The Museum

There was an event for NUS Scholars today at the University Cultural Centre, in anticipation of which I changed into office-wear and had lunch (New York Fish & Chips) early. Very early. Unfortunately, way too early. I arrived at the UCC at half-past-noon, and the event was scheduled to begin at three. Clearly I wasn't thinking straight at some point.

Anyway, instead of going back to Cinnamon for a nap (like I should have done after spending the morning wrestling with my chair in the shower as if it were a dog), I decided to explore the UCC and the nearby NUS Museum. This is what I found:

• There are nice quotes strewn all over the UCC. Some of them are hilarious, and some of them are prosaic, and some of them are deep, but all of them are pretty thought-provoking, if you care to stop and think about them for a bit.

• The NUS museum is rather well-curated, if small. I think the reason why I think it is small is because the London trip has spoiled me as far as museums are concerned, but really, the NUS museum has a pretty modest collection. Given its small size, most of its displays are numbered, with the corresponding descriptions hidden inside a catalogue book that must be signed out from the front desk. This is quite at odds with the usual “collection of labels illustrated by objects” paradigm that I'm used to. I would say that it'd take me an afternoon, tops, to take it all in. But I only spent two hours there, so I'd like to go back sometime, preferably with company.

• Speaking of which, according to the (very friendly) curator, the present exhibition (The Idea of The Museum) runs until December, so if anyone is crazy enough to spend an afternoon in a confined space with me reading labels and looking at things, do let me know.

• The UCC has more than the main hall! It also has function rooms and a theatre. This was pretty surprising.

• It is not really possible to climb pipes in Smart Casual.

My timetable for the coming semester looks to be pretty insane. I wouldn't mind losing my four-day work week in exchange for a saner schedule (e.g. with actual lunch breaks).

School starts Monday! Am excited.