We spent most of the afternoon during this day in Musée du Louvre. No need for introduction or further description on the Louvre because this is one of the very famous spots in Paris. I highly recommend that you buy tickets online (skip-the-line, if possible) as the lines can be really long.
MAY 2, 2019
We spent most of the afternoon during this day in MUSÉE DU LOUVRE. No need for introduction or further description on the Louvre because this is one of the very famous spots in Paris. I highly recommend that you buy tickets online (skip-the-line, if possible) as the lines can be really long.
It was very crowded when we visited that we had to strategically choose the sections we wanted to visit. Of course, Mona Lisa was part of our mission. Here are the highlights from our visit:
We also went to the exhibit showing off sculptures of Greek icons:
M also led us to see the Code of Hammurabi…
…an actual base of a fortress…
…and a sphinx!
I wanted to try the famous hot chocolate from ANGELINA but instead of getting this from the branch near the Louvre (where it was so crowded!!!), we went to a different branch. I loved how the chocolate was not sweet – leaning more towards dark chocolate.
For dinner, we met M’s friend and he served us really delicious homemade pasta.
Hands down! Musée D’Orsay was the best museum we visited especially with their collection of Monet and Renoir paintings. But first, we started off our trip with sculptures and paintings in the second floor – some were by Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin.
MAY 2, 2019
Hands down! MUSÉE D’ORSAY was the best museum we visited especially with their collection of Monet and Renoir paintings. But first, we started off our trip with sculptures and paintings in the second floor – some were by Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin.
The museum is housed in the former Gare d’Orsay…
Some more art we passed by before we reached the topmost floor with most works from Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet. Below were my favorites… I even bought a postcard with Monet’s “Essai De Figure En Plein Air Vers La Gauche” (Woman With A Parasol, Facing Left).
We had lunch afterwards at LE PROCOPE, which is the oldest café in Paris (1686). Famous icons visited this café during their lifetime such as Voltaire, Denis Diderot, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. All of us ordered the Procope Menu for lunch which was a 3-course meal (starter, main course, dessert).
Being the geeks that we are, K and I went to the ARTSCIENCE MUSEUM where we had a lot of fun thanks to the Future World exhibit (teamLab).
The opening exhibit was called Nature. We went inside a small room for the first part, which depicted birds from Japanese mythology that are believed to be the embodiment of the sun. The digital technology and accompanying music were both captivating, that we decided to watch it for the 2nd time.
APRIL 23, 2017
Being the geeks that we are, K and I went to the ARTSCIENCE MUSEUM where we had a lot of fun thanks to the Future World exhibit (teamLab).
The opening exhibit was called Nature. We went inside a small room for the first part, which depicted birds from Japanese mythology that are believed to be the embodiment of the sun. The digital technology and accompanying music were both captivating, that we decided to watch it for the 2nd time.
The second gallery featured seascape “drawn” in Japanese traditional art. There were bean bags scattered in this area where one could lie down and just watch the moving waves.
The last part was more for kids because it had this interactive slide wherein the path you passed would light up. Can’t remember the names of the other exhibits but they had a lot of interesting activities.
Black Waves depicted the sea in traditional Japanese painting style and the lines were moving to give the effect that the sea was alive.
Light Ball Orchestra occupied a huge space in the exhibit – lots of big balls on the ground wherein touching a ball would change the color and sound. You can push, toss, bounce, or roll the balls to create a unique composition. We weren’t able to try this interactive activity because all the balls were being used by kids. (/ω＼)
We had fun instead in stacking colored cubes…
…and with this digital game which seems to be heat-sensitive? We weren’t sure how this one worked so hula na lang.
The last part of the exhibit was called Space, which featured teamLab’s “monumental installation” called Crystal Universe. The artwork used 178,200 LED lights to mimic starts moving in space. We would walk a short path that allowed us to experience the “universe” as we were surrounded by the thousands of lights blinking and changing colors.
The only thing we did not like here is that the staff kept on asking visitors who would stop to keep on walking. That would be okay if the walking path was long but since this was the last part, a lot of people were reluctant to follow. Anyway, I still managed to take some of these photos…
Thanks propphi! Blurred nga lang, haha!
Before we left the museum, we took photos of these quotes:
We went for one of the popular hotpot restaurants where we waited for about an hour before we got to eat. All I could say is it was worth the wait but I didn’t bring my camera so no photos to share.
HAJI LANE was our next stop after all the food we ate for our last day in SG.
The weather was good but it was really humid that day so there was a point where we entered a random shop to cool down – LIMAA which offers fresh fruit slices and cold fruit juices. We just went around and took pictures here before heading to our last stop.
APRIL 23, 2017
HAJI LANE was our next stop after all the food we ate for our last day in SG.
The weather was good but it was really humid that day so there was a point where we entered a random shop to cool down – LIMAA which offers fresh fruit slices and cold fruit juices. We just went around and took pictures here before heading to our last stop.
ArtScience Museum is up next — which is another SG highlight for me. #geekalert
First stop was the FLOWER DOME and when we saw that it was an enclosed space, we were not quite excited because we initially thought it would be hotter and more humid inside. But to our surprise, the place was cool!
This is the largest greenhouse in the world and it showcases hundreds of flower types from different regions. Here are my favorites from the first portion of the Flower Dome:
APRIL 21, 2017
Our mission after DTF lunch was to pick up the orders we placed from Irvin’s then went to GARDENS BY THE BAY with our big plastic bags of pasalubong. Haha!
First stop was the FLOWER DOME and when we saw that it was an enclosed space, we were not quite excited because we initially thought it would be hotter and more humid inside. But to our surprise, the place was cool!
Here’s me excited to go around 🙂
This is the largest greenhouse in the world and it showcases hundreds of flower types from different regions. Here are my favorites from the first portion of the Flower Dome:
While I was trying to find a good angle for the yellow flower below, a fellow photographer nearby approached me and told me how to find the best flower from the bunch. She said that all the outer petals should be open while the inner petals are upright. So I took the picture below and she complimented it. Yay!
Here is a picture of our group while inside the Flower Dome:
Still high energy level even after walking around NGS for 3 hours
An interesting portion in the greenhouse was the placement of flowers of different colors to mimic some of Vincent Van Gogh’s artworks. It was difficult though to take good pictures because of the volume of the crowd…
Last batch of favorite flowers (including tulips!) before we left the place:
Next stop was CLOUD FOREST which was sort of surrounded by mist and a colder place than the Flower Dome. Upon entering, this indoor waterfall welcomed us…
Just in pure awe of the architecture and planning that went into building this place. We went to the topmost “floor” then started making our way downwards (to the exit). Definitely not for acrophobic people.
I met with my ninang and her family for dinner and they treated me to a buffet in RISE RESTAURANT (Marina Bay Sands). I stuffed myself with all the food I could eat and I kind of regret not getting a lot of duck meat in the cold cuts section because they did not refill it anymore.
Since all of us got too full after dinner, we decided to walk around the area before heading home.
Marina Bay Sands at night
Bridge that looks like DNA (helix shape-ish)
Mission for the next day is USS with J, K, and my best friend who also had work training in SG!
We decided to go to NATIONAL GALLERY SINGAPORE based on C’s recommendation. The place was absolutely huge and we most likely saw thousands of artworks.
We spent the whole morning going around the whole gallery. My friends know that I am not a big fan of art but here are some of the artworks that I really liked:
APRIL 20-21, 2017
Last April, I was one of the people in our team who got the opportunity to attend a training in SG for a new proprietary tool. It was just a one-day event so my teammates and I decided to extend our stay.
Not gonna narrate anymore what happened during the training but the highlight that day was our dinner in JUMBO SEAFOOD RESTAURANT. We all wanted to try the famous chili crab and C helped us get a reservation in the Dempsey Hill branch.
The staff attending to us informed us that the crabs they had that night were just “small” so we decided to order 1 chili crab per person. She looked in disbelief but we were not sure if we just imagined it…
Since the crab would take about 30 minutes to cook, we ordered cereal prawns and fried rice because we were already hungry.
After a lot of kwento, our chili crab finally arrived… Lo and behold! We were not imagining the look of disbelief in the staff who took our order. Their “small” crab turned out to be good for 2 people. LOL! Good thing we were still quite hungry so we were able to finish everything. We even paired the chili crab with fried mantou and what made it really yummy was when we dipped the bread in the chili crab sauce. YUM!!! Super busog dinner!
Included the spoon for reference, LOL
Next day was our free day and we decided to go to NATIONAL GALLERY SINGAPORE based on C’s recommendation. The place was absolutely huge and we most likely saw thousands of artworks.
We spent the whole morning going around the whole gallery. My friends know that I am not a big fan of art but here are some of the artworks that I really liked:
Expense of Spirit in a Waste of Shame by Suzanne Victor – artwork made after SG government decided to stop funding performance art in 1994
Flowers on Four Panels by Ju Lian – 1903
Merapi, Eruption by Day / Night by Raden Saleh
Espana y Filipinas by Juan Luna – 1884
Boschbrand (Forest Fire) by Raden Saleh – 1849
Port Scene by Mori Kinsen
Fishpond in Malabon by Fernando Cueto Amorsolo – 1942
Some more pictures I took during our trip in the gallery:
We had lunch at Din Tai Fung afterwards – menu is somewhat similar to PH branches but a few of the unique items were the century egg and roasted duck in wrapper.
We enjoyed everything we ordered in DTF. Good timing to be busog because our next stop was Gardens By The Bay.
Anne Goes to Places 