"It's a Great Great World" movie screening at National Museum of Singapore

Thanks to I Love Museums and Yesterday.sg that I won a pair of invites to watch "It's a Great Great World" movie at the National Museum of Singapore today.

Watching this movie at the museum holds a different kind of meaning compared to watching it in the cinema. Museums is a place that exhibits collections of historical importance and to be able to watched this movie which brings us back to the 1950s to see how Great World City used to be when it was called 大世界/Tai Say Kai/Great World is like transporting us back to that era and attending a history class.

It is hard to imagine the Great World City shopping mall that looks like this

(Image from http://www.bestplacesexplorer.com )

used to be like this. So full of night life.

(Image from http://www.facebook.com/itsagreatgreatworld )

That reminds me that when I was young, the plot of land that Jurong Point is currently build on used to have a lot of fun fairs every now and then especially during the holiday season. Then, to get in, the entrance fee was only $2! Like Great World, in the fun fair you can find lots of game stalls, roller coaster, bumper cars, pirates ship, tidbits stalls and a pasam malam beside it too. It was a really memorable time back then. Now the whole plot of land is used to build Jurong Point and Jurong Point extension and the Boon Lay interchange. Urbanization and the advancement of technology takes away alot of memories from us and give us new ones. Tikam Tikam was replaced by playing jackpot at casinos (both games need some luck to win). Flamingo was replaced by Zouk/St James Powerhouse etc. Ferris Wheel was replaced by Singapore flyer. The reality now is that the future generations can only depend on a movie or some photographs to get a feel of how Singapore was like in the past. With the building of more and more shopping malls, there just no more empty land left to have those temporary fun fairs. To me, all the malls are of no difference. A certain shop is found in A Shopping Centre, B Shopping Centre, C Shopping Centre etc.

So, I always look forward to school holidays and going to the fun fair. One of my favourite ride at the fun fair is the Ferris Wheel. Sitting on it, feeling the cold breeze blowing onto my face, looking out when my capsule reaches the top is a total enjoyment.

(Image from http://www.singaporeflyer.com)

Now, we have a Singapore Flyer that was crowned the Tallest Ferris Wheel in the world. It stood at Marina Bay area permanently and prominently. I've went there twice. Somehow the feeling is different from the ferris wheel in fun fair. No loud music, no wind blowing on my face. In fact the first time I went, my capsule was so crowded and a baby was crying throughout the ride.

Serving Chin Chow water with Longan. The green drink is lime juice which is not very popular.

Tasty Mee Siam which I took a second round of serving.

Puffs

Fried Carrot cake

Kachang Puteh

Kuehs

Kuehs - Steam Layer, Banana Harumanis, Pulut Srikaya, Kweh Dadar

Putu Mayam with Dessicated Coconut & Orange Sugar

The food catering was from Smiling Orchid and I think their food are generally quite delicious and traditional. Suits the theme. Filled up my stomach before going into the theater at 8.15pm. The movie starts at 8.30pm. So during the 15 minutes, prizes were given out to those who participate in the treasure hunt earlier on. Too bad when I arrived the game was already over.

Finally the movie started. This movie is just awesome! Whoever hasn't watched it yet should faster go and watch it before it was taken down from the cinemas. It's made up of four different set of stories of different characters that revolved around the Great World. The first set by Henry Thia got the audience laughing like mad. The second part is a pure, innocent love story of Joanne. The third part is a story of Xiang Yun as Rose, a famous singer in Flamingo who waited 10 years for her lover to come back. (Xiang Yun's singing was great!) The last part is a tear jerking story of how Kym Ng, Marcus Chin, Bryan Wong kept the wedding banquet of Chew Chor Meng going on despite knowing the Japanese soldiers are nearby. Coincidentally, when we finished the movie and stepped out of the museum. We heard a bomb like sound. It sounded exactly like the bombing effect but was actually some fireworks display at esplanade. This movie is so original that it was 90% in dialects. Hokkien, Cantanese, Teochew, Hainaniese, Hakka.

Facts of the movie:

- It was produced by Raintree Pictures & directed by Kelvin Tong

- The ferris wheel was done by computer special effects as there are no more ferris wheels in Singapore anymore. *So sad :(

Share some trailer and videos.