2nd Shot: Ruins of Old National Library @ Stamford Road

Source: Infopedia

After my discovery of a red brick on the site and a brief role as a heritage purist, it is time to wrap up my short research on the Old National Library. We will visit the Stamford Road site again and pay tribute to its ruins - by producing what I believe to be the first second shot of the two wretched pillars still standing.

**Don't be fooled by the two pillars in the above "postcard photo". These are not the wretched pillars I'm talking about.

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Goodie and Cast at It's a Great Great World Gala Premiere

So the cast sashayed down the red carpet and went up on stage, in four groups, representing all four stories. Fans snapped the stars and the latter waxed lyrical their roles and difficulties speaking the dialects in the movie. This meet-the-fans session was longer than I expected but the whole thing ended just as it had begun. In a flash, the last group left the stage and the crowd dispersed. Not us. We had tickets to It's a Great Great World Gala Premiere.

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Crossing the Wallace Line - From Bali to Lombok

My boarding pass

We did not spend a whole week in Bali during the year-end escapade. In between our Bali adventures, Ine arranged for a 3D/2N vacation in Lombok (it was a "vacation" as I had no specific "mission" in Lombok). The flight from Bali to Lombok is short - around 25 minutes - and takes the traveller across the Lombok Strait, some 35km of sea separating the two islands.

It would be a mundane journey for most people. Not for me; I knew its biogeographical significance. As I proudly declared to Ine, "We're crossing the Wallace Line!"

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Invitation to It's a Great Great World Gala Premiere

Have you watched It's a Great Great World on screen yet? I have, thank to Peter Chan who turned my ordinary Wednesday evening before Chinese New Year into a dazzling one. My celluloid adventure started when Peter sms-ed me on Monday. Did he have a mission for me? Was it some explosive document he found in the UK archives? Or has he unearthed Yamashita's Gold?

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Selamat Tahun Baru Imlek!

Happy Lunar New Year to you readers! Gong xi fa cai, ang poh gun gun lai (恭喜发财，红包滚滚来). For those who finished attacking the reunion dinner few hours ago, I hope you had a wonderful time. I'm typing this before I go to sleep. In a few hours time, I will be leaving for another location for my usual "historical and heritage" research.

In lieu of firecrackers, new year couplets, dong dong chiang lions - in other words the usual stuffs - here is something you might not have seen before. This is the barongsai, the Balinese dancing lion. I took the picture in Bali. Incidentally the Chinese dancing lion familiar to us in Singapore is also called barongsai in Indonesia (I think sai is lion or 狮 in Hokkien, ba could come from Bali). But don't be mistaken, the Balinese lion does not take part in Lunar New Year celebrations!

*Selamat Tahun Baru Imlek: Happy Lunar New Year in Bahasa Indonesia.