visited the national museum this afternoon. at first we planned to see the greek masterpieces from the louvre exhibition, but then ended up visiting also the singapore history galleries and the singapore living galleries.

the greek masterpieces' collection was quite limited, divided into 4 categories: athens in the classical period, living in ancient greece, the spirit of competition and religion: of gods and heroes. not all god's there, unfortunately, but they had various version of aphrodite - the goddess of love, and eros with a bow - otherwise known as cupid. and there's also narcissus - a boy admiring his own reflection. I guess that's why we have the term 'narcissist' and 'narcissism'.

history galleries were really comprehensive. I'm impressed! at the entrance, each visitor was given an audio guide that served as a tour guide, providing commentaries during the visit. specific numbers were assigned to each exhibit and upon pressing the number, the corresponding commentaries were played. cool! the collection itself ranged from the time when singapore (it's called temasek back then) was first found, the daily lives of its people, the war, and finally the independence. oh ya, the PM was visiting history galleries too when we were there.

living galleries comprised of 4 areas: fashion, film & wayang, food, and photography. they're currently having additional exhibition - sequined costumes of cantonese opera. the food gallery interested me the most :) it housed a few exhibits related to famous local food like satay, laksa, chicken rice, nasi lemak and kueh tutu; as well as various herbs and spices stored in glass jars. some spices can be smelt, too. they also have smelly beans (petai).. =)