Circle Line Open House + Singapore Philatelic Museum

The circle line is finally going to be in operation. The passenger service starts from 17 April 2010. As our MRT line gets more and more colourful, news are now reporting that bus operators are reviewing long distance bus service route and might consider to remove some of these bus services but first they have to make sure that the price we pay is for the distance we travelled. If we have to transfer buses or MRT and ended up paying more, that wouldn't be fair. What about the waiting time for the transfer? I myself prefer to take just one straight bus to get to my destination and can sleep on the bus.

Today is the Circle Line Discovery Open House and above are the 11 stations that are free for the public to explore.

Reading the Circle Line Times for some interesting facts of the stations.

- Tai Seng means 'great accomplishment' in Chinese -

- Bras Basah, when spelt as Beras Basah in Malay, means 'wet rice' -

- Esplanade station is named after Esplanade park, one of the oldest parks in Singapore built in 1943-

The difference between the Circle Line train and from the existing one is that this is fully automated and driver-less with large central windows at the front and rear of the cars, allowing passengers to have an unobstructed view of the tunnel while travelling.

We are alighting at the Bras Basah station which is only one stop away from Dhoby Ghaut. This is the Arts and Culture stop as it's the stop which is nearest to the museums.

 

Just above the station, artists can be spotted drawing and making crafts.

There is a performance but we didn't stayed to watch as we are heading to the Singapore Philatelic Museum.

The Singapore Art Museum is the first Museum we saw when we exit the train station.

Interstingly, there is a "flirting point". Err, isn't that spot too obvious and out for the crowds to see if really wish to flirt there? No wonder it's so empty out there.

After walking for a short distance, finally saw the Singapore Philatelic Museum.

A bright red letterbox.

Selling all kinds of stamps.

The terms of the stamps.

The museum has alot of interactive stuff to look at and play with. We opened doors to see the descriptions.

We spinned the wheels to light up the mini LCD TV.

We pieced up puzzles that reveal the picture of stamps.

We pulled out files to see the collection of stamps of any particular years.

We played traditional musical instruments.

And finally we become the stamp! Hehe.

As this year is the tiger year, there is also a section just to showcase stamps and facts related to the tiger.

By looking through this stereoscope, two piece of normal photos will have a 3d effect. Seriously, there seems to be a huge craze for 3d visuals lately. First 3d movie, now 3d TV are coming up, heard Nintendo DS is also coming up with 3d games. Even in some other countries, there's news of newspaper wanting to print 3d advertisement!! We are approaching the world of Harry Potter! 

 

Mini post boxes around the world! Cute.

Our trip to the Singapore Philatelic Museum ended with a showcase of exquisite Japanese dolls. Nice. The two storey Museum is really a place to broaden one's knowledge of stamps. Interesting for the whole family to go.