Review of "Monet Inside" by Claude Monet (Exhibition)

While I wouldn't say I am a fan of Claude Monet or very familiar with his works, I was tempted to check out "Monet Inside" as it is positioned as an "immersive experience" to know more about the artist and his creations. This seemed to suggest that the exhibition will be somewhat different from the usual exhibition style of just walking through gallery halls filled with the works. 

Besides, it was held at Parkview Square - a very artistic-looking building with its huge Dali sculptures in the compound and an Instagram-worthy Atlas Bar on the first floor so this would be a great opportunity to check out the building for the first time. That itself could be considered as another exhibition of its own.

For those who are contemplating to visit this exhibition, do take advantage of the 50% off offer which will be valid till 18 October. You can get an adult ticket for as low as $12.50 if you are a local.

What was good

Indeed, being able to see Monet's works "come to life" through the 360 degrees large screen and the floor in the main room was a very different experience compared to seeing the paintings on a gallery wall. Through the 35-min long video which was divided into 5 sections about the key phases in Monet's life, you get an in-depth and somewhat personal peek into his life through the narration of his longtime friend. I also liked the music that accompanied the showcase of Monet's paintings as it accentuated the presentation as a whole.

The other "wow" factor was the merchandise section. Honestly speaking, most of the merchandise sections I had come across at various exhibitions either had an underwhelming range of products or they were simply too overpriced that I couldn't fathom spending that kind of money. However, despite my lack of anticipation for this section at first, there was a dizzying range of items on sale here - ranging from the usual stuff like postcards, replicas of the paintings, the exhibition catalogue and notebooks to the less common things like fabric perfume, handheld mirrors, scarfs, dolls, postal stamps, jewellery, iPhone cases, mobile phone accessories and beach towels. 

While it was tempting to buy more than needed, I settled for buying some clear photo cards of two paintings I like which were actually the right size to use as bookmarks.  I felt that most of the items were quite reasonably priced. I would have wanted to get the notebook if not for the fact that the paper was a tad too thin - not so suitable for drawing and painting, I would say.

Just one small "grouse" though - the world doesn't revolve around iPhones only. While I understand that it's not possible to have mobile phone cases for all brands, it always annoys me when such accessories and cases are only for iPhones. There is no room for consideration at all when I encounter such products for a single brand like this because I can't use them anyway.

The staff at the exhibition were very polite and friendly - probably because they could see that I was new to this venue and unsure where to start. Not to say that staff at other venues were not good but most of them tend to keep out of the way especially in the galleries so that they won't interrupt or affect the experience of the visitors. Having the staff proactively come over to offer assistance or additional information on the exhibition was not something I experienced that often - both locally and overseas. This exhibition is organised by Groundseesaw which is said to be a major exhibition platform from Korea and this is their first international project. Maybe that's why the style of the exhibition felt somewhat different from the ones I visited before in our local museums.

What was less than ideal

First of all, I have to say, your experience here might be different from mine depending on when you visit. I was there on a weekday afternoon and the fact that you needed to secure an hourly slot for your tickets would mean that there would be some form of crowd control especially during weekends. The reason for the hourly slot should be because of the fact that the main exhibition video runs for a good 35 minutes and visitors can supposedly take photos nearer to the screen in the 15 minutes when the highlights are being shown. As such, since the video doesn't get looped indefinitely at random timings, it is necessary for people to come in groups at the start of the hour rather than as and when they like because you wouldn't want to see "latecomers" spoil your viewing experience as they walk in and out of the hall. In fact, before the video is shown, there are some reminders such as switching off the sound of your phones and not moving around during the screening so as to maintain the viewing experience for all.

Despite the best of intentions, I have to say that the environment wasn't that conducive. As you can see, the seats are actually cushioned benches on a staircase. There is no backing for you to sit comfortably unless you move deep into the staircase and use the upper level as your back support. That can only be done assuming that no one is sitting behind you. I can just imagine - if there are crowds on a weekend, that might be impossible. In fact, I ended up with a bad backache and shoulder ache because of this seating arrangement for more than 30 so this physical discomfort really marred my experience. I just couldn't wait to get up and leave the hall and skipped the highlights video.

Since the screen was so wide, I also found myself have to turn my neck very often just to "get the full picture". Perhaps it might be better to sit on a higher level to reduce the need to do so but those who want pictures without having those in front of you appearing in your shots might have to consider sitting on the first level instead.

While the exhibition was positioned as one which is inclusive i.e. there is no age limit, this works against those who want to watch the video with no disruptions. Adults are told not to move around during the screening but it is understandable that young kids will find it hard to sit still for such a long time especially if they cannot understand the narration or find the video boring. If kids are so young and it is difficult to prevent them from disrupting the viewing experience of others, it might be worth reconsidering bringing them along. From the Google reviews on this exhibition so far, it seems like this issue is a big bugbear among those who gave lower ratings. 

In my case, even though I was there on a weekday, it just so happened that I had the "good luck" of  encountering kids who couldn't sit still and were moving around in front of the screen. And the kids I saw were definitely at primary school age but the parents simply let them be. I could be more understanding if they were much younger and harder to control. Imagine your viewing experience being interrupted with the presence of "moving shadows" and noises made by children - that only added to my frustration on top of my physical discomfort.

I also wonder about the cost-to-performance ratio of this exhibition. Honestly speaking, if not for the 50% off, I would have felt that the deliverables from this exhibition were too little as compared to the price to be paid. The highlight being the video in the main hall plus the smaller halls with replicas of the original paintings and some panels about Monet's life simply aren't enough to justify the price tag. As such, I would have wanted more content if I was asked to pay the full price.

Conclusion

While the concept and delivery method of the exhibition's content was somewhat new and interesting, the range of content and execution could be improved. In a bid to promote inclusivity, ensuring that the content is age-appropriate and that the factors that could affect the experience should be mitigated as much as possible are important topics to consider. Great range of exhibition merchandise here so just checking out the store took longer and was more fun than expected.

Thoughts about "Art of the Brick" by Nathan Sawaya (2024 edition)

11 years ago, I went for the "Art of the Brick" exhibition by Nathan Sawaya held at ArtScience Museum and wrote about my experience back then. 

Now in 2024, I went back to the same exhibition, said to be upgraded and now held at a different venue i.e. Singapore Expo Hall 8B. While there were some works which appeared in the 2013 edition, there were quite a number of new works which I had never seen before.

It always fascinates me as to how these small Lego bricks can be transformed into such amazing works which just goes to show that creativity has no boundaries. It was definitely an inspiring experience to see how things like daily life objects or well-known paintings can be represented in a different manner through these Lego blocks. Given that I hardly had the opportunity to play with Lego as a kid, it does seem a bit of a challenge for me to get into this now as an adult since I think I'm not too good at following diagrams to build stuff like this. Even small Nanoblocks models were tough for me when it was quite the craze sometime back.

At the entrance of the exhibition, there was a short video featuring Sawaya about his journey with Lego bricks since childhood, becoming a lawyer since he didn't know that studying art was an option for him in university before immersing himself into his lifelong passion creating artworks with Lego. While not everyone can manage to follow their passion and make it into a career, his experience is definitely encouragement and a real life example of "it's never too late to chase your dream".

With the change in venue, there are a few things that you may wish to take note of:

- Hall 8B is quite a distance from the MRT station so if you are taking the train, note that this hall is not part of the main Expo building and it's connected by the sheltered walkway. If you are taking a taxi or private hire, you can probably choose the drop-off point outside the hall to save on the walking which can be quite uncomfortable on a hot day.

- There is another exhibition featuring bubble-themed art sharing the same hall where there is loud music playing. As such, I found it a bit noisy and distracting as compared to when it was very quiet at the ArtScience Museum. 

- Some of the exhibits were placed on mirrors or stands with reflective glass so you can get some really nice pictures by incorporating the actual exhibit and the reflection together.

- Note that the ticket prices quoted on the website do not include the booking fee of $2.90 which is imposed regardless of whether you are buying it online or on the spot. I didn't like the fact that the organiser wasn't forthcoming about this charge because it was only when I got to the payment page that this was mentioned. Even at the on-site ticketing counter, the list of charges do not mention this. While I understood that there would be surcharges for ticketing systems, considering that a Wednesday ticket for an adult was $19.90, a booking fee of $2.90 works out to about 15% of the ticket price. This is a pretty high percentage, I would say because concert tickets costing several hundred dollars has a ticketing fee usually not more than $5. 

- It is advisable to get tickets online first for designated timeslots since there is crowd control supposedly during peak periods so that the viewing experience won't be affected. Tickets on weekends are definitely the priciest while on weekdays, it will be cheapest on Wednesday which I suppose should be the day with the least number of visitors. The exhibition is closed on Tuesdays. Tickets can only be paid for using cards.

- There is a cafe at the end of the exhibition area but there wasn't a place to sit down and enjoy the refreshments unless you sat at the the area for visitors to colour their drawings and scan onto the big screen. I suppose there would be a long queue on peak days since the wait was already quite significant on a weekday.

- The post-exhibition merchandise area was a bit underwhelming. Other than the exhibition catalogue ($25 for a very heavy hardcover book), the rest of the stuff were Lego sets. Perhaps it might be cheaper and you will get a wider range of designs if you buy your Lego outside?

While I was a bit skeptical about the claim that there were more than 150 works on display and there were some things which I was not too happy about especially the ticketing, I was quite satisfied with the exhibition on the whole. Despite having seen some of the works more than a decade ago, there were still some new surprises in this year's edition. As such, even if you had been to the previous exhibition before, the 2024 edition should still be interesting to such visitors. For first-timers, this should be quite an eye-opening experience.

Here are a selection of the works that I liked from the 2024 edition so I hope that you'll find your favourites there as well!

Review of "Piece of Peace World Heritage Exhibit Built With Lego Brick"

Lego bricks have always been fascinating to me especially when I see art works made of these tiny building blocks of various shapes, sizes and colours. When I was a child, I didn't have the luxury of playing with Lego but I always marveled at the wide array of things which could be created using these building blocks. Back in 2013 when I attended Nathan Sawaya's exhibition at ArtScience Museum, I was so awed by his creativity and the amazing forms which these Lego bricks could take on but while playing with the bricks made available to the visitors, I realised that I wasn't very imaginative and talented in this type of 3D building. As such, I didn't have the inclination to go and buy Lego and explore the world of building things.

The "Piece of Peace" exhibition which is currently taking place at the Singapore Fort Canning Arts Centre, combines Lego with the theme of UNESCO World Heritage sites whereby these well-known places, structures or buildings are recreated using Lego blocks. Apparently, the exhibition has been touring around the world since it began at Japan in 2003 so this is a first for Singapore to be included as part of the tour. Most of the exhibits are displayed on the 2nd floor of the building while Level 1 features creations with local influences by Singaporeans, a play zone for children and a platform featuring Lego figures of various local iconic places and buildings.

With regard to the exhibits, I think that most of them were quite detailed and close to how the "real thing" looks like. However, the lighting in the exhibition hall wasn't that ideal because the angle from which the lights were shone and the strong brightness created white-washed effects which made the colour of the exhibits look paler than they should be. As such, when taking photos of such exhibits, the colours didn't turn out to be vibrant at times and there were some shadows caused by the strong lighting which made it difficult to observe the details. It was also annoying to see reflections and shadows of people or even myself projected onto the glass panels so I had to keep finding a suitable angle to take photos without these unwelcome distractions. As such, the lighting could be improved to showcase these exhibits in a better manner.

Despite this undesirable hiccup, I thought it was fun trying to identify the UNESCO Heritage sites through these Lego figures. Some of them were really easy to guess since they look so similar to the actual building or structure but some took a bit of thinking e.g. the Machu Picchu exhibit. Perhaps it was the colour of the blocks used which made it more difficult to tell at a glance e.g. the Great Wall of China exhibit.

Another thought after viewing this exhibition was that, there are still many places in the world that I would love to visit but haven't had the chance to yet. The world is really bigger than you think it is and there are so many beautiful things and places to discover. Rather than get hung up over those upsetting and petty things in life, I need to remind myself constantly that there is more to do and experience. I think this emotional boost came in at an opportune time when I was feeling really upset over some things recently. And I really should spend more time on doing the things that truly make me happy rather than waste it on those things which don't deserve my attention.

For those who are interested to attend this exhibition, here are some tips for you:

- Tickets can be bought online here so you can avoid the queues especially if you are going on a weekend.

- Weekday tickets are cheaper than those on weekends. However, if you have a Passion Card, you can get at least a 10% discount while the discount goes up to 15% if you buy at least three tickets.

- Frankly speaking, the venue is not that accessible because it's quite a walk up Fort Canning. Walking in the afternoon sun was a no-no for me and I didn't know about the shuttle bus service beforehand so I resorted to using Grab from the nearest MRT station since there was a discount promotion. For those taking public transport, you can take their free shuttle buses from Plaza Singapura or Raffles City Shopping Centre (the taxi stand facing Chijmes). The schedule of the bus service can be found here.

Before I end this post, here are the photos of the exhibits which I liked. If you have been to this exhibition, do share with me what are your favourites!

Haw Pha Bang in Luang Prabang, Laos

Wat Sorasak in Sukhothai, Thailand

Changnyongmun Gate at Hwaseong Fortress, South Korea

Itsukushima Shrine in Hiroshima, Japan

Taj Mahal in India

Shuri Castle in Okinawa, Japan

Roskilde Cathedral in Denmark

The Colosseum in Rome, Italy

Eiffel Tower in Paris, France

Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey

Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain

Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, Russia

Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey in London, United Kingdom

Signature items in our local breakfast - this was pretty cute!

The iconic buildings in Singapore made of white Lego blocks

Really not worth the time and money - NASA - A Human Adventure Exhibition

Lesson learnt today: Museums are meant to be enjoyed on quiet weekdays.

I usually go for exhibitions on weekdays which is naturally less stressful for me because I don't have to get annoyed at the people who keep blocking my view when I want to read the content and see the exhibits or stand in my way when I want to take photos. Coupled with those selfie maniacs who wouldn't rest until they get the perfect shot in that pitch-black room, the boisterous young people who just want to have fun rather than view the exhibition or those who are bent on talking big business on their phones in that quiet hall, weekend exhibition visits are usually a big no-no for me. The reason why I made an exception today was my inability to make it on a weekday these few months and that it's ending tomorrow so there was no choice. However, the whole experience left much to be desired and reaffirmed my belief that I should avoid exhibitions on weekends as much as possible.

If you are planning to catch this tomorrow on the last day, do take note of the following:

1) Book your tickets online first.
On hindsight, I should have booked the ticket online but I wasn't sure if I could make it today until the last minute so I didn't. As such, it resulted in a 30-min wait just to get the ticket and another 10 mins outside the exhibition hall to get in.
There is a shorter queue to get your tickets if you have made the online booking so it will cut the queuing time considerably.

2) Make sure you go in a group of even numbers
The one-for-one offer means that you will be disadvantaged if you are going for this alone or in a group of odd numbers. There is no discounted price for people who are on their own so effectively, you pay the price for 2 tickets. What's more annoying is that, as a Sands member, there is no discount for this exhibition even though I've enjoyed this perk a number of times in the past.
By the way, in case you are wondering, you can sign up for the Sands membership for free and there is no minimum spending requirement. There are some privileges, offers and discounts at various shops and you can earn points which can be redeemed for rewards. One of the key reasons I got this membership even though I don't go to MBS that often is because it offers further discounts on the ArtScience Museum tickets.

3) Remember to get your free Vitaminwater
It is stated on the ticket that you get one bottle of Vitaminwater for each ticket presented to the museum shop so don't forget to get it.

4) Beware of the tight walkways
If you are intending to bring your kids along, you may want to consider leaving your prams outside although I'm not sure if you can leave it in the museum's custody. The main reason is that the huge number of visitors plus the narrower-than-usual walkways will make it difficult for you to navigate.

On the whole, I wasn't sure what the purpose of this exhibition was. It seemed like the exhibits were put together but there was no coherent "theme" linking all these elements sequentially in a line. For example, the section about the space missions only focused on Russia and US but it would have been better if there was some insight into the space exploration efforts from other countries as well.

The display of the information also left much to be desired. For example, in the section which featured various people who had visions about space exploration such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Jules Verne, the screen which featured individual write-ups about them took so long to move on to the next person that it was impossible to stand there and read everything especially with the never-ending batches of people coming into the hall and jostling for space. If it had been a less crowded day, this might not have been an issue but still, the slideshow really needs to speed up.

Another thing which got me really annoyed was that the explanation for the exhibits were placed too far from the exhibits. It wouldn't have been less of an issue if the hall was less crowded but then it looked as if the information was crammed into one board for a few groups of exhibits. As such, I had to keep shuttling to and fro just to make sense of what I was seeing. To do that against the flow of the human traffic was an arduous effort and you can't help but feel that people are annoyed about you "holding up" the traffic. In addition, some of these panels had a glass cover over it which created light reflections thus making it even more difficult to read the content.

As there were quite a number of equipment and space shuttle exhibits which are naturally quite large, this seemed to have affected the amount of space left for people to move around and to look at the exhibits from various angles. For example, there was a model of a space shuttle which was so long that I couldn't take a decent shot of it because the walkway was crammed with people who were watching a video on the wall opposite this exhibit. Just getting to see the information panel was a huge challenge. Based on my experience so far from various exhibitions, if videos are to be shown, there is usually a space for people to gather in front of the screen where there are seats provided at times. It is unusual for so many things to be fitted within one small space and it hinders both those who want to watch the video and those who want to see that exhibit. As you can see here, I didn't manage to take a picture of the entire shuttle and had to take four photos of different portions.

Considering how expensive the ticket was (mine was $19 for a local resident ticket but it would have been halved if someone shared the extra ticket with me), I wasn't expecting this G-Force experience to come with a fee. In fact, the museum's website didn't indicate that at all:

Experience gravity as you never have! Take a trip to space and back and have a taste of what it feels like to be an astronaut embarking on your journey out of the Earth’s atmosphere. Let astronaut and test pilot Gus Grissom be your guide as you go on the famous Mercury Liberty Bell 7 flight, the second in a series of successful U.S. manned suborbital flights in 1961.

Imagine my surprise that this comes at a fee of SGD 6 per ride! From my video taken outside the fence, the whole ride was a mere one minute. How does that sound to you? No wonder only the young people were queuing for this!

On the whole, I was very disappointed with this exhibition. Frankly speaking, even if I had gone on a weekday and didn't experience all these issues with queuing and crowds, I would still have been dissatisfied because the content was very lacking. This was a shame especially considering that most of the exhibitions I've been to at the ArtScience Museum met my expectations. When you think of the fact that their admission tickets are generally pricier than our local museums which offer free entry for citizens and PRs most of the time (except for some special exhibitions), there's got to be more effort in ensuring that the content matches up to the price tag. And I really hope that I won't be penalised yet again for going to museums alone.

Showcasing Hokkaido's charms @ Japan Food Town

In recent years, there's been a significant increase in promotional events from Japan especially those organised by and featuring specific prefectures. During these events and exhibitions, the local companies come to Singapore to showcase their products and services which usually comprise of food & drinks, technological products, handicrafts and art works. It's a good thing that there are coordinated efforts now to promote these places and their specialties for the purpose of doing business and boosting tourism although the scale and content of these events tend to vary across a wide spectrum.

Currently, there is an event at Japan Food Town (Wisma Atria) featuring Hokkaido which is a place that's probably very familiar to most Singaporeans. At the event square, the crafts and cosmetics fair consists of a number of booths featuring such products from the prefecture. This fair will run until 8 March.

From what I observed, the brands and products featured are those which I've not seen before at other events such as travel fairs so it should be fairly interesting for most people. On the other hand, as the event space is very small, the variety of items exhibited is somewhat limited. In addition, it doesn't look like there is a lot of publicity for this event so unless you happen to be dining at Japan Food Town, chances are you might not even walk to the event space to look at what's on offer. In my case, I swung by after my meal and left in about 5 minutes or so as I was rushing elsewhere. If I had more time, I would have stuck around to talk to the exhibitors to find out more about the products. As such, my observations below were largely based on what I saw and what I gathered from the brochures given to me.

One common grouse about Japan's products is the high price tag which is understandable to a certain extent due to import costs and of course, exchange rate fluctuations. Much as we all know that their products are of a certain quality, we can't deny that the price tags do intimidate consumers especially those who may not understand the value of the products fully or cannot reconcile the price with their assessment of the item's value. This is like a chicken-and-egg issue where if there is a larger quantity circulating in the market, costs may be driven down but Japanese products tend to be in limited quantities here so there won't be significant cost savings. Ultimately, this cements the impression that Japanese products are good but pricey.

Besides the fair, there are also dishes using Hokkaido's products from the restaurants at Japan Food Town so you can give these a try while you are dining there. I had the Hokkaido deep fried potatoes at Rang Mang Shokudo which tasted good as expected but I didn't quite like the taste and smell of the cod roe sauce that was poured onto the potatoes. The dishes featured in the poster will be offered by the restaurants until 8 March which is the same date as the end of the fair. As such, if you are keen to check this out, you probably need to arrange a visit this weekend or anytime soon. There is a promotional campaign where you can take a photo with one of the photo boards there and upload to your social media account. Upon doing so, you will be given a free gift by the exhibitors.

Here are some of the items showcased at the fair which you may want to check out on your own:

Here are some art and craft works from the Ainu people said to be indigenious people of Japan and Russia. According to the brochure I got at the fair, the town of Nibutani in the Hidaka area (Hokkaido prefecture) has a number of Ainu households, some Ainu-owned craft shops and two Ainu museums i.e. Nibutani Ainu Cultural Museum and Historical Museum of Saru River so this is a place for visitors to interact with the Ainu people. The items featured here include the Nibutani Ita which are wooden trays with spiral Moreunoka patterns and Ramuramunoka fish-scaled patterns and Nibutani Attus which are textiles made from tree barks. These two categories of works were designated as Traditional Craft Industries by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on 8 March 2013.

For those who like ornaments and items made of wood, this corner features trays, wine bottle holder, photo frames, clocks and even a handphone holder with rather simple designs and clean lines. Although these products have a feel somewhat similar to Muji (no frills and a simple design) and I must admit that they look rather nice, the prices are pretty steep in my opinion so it may be that you have to find out more from the exhibitors why exactly these products are priced at these levels. On a related note, most of the items I saw had a tag saying GST included but you may want to ask about the price again just in case what's displayed does not include GST.

This brand Sucremor offers a range of skin care products using beet sugar from Hokkaido. Apparently, the inspiration of their name came from the French word sucre which means sugar. The founder of the brand got the idea from a colleague when she was working in New York about using sugar for moisturising purposes and it turned out that this brought about an improvement in her daughter's eczema condition. From the company's brochure, it was said that the company compared and analysed about 200 types of different sugar before deciding on the sugar made from Hokkaido-grown beets for its moisturising and anti-bacterial properties. There are five aromas to choose from i.e. citrus, lavender, rosemary, hakka (Japanese mint) and vanilla. For babies, you can get the organic sugaring massage scrub which is supposedly gentle enough for their delicate skin. I'll probably go back before the fair ends just to know more about the product and get one to see if it's as good as it claims.

For those who like Japanese traditional artwork and dyed products, you would probably be interested in what Mizuno Somekojo has to offer. This dye-printing factory from Asahikawa, Hokkaido, has been in business since 1907 and specialises in dye printing of various products such as noren (the curtain used outside Japanese restaurants), clothes for the Yosakoi festival, flags and curtains. Even if you are not visiting Hokkaido anytime, you can head to their shop Some no Anbo in Asakusa, Tokyo, for their products which should be quite accessible. Although I find their designs and products very attractive, I was deliberating for a long time whether to buy anything because I struggled to think of a place at home where I can hang it up! Perhaps I should just go back for a second look and get the snowy scene item which I saw yesterday?

One booth which I found quite interesting was Date Yasai which introduced the vegetables grown in Date City, Hokkaido known for its warm coastal climate and volcanic soil. In its brochure, there is an extensive list of vegetables from the city with the names in English and Japanese. This should come in particularly useful to those who are learning Japanese or those who want to know the names of the vegetables in case they want to buy them in Japan. There is also a calendar indicating the harvesting periods for each type of vegetable so depending on when you visit the city, you are aware when is the best season to eat what vegetable. Perhaps the only thing which was lacking was that the booth was too small and there were no "real" vegetables showcased there. When it comes to promoting foodstuff, seeing and being able to taste it would be essential in helping to build awareness and demand from the customers. If there is a future opportunity for the vegetables to be showcased in Singapore, having some food samples would definitely attract more attention and interest. It was also not apparent if the vegetables from Date can be bought here so I suppose that they are here to build awareness for a start.

And last but not least, here is the main stage where you can take pictures with the photo board and upload to social media so as to earn the free gift.

On the whole, I think the fair is well-intended to inform the public about what Hokkaido has to offer. However, due to the nature of the location and limited event space, it is a bit lacking because it feels like you are just getting a small sample of what each of the brands have to offer. In future, they can probably do more to get a place with more human traffic which will allow them to bring in more vendors with a wider variety of products and services. Considering that you have to go all the way up to the 4th floor to get to Japan Food Town and walk inside to the event square, having a place where passer-bys can be attracted easily might be something to consider next time.

A preview of Food Japan 2016 happening this Saturday, 29 Oct 2016!

Last year, it was the first time I had visited Oishii Japan. As I had arrived pretty late on the public day, I didn't really get to see and taste a lot of things or even buy much because a lot of the booths had already sold all their stock or it was too crowded for me to take a good look at what was being offered.

This year, with a rebranding and name change to Food Japan, I was intent on making my trip count for what it's worth thus I registered for the media accreditation which could give me access on the trade visitors' days on 27th and 28th October i.e. Thursday and Friday. Thankfully, I succeeded in getting the media pass despite being having such a small presence online (thank you Asia PR Werkz!) so I could see every booth in great detail and at my own pace. Phew!

For those who aren't aware of what Food Japan is, it is ASEAN's largest dedicated showcase on Japanese food and beverage, with an array of authentic Japanese ingredients and food, culinary techniques and equipment, plus demos and classes. Serving as a bridge for F&B businesses between Japan and ASEAN, Food Japan provides visitors with valuable opportunities to understand, explore collaborations and learn more about the versatility of classic Japanese ingredients, quality seasonal produces, unique prefecture specialities as well as innovative technology and machinery. (Portion in italics from the official website)

In its 5th edition this year, Food Japan showcases over 1,000 items from 304 exhibitions from 40 prefectures so this is a must-see if you are into Japanese food or would like what are the latest food and drink products out in the market. For the first two days, it is open to trade visitors only while the public gets to visit on 29th October which happens to be a Saturday and Deepavali. Prior to the opening of this event, you could pre-register for your tickets so this would have helped you to save some time in the queue. Although the pre-registration is closed by now, you can still get your tickets outside the exhibition hall at Suntec Convention Centre Halls 401 and 402.

Other than seeing the latest in F & B products and services from Japan, you can also take part in the workshops. You can either reserve a seat via this page or visit the registration counter in front of the workshop area which is located right at the far back of the exhibition hall. If you are choosing the latter option, I suggest that you go to register and make your payment first upon your arrival before touring the exhibition or else you might not be able to get a place. Here are the three classes on offer tomorrow:

11.30am - 12.30pm
Temari Zushi & Matcha Tiramisu Workshop
60 mins SGD 20

12.45pm - 1.45pm
Temari Zushi & Matcha Tiramisu Workshop
60 mins SGD 20

2.00pm - 4.00pm
Polkaros Café Presents - Mini Teishoku Workshop
120 mins SGD 45

One other tip that I would like to share with you is that you should bring ample cash if you are planning to buy any of the products sold by the exhibitors. Most of them only accept cash so it's only a few who accept Nets or even credit card for items which are more pricey. It's also better if you can prepare small notes if possible or else you may have to wait a while for your change especially with the crowds around.

If you are feeling peckish, you can head to the J Food Court area at the back (left side of the hall) to sample the selection from some of the well-known Japanese restaurants in Singapore. There's also a lot of food and drink sampling going around so your taste buds will be treated to a feast fit for a king as you go around the exhibition hall.

Over the next few days, I will be sharing more details on the booths I visited and the products which caught my eye. Nonetheless, I have a few observations on this event which I would like to mention here that may be of use to you too:

1) If you like something, you might have to make a decision on the spot to get it.
Based on what I gathered after talking to the exhibitors, quite a number of them have not entered the Singapore market yet so they are looking for distributors and importers. For those who have already done so, their presence is largely limited to the Japanese supermarkets here such as Meidi-ya and Isetan. And even if that's the case, some of them are only featured during special events so they are not available all year round.
As such, what this means is that, if you like something which you've tasted, you might have to consider making a decision to buy it on the spot or go to Japan to do the same if the product is not sold in Singapore.

2) The exhibitors are very proud of their products and more than willing to share with you on what makes their products so good or special.
Save for a few exhibitors who were seemingly more concerned with talking to people who looked like they would bring business to them or their phones were more interesting than the visitors in front of them or perhaps they were not very keen on talking to people like me who wore a media pass, the rest of the exhibitors I came across were very friendly and enthusiastic about sharing their products with me. Of course, I think the fact that I could speak Japanese helped a lot in breaking the ice between us and I really appreciated some of them willing to make an effort to talk to me in English even though they may not be that fluent. When you want to break into an overseas market, initiative is really important since you can't be sitting there to wait for business to come your way. If you are willing to approach them, they will reciprocate. And if you have any problems communicating, there are the interpreters who can help in bridging the gap.
During these conversations, I was really impressed by some of these companies and their products so that's why I want to write a detailed post and do some free PR for them. I'm not a bigwig from some established media company so it's inevitable that some people do not really take you seriously and wouldn't want to talk to you. However, since I'm already promoting J-ent in general, there's no reason why I can't do the same for Japan's F & B industry especially since I love Japanese food too. As such, do keep a lookout for these posts coming your way!

3) Learn from the experts, first-hand.
I'm sure many people like Japanese food but may not really understand or know the details or the profound knowledge that goes into making them. Besides learning through the workshops, talking to the exhibitors will definitely be an eye-opening experience. I learnt something new from everyone I talked to so it was a truly enriching day I spent at this event. Some of the information I got is not something you can easily find online or in books.

If you are keen to check out this event, do remember to head there early and hope that you'll have fun on your Saturday!

Review of Singapore Garden Festival 2016

I really dislike going to crowded places and try to make an effort to avoid going to such places or attending events or exhibitions during peak periods. First of all, it is difficult to move around due to the crowds. Secondly, when I want to take photos of things such as exhibits or flowers in this case, it irks me so much when I have to keep waiting for people who like to take selfies or wefies in a variety of poses while the rest of the visitors are waiting around impatiently for them to move away. It makes me wonder why they are so oblivious to their surroundings and don't seem to think that they need to move a bit more quickly to make it more pleasant for everyone. Coupled with the sweltering weather and my inability to get into Flower Dome due to the snaking crowds, the visit to this year's Garden Festival wasn't very pleasant for me after all. Fortunately, I managed to see some really nice exhibits so that helped to salvage the less-than-ideal experience.

One thing to note, the lighting in the sheltered areas can be improved especially in those sections which were deliberately dimmed. The direction of the small lights need to be adjusted a bit as they cast shadows or cause reflections e.g. in the terrarium section so it was really difficult to get good shots on some of the nice exhibits. I thought that it was a pity.

Here are some of the pictures I took during my visit: