Revisit Singapore Part 17: library@orchard and National Museum of Singapore etc.

[Introduction]

I traveled to Singapore in late June for the first time in two years. In addition to famous tourist areas, I went around spots I have never been to before this time. While I have lived in Singapore for a year and half before, I find something new whenever I revisit Singapore. In this article, I will write about library@orchard and National Museum of Singapore etc. as part of Day 5.

[Visit Places (series of articles)]
* Day 1: Fly to Singapore with Scoot
* Day 1: Don Mueang International Airport
* Day 2: Raffles Marina
* Day 2: Chinese Garden
* Day 2: Tiong Bahru/Outram Park/Tanjong Pagar
* Day 2: Orchard Road Part1
* Day 2: Orchard Road Part2
* Day 3: Sentosa (Madame Tussauds/Merlion etc.)
* Day 3: Sentosa (Palawan Beach)
* Day 3: Sentosa (Cable car)/Henderson Waves Bridge
* Day 3: Chinatown
* Day 4: Katong area/Esplanade
* Day 4: Marina Bay Sands/Gardens by the Bay
* Day 4: Marina Barrage Part1
* Day 4: Marina Barrage Part2/Gardens by the Bay
* Day 4: Marina Bay Sands etc.
* Day 5: library@orchard etc. [This article]
* Day 5: Little India
* Day 5: Bugis
* Day 5: City Hall/Marina area & Return Home

[Travel Date]
2018.06.23-27

[Main Part]

Grand Park City Hall

The fifth day, the final day, of my Singapore trip started. To begin with, I will have breakfast at Grand Park City Hall where I stayed.

Then, I checked out the hotel, so I will briefly review Grand Park City Hall.

As I mentioned in the past articles several times, breakfast was very delicious and there was a middle-aged waitress who provided excellent hospitality.
The hotel was conveniently located, which enabled guests to walk to MRT stations of multiple MRT lines.
The guest room was recently renovated and a smartphone application enabled guests to control door lock/unlock and electronic devices including TV and air conditioner.

WiFi was unstable and the Internet was often disconnected especially in the evening.

Considering hotel rates were relatively high as a whole in Singapore, I think Grand Park City Hall would be worth the price.

Orchard Central

Originally, I planed to go to Beauty World Station, which was opened in December 2015 due to the extension of Downtown Line, and watch Bukit Timah Railway (Cast Iron Bridge).

When I reached the station, however, it rained heavily and I found it was almost impossible to watch Bukit Timah Railway (Cast Iron Bridge), which was placed out of doors.

So, I changed my plan: I moved to Somerset Station and visited “Orchard Central”.

I had visited Orchard road on the second day from afternoon to evening (see the related articles: part1 and part2), but there are several spots I skipped due to my tight schedule, so I will go around again.

DON DON DONKI Orchard Central

First, I visited “DON DON DONKI Orchard Central”.

“DON DON DONKI Orchard Central” was opened in December 2017, as the first shop in Singapore of a Japanese discount retailer “Don Quijote”.

In the shop.

There were a variety of Japanese food and products and it seemed prices were less expensive than other Japanese supermarkets in Singapore.

Sushi was also available.

Ya Kun Kaya Toast

I will have lunch in “Orchard Central”. I visited “Ya Kun Kaya Toast”.

“Ya Kun Kaya Toast” is one of the popular Kaya Toast chains in Singapore. I visited “Ya Kun Kaya Toast” two years ago (see the related article), and I visited it again this time.

Here is “Set A”.

library@orchard

There was “Orchard Gateway”, another shopping mall adjacent to “Orchard Central”, and I stopped by “library@orchard” in “Orchard Gateway”.

“library@orchard” was originally located in Ngee Ann City along Orchard road and closed in 2007. Then, “library@orchard” was reopened in October 2014, as “boutique library”, and have gained attention recently as one of the famous photo spots (especially for Instagram).

Let go into the library.

The library’s rounding design was as futuristic as I have heard.

CD rack.

“library@orchard” was located on the 3rd and 4th floor in Orchard Gateway and here are views from the upper floor.

I often see this angle on the Internet.

In addition, I just found a “LOVE” monument at “Winsland House”, an office building near “Orchard Gateway”.

National Museum of Singapore

I came to “National Museum of Singapore”.

I visited “National Museum of Singapore” two years ago (see the related article). This time, I revisited it mainly because there was a new permanent exhibition “Story of the Forest” developed by the renowned Japanese digital art collective teamLab, which also created “Digital Light Canvas” in Marina Bay Sands (see the related articles: part1, part2).

So, I will watch “Story of the Forest” first.

“Story of the Forest” is an immersive installation that transforms 69 drawings from the William Farquhar Collection of Natural History Drawings into three-dimensional animations.

Here are some photos of “Story of the Forest”.

I will also watch other exhibitions, though I had watched them before.

Here is “Singapore History Gallery”.

“Surviving Syonan” focused on the era when Singapore was occupied by Japan during World War II .

This is “Modern Colony”, which showed how Singapore developed after independence from Malaysia.

Finally, I took photos of objects placed on a landing.

Then, I left “National Museum of Singapore”.

[Closing]

That’s it for the article about library@orchard and National Museum of Singapore etc. as part of Day 5.

Although I needed to change my itinerary completely, I think it was OK after all. If tourists encounter heavy rain in Singapore, there are several alternative options, for example, (1) Spend all the day at Marina Bay Sands, (2) Enjoy shopping at Orchard road, and (3) Go around a variety of museums, so I think they don’t have to feel discouraged so much 🙂

In the next article, I will write about Little India as part of Day 5.

[Map]

1 Grand Park City Hall
2 Orchard Central
3 library@orchard
4 Winsland House
5 National Museum of Singapore