very young age.

At the end of the tour, I was very happy to hear very good feedback from one of the Singaporean uncles and the Pakistani lady. They both said I was very good and that I knew my stuff. To be honest, I think I could have done better but I really appreciated the positive feedback.

In the evening, I went to the home of the family that first adopted me when I moved to Singapore - Mr. and Mrs. B. It was the baby shower for Mrs. B and I couldn’t miss it.

It was a fun baby shower.

I didn’t stay too long though because I had to head back to the NorthEast for an impromptu housewarming party at PG Boy’s new place. Hehe!

Happy Saturday indeed.

A Changed World exhibit at NMS...

Saturday was also a busy day. Haha!

In preparation for the guiding for the new exhibit at the museum, I attended the curator walkthrough for docents.

I always enjoy curator walkthroughs. I find it very enjoyable listening to them talk about the exhibit.

And because they usually know a lot about the exhibit, what was originally scheduled to be just an activity for an hour turns into a two-hour thing. Hehe! No complaints from me though.

Last Saturday, a bunch of docents who volunteered to guide for the exhibit gathered just outside the gallery around 10AM.

For the next two hours, we went around the gallery listening to Szan and Daniel talk about the exhibit and select pieces on display.

I may have said it before. Visual arts is very close to my heart thanks to my late father Antonio. It was really him who developed the love for the arts. I'll always be grateful for that.

The exhibit was exciting for me because it was an opportunity to get to know more about the Singapore art scene. I've always wondered about the art scene here and I'm glad that this exhibit allowed me to learn more. Well, to a certain extent, I was really required to read and read several books on Singapore art to equips myself with knowledge about the artists and their works.

In the past few weeks that I've been reading about Singapore art, I can say that my favorite artists so far are Cheong Soo Pieng, Georgette Chen and Lai Foong Moi.

Soo Pieng was among the so-called first generation artists. Georgette Chen and Lai Foong Moi are two of the prominent female artists. Hmm, I dunno why but I am always curious about and drawn to works by female artists. In the Philippines, my favorite is Anita Magsaysay-Ho. Believe it or not, I'm not much of an Amorsolo fan. Hehe!

Going back to Soo Pieng, Georgette and Lai Foong Moi, they are but a few of the artists whose works are on display at the exhibit. About 125 pieces are featured in the exhibit which will run until March 2014.

Oh, I should mention by now that the title of the exhibit is "A Changed World: Singapore Art 1950s - 1970s." It features art pieces from the 1950s to 1970s. Why this period? Who are the artists? why "A Changed World?" Head down to the museum starting 16 November to find out. Hehe!

A Changed World: Singapore Art 1950s - 1970s
Exhibition Gallery 2, Basement
25 Oct 2013 - 16 Mar 2014
10am - 7pm (last entry at 6.30pm)
Free Admission

Cheong Soo Pieng, Anita Magsaysay-Ho, art appreciation..

So as I have mentioned in a previous post, I've been reading on Singaporean artists these past few weeks to prepare for guiding duties for the upcoming special exhibit at the National Museum of Singapore.

Yep, it sounds like an easy task but actually, being a museum guide/docent actually takes a lot of work. Hehe! The interest definitely has to be there because the task requires a lot of hours at the library, curator talks, sharing sessions with fellow docents, and exhibit walkthroughs. Hehe! On top of these, there is a need to write a tour paper for every exhibit. It's no ordinary paper. The papers need to have cited references and should follow a format. For my Singapore History Gallery paper, I wrote a 15-page paper. Haha!

It is definitely like being back in school.

The next special exhibit will focus on local Singaporean artists. This was a very interesting topic for me because I'm very interested in paintings (thanks to my Dad!) and in knowing about local artists.

I was very happy to learn that there are actually quite a number of modern and contemporary artists. The first generation of artists were migrants from China who came to Singapore starting the late 1930s onwards.

Hmm, I'm not going to write about the artists in detail. Hehe. Visit the exhibit when it opens to learn more about them. Hehe!

But I do want to introduce one of the pioneer artists in Singapore - Cheong Soo Pieng. The photo above is one of his most popular works, Drying Salted Fish. Take note of this painting. Surely, you would have seen it already. *wink wink* Cheong Soo Pieng is fast becoming one of my favourite local artists. After seeing his works from the 1950s to 1960s, I really like how he was not afraid to experiment and try new styles/techniques.

The other painting is by my favourite Filipino artist, Anita Magsaysay-Ho. I was fortunate enough to have met her a few years ago.

I asked a few Singaporean friends if they knew who Cheong Soo Pieng was. Uhm, not really. I wonder if it's the same case for most Filipinos when it comes to local artists. I wonder if most would be familiar with Amorsolo or Francisco or Magsaysay-Ho. I'm guessing a lot would know who BenCab is since he's still around.

In one of the books that I was reading, I came across this nice sentence. It said, "Art is part of the nation's culture; thus art appreciation enables people to better understand the values in existence in their society."

I couldn't agree more.

Need more proof? Then come visit the new exhibit when it opens. More deets soon when things are finalised. :)

Officially a museum guide at the National Museum of Singapore...

Saturday was a very special day for me.

After two months of history lectures and curator walkthroughs, two mock tours and my very first public tour a few weeks ago (which also doubled as my final exam), I am now officially a museum guide of the National Museum of Singapore.

A simple graduation ceremony for the new batch of docents (I like the sound of that!) was held last Saturday at one of the Seminar Rooms of the museum.

There are a total of 32 people who "survived" the rigorous training to be a docent. In my team alone, we had three people who left due to work (I think).

The new batch now joins the existing 40 over guides of the National Museum of Singapore and the more than 200 other guides of the 7 other museums under the National Heritage Board.

I'll be guiding at least once a month at the museum. The next one is towards the end of August. I'm excited because I get to do something that I've been wanting to do even when I was still in the Philippines.

I'm really happy to have been given the opportunity to be able to serve as a docent. As a foreigner living in Singapore, I feel that I am able to enjoy the best of two worlds - the Philippines and Singapore.

To a certain extent, this is also a simple way of me giving back to the country that has adopted me these past two years and counting. Though I've only been here for a little over two years, the experience is just awesome. (So please, MOM, keep extending my work permit. Hehe!)

Do drop by the museum one of these days...

First gallery presentation for the NMS training...

Last Saturday, I had my first gallery presentation at the National Museum as a docent.

This was part of the two-month intensive museum guide volunteer training.

The presentation was only for five minutes. There are two more to be done. The next one will be a 10-minute presentation, while the last and the finale will be a full one-hour tour. I'm going to be positive and say that it is very exciting instead of saying it was nerve-wracking. Hehe!

At the end of my presentation last Saturday, it did feel quite exciting and enjoyable. To be a museum docent was something I've always been wanting to experience. It's just amusing that I had the opportunity in another country. Hehe!

Initially, I thought that I would only be presenting to my two group mentors. However, it turned out that each one had to present to the mentors as well as the entire team. That made it more exciting. Hehe!

It was very good practice though. After my talk, I received good feedback from my mentors. As for points for improvement, I needed to work on my "hook" to catch the museum guests' interest.

The topic assigned to me was the Singapore Stone (pictured above). It's one of the national treasures of Singapore. It is one of the oldest relics of the country that gives insights to Singapore's pre-colonial times.

If you want to know more about it, meet me at the Singapore History Gallery of the National Museum. Hehe! Kidding.

Aside from the gallery presentations, the afternoon was a continuation of the weekly lectures on Singapore history. The one-hour lecture is immediately followed by a one-hour walkthrough at the section of the gallery that was the topic for the afternoon. The two curators who have so far given the lecture/walkthrough have been very inspiring and have given trainees ideas on how things should be done. (On a side note, they're both still very young!!! I'm so impressed. Hehe!)

So far, the past three weeks have been very interesting. The whole training is a crash course on Singapore history. For the past few weeks, I've been reading a book entitled Singapore: A Biography which summarizes the country's history from pre-colonial times up to the recent decades.

As an international museum guide, I feel that one good thing about it is that I am able to somehow compare and contrast the things I learn about Singapore history to Philippine history as well as current events in Singapore and around the region.

(Previously, I was very nervous about not having any background on Singapore history compared to my fellow docent trainees. After three sessions and a lot of reading, I feel like I am somehow catching up. Also, I am starting to realise that being a good docent doesn't necessarily mean memorising all the dates and events. All the facts and figures are available in different formats (Google, books at the National Lib, talking to resource persons, doing own research) -- what matters is how you present the story. Somehow, realising that minimised my insecurity about not knowing much about SG history. Hehe!)

There are a number of other trainees from other countries as well, including a fellow Filipino. It's great that everyone in the group has been very friendly and helpful. In my own group, there's one more guy and four women. We're quite an interesting mix, I think.

Looking forward to the next training sessions. :-)