The LotR High

Alloz!

Back from yet another weekend trip! Went over to Singapore *grumbles. bloody singapore. no. singaporeAN* over Friday night and Saturday just for the TePapa's Lord of the Rings exhibition at the Singapore Science Centre. (Ooooh! Alliteration! Well, sort of..)

Yep, you read right. My sister, Nadia, and I travelled out of the country just for an exhibition. But it wasn't just any exhibition, it was the TePapa's Lord of the Rings exhibition!! And we've only been planning the trip for close to two years now .. therefore, we couldn't possibly miss it! *G* Also, when you think about it, it's only an 8-hour, 400km train ride away, so ....

Yep, it was a mini-adventure, all right. We took the night train to S'pore so we would arrive at 8am all fresh and ready to roll. Then while waiting for the exhibition to open, I insisted on visiting the Chinese Gardens, so off we went! I've become rather interested in bonsai of late, and this detour was definitely pre-meditated! Hee hee ...

Admission into the Chinese Gardens is free, but I happily forked over the small fee for admission into the Bonsai Garden. It was awesome! Alright, being new to the .. erm .. hobby, I've only had the chance to see, at most, 4 trees in one sitting. This time, I got to see a whole garden-full of magnificent specimens! It's sometimes silly what passions can do to you, but I was almost overwhelmed! Rows upon rows of perfectly shaped trees, beautiful compositions, and a truly amazing collection of suiseki. Wonderful! I probably could have stayed there a few hours more, had not a certain companion developed achy feet. *pout* Ah well. I suppose it was just as well, as it was well nigh approaching noon and we were there for the LotR exhibition anyways. But I definitely will have to make my way there the next time. If there will be a next time. *grumbles. bloody singaporeAN*

The MRT stop for the Science Centre was only a short hop and a skip away. Okay, maybe not. But it was only one stop away.

(Break for a little ramble here.)
I love the Singapore Public Transport System! It's soooo convenient, sooooo efficient, and most importantly, soooooo comfortable! I tell you, if we had this in KL, I'd've gotten rid of my car looooong ago. Well, maybe not, coz I really really really love my car, but I would definitely use PT more often! Malaysia could learn a lot from S'pore with regards to this. A LOT. I've got enough reasons to hate S'pore, but this one thing, I absolutely love.
(Ok. Ramble over.)

Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Before we knew it, we were at the Science Centre!! Wheeee! I positively skipped down the driveway to the entrance! We had arrived!!

Admission was S$20. Oooooow-wie! But more than happily spent. And of course, before even paying the admission fee, we had to do a spot of Souvenir window-shopping! Tee hee. Surveying what was worth getting our grubby hands on.

Unfortunately, we were somewhat disappointed at the rather limited selection of souvenirs on sale. Can you believe there were no T-shirts for sale??!!?!! Who's ever heard of an exhibition souvenir-store with no T-shirts for sale?!?!!!! I was so hoping to get a cute baby-sized one for LittleSumo. Imagined him as a pint-sized Legolas .. or with Sauron's Eye on his little, round baby belly. <:o(

Fortunately, however, the souvenirs weren't too pricey, so we were able to get more than enough for them back home who weren't able to, or didn't want to follow us. It was a good exercise in stretching our budget, but I say we succeeded admirably! But yes, yes, sense did kick in. We bought them goodies only after we had completed the tour. Our self-restraint was amazing. Pats on the back all around. *G*

The exhibition itself was totally amazing. We got to see some of the actual costumes (i.e. Aragon, Arwen, Legolas, Elrond, etc.), most (if not all!) the amazing weaponry, the conceptual designs, and most fascinatingly how the movie was made. I thought it was an extremely detailed exhibition. Highly educational (in an artsy sense, I mean), not to mention entertaining!! Also, it was fascinating to see how an object of art (i.e. the movie) is actually the result of extremely, minutely precise technical processes! So much for art being art and science being science. The borders for those are becoming extremely blurry, as this exhibition proved.

What most interested me (and had me viewing every tape concerning it) were the ultra-special effects. It was utterly mind-blowing how they achieved that forced-perspective thingy .. how did these people come up with the ideas of how to do it that way to achieve this in the first place?!?!! Sheer genius, I tell you!!

It was absolutely amazing. Truly amazing! It may have been just three 3-hour movies to the audience, but the exhibition gave such insight into the amount of hard work and brain power that went into producing such fine movies in the first place. We've perhaps become jaded towards movies, not putting any consideration as to the effort that was put into producing one, therefore wonderful as the LotR Trilogy was, to most of us, it's still *shrug* Just Another Movie.

Perhaps it was Just Another Movie, but it was also someone's (in this case, Peter Jackson's) dream. It was also someone's passion, someone's inspiration and motivation. And when you then begin to realise as you progress through the exhibition, that the movies were the product of not just one man's dream, but the dreams and imaginations of the hundreds other people who were involved in producing the movies, you become .. humbled. These people had a dream .. and they achieved it magnificently, in garangtuan proportions. It may have been Just Another Movie, but it gave direction and purpose to their lives. It's better than having nothing to look forward to, and they are fortunate enough to see one of their Life's Purposes fulfilled. I don't believe that kind of Beauty can be bought.

It was truly wonderful. My only complaint is that we weren't allowed to take any pictures!!! *grumbles*

After that, Nadia and I ran rampant through the other permanent exhibitions at the Science Centre. (The admission fee for the LotR exhibition was inclusive of admission to the Science Centre.) The exhibitions were designed more towards the education of the smaller folk (read: children, NOT dwarves and/or hobbits!!) so they were extreeeeemely child-like. As if that would stop us! lolz! We romped and ramped and crawled and spun round and round like the best of them. I think we scared a few kids. lol.

All in all, it was a truly .. educational day. :o) Educational without compromising on the fun. It was a really fun day.

The part which gets me almost laughing out loud whenever I think about it, however, is that we went for a 1-day trip .. to Singapore ... with only ONE half-filled(!!) backpack .. AND on a shoestring budget. Seriously. We calculated our estimated expenditures and brought what we thought would be just enough to buy some souvenirs, to pay for MRT and bus fares, and to buy lunch and dinner. Amazingly, we survived! More amazingly, we brought *exactly* the right amount of money! I think we came home with less than S$10 between us. Amazing.

I can hardly believe I travelled with only one half-filled backpack! And that I lacked for absolutely nothing! In fact, some things I could have even left at home! Not much of an achievement, but it's something I never thought I'd've been able to do .. but I did it!

And I never thought that I would find myself one day brushing my teeth and washing my face in the public toilet of a railway immigration building .. but I did!

... they may not count for much now, but I believe the little achievements go a long way. Moreoever, I've learned more things about myself throughout the course of this trip; increasing my limits, and understanding the human nature better. There aren't many lessons more valuable than those.