Yesterday, following Advertising Strategies class, Tata and I went to the FASS Canteen and lo and behold! It was even cheaper than dorm food. We bought from this stall a meal that cost $2.30 but had servings for 2 people. We shared this plate, of course. It’s like lunch for $1.15 which wasn’t bad at all.

And although yesterday was the ultimate adventure fail (it started to rain hard when we were on our way to this roadside flea market that we ended up not finding it), this afternoon was rather nice. I met up with my mom’s office-mate to get my happy-package from him so I went to the Asian Civilizations Museum at around lunch time (took the MRT and came down at Raffles Station, from which the ACM was easier to find). I didn’t know I’d end up at the riverside, which was, apparently, also near Clarke Quay.

So I stared confusedly at the tall buildings and then towards the beige building and just kinda guessed where to go. I saw people crossing the white bridge, so I did, too.

I saw a lot of foreigners and tourists so I thought I might be at the right place, haha. Eventually, I found the museum. I met Ken and Arnold, both from the Philippines, and other Singaporean curators: Dave and Lawrence, and another girl from a different museum. They were all very friendly and their group even treated me out for lunch at Upper Circular Road. Being the student that I am, living off a meager student-budget, I had the audacity to just nod and say yes. I grabbed a lot of flyers and a magazine while waiting for them. (There are a looot of these things to grab here at Singapore.)

I don’t remember the name of what we ate but it was pork that was like nilagang baka back home. Except the vegetables were separate, and it had huge garlic in the soup. I remember my drink being called chestnut water, which tasted pretty okay.

I loved listening to them talk about museum shows, their directors, some visits to Manila, etc. I like listening to older people about things. :) I was a bit shy, but they were a friendly bunch. Lawrence wanted to buy a motorbike (T200?) and he was going to take lessons and apply for a license (which takes years), Joyce (I think that was the name of the girl) wanted to have fun, Dave wanted Cerveza Negra, Arnold wanted beer, and Ken was going to move in into his friend’s flat until Saturday.

They went back to the Museum at around 2.30pm. I missed the free public tour (at the counter it said 2pm) so I didn’t  tour the museum anymore. Plus, the clouds seemed threatening. Instead, I spent some time around the park, taking pictures, and eating ice cream. :)

Dave was telling me that the river here was once filled with the smaller boats that brought goods from the factories on the riverside to the harbor. But then they closed the river on around 1989/1990’s (I think) and cleaned the river. And then apparently before it was seawater also, but now it’s freshwater. Singapore has an obsession with maintaining freshwater because they don’t have many sources for it, hence it’s expensive.

It was a lovely windy day. I was alone, though it’s okay. :) I enjoyed meeting the people from the museum very much. I’m thinking of dropping by maybe on Friday evening or tomorrow afternoon (for the free public tour).