Monday, August 21, 2006

Towers. Heard recently that Towers Records in Suntec has closed down, effectively ceasing operations in Singapore. I can't help but feel sad to hear this news. Towers Records is an icon in Singapore's ... music and cultural history and progress in the 90s. The store in Pacific Plaza was a regular hangout for me in my university years, long before the arrival of HMV or Borders. It was not just the huge collection of cds that attracted me, but the collection of literature and magazines and peripheral stuff all over the two levels as well. Many lazy afternoons were spent just browsing from one corner of the store to another. Here was a place where you don't feel that time had been wasted when you were there. There was always something to discover at every visit. The appearances of musicians and artistes also made the place unique. I remember when Kitaro first came to Singapore, the queue went all the way to the ground floor! ... Anyway, I guess the demise of Towers show that cd-buying is on the decline, what with the advent of MP3 and I-pods. Well, I will still continue to buy cds no matter what.

Dinosaurs' Exhibition. At the encouragement of Anand I went to the Science Centre, on my own. I can't remember the last time I went there, and the place has really gotten a tremendous face-lift. I guess if not for the basic shape of the venue, the four hexagons, I would had been hopelessly lost. As it is it took me a while to search for the annex, or halls two and three, where the dinosaur exhibition is staged. I must say that Sue and Stan, the two most complete, assembled bones of a T-Rex, looked mightily impressive. Sue is 90% complete, hence we are able to see and gauge what a monster and terror she would had been, million of years ago. Now the exhibition did not forget to educate about protecting and taking care of the environment, even our own Singapore, whereby many species had already been forced into extinction due to urbanisation and advent of the concrete jungle. I certainly hope I won't live long enough to see our home turning into a desert or something ... Anyway, it had been a fruitful trip, if nothing else, it brought me back to the place that I used to visit frequently when I was in Primary school, wow, so long ago ... Hope there will be another good exhibition coming soon to make me want to visit it again.

Second Link. Its the second time I am watching it. Bought tickets early to watch with Hui Teen, May and Anand, if not I would had watched it with Wen Fu, Patrick, and some of the MGS girls. The show is indeed a celebration of the rich arts and culture that the two neighbouring countries share. The Malaysian cast was 2/5 new, and I didn't think they were as strong as the first batch of actors. As for the Singaporean cast side, we were all disappointed to miss out on Atomic Jaya, and for me, 1984. Nevertheless, it was still a fine outing. Everybody enjoyed themselves, the display of both Malaysian and Singaporean scripts and literature were mightily impressive. I enjoyed Descendents, Talaq, Who's Bad? Keroncong, and Sang Kancil with the Chef's Secrets. If not for my erratic schedule, I would had loved to go up to KL, and watch the show at the Bangsar Actors Studio. I still have fond memories from my last visit there. Well, I wish all ten actors a successful run in KL!

♥ 12:17 am