WoW! Dinosaurs, Rockets & Creativity

I paid one of my infrequent visits to our Auckland War Memorial Museum today.  As its title suggest, it is a mix of 'memorial to the fallen' and a historical showcase of a wide range of diverse collections.

From Dinosaurs and a jade buffalo from the Summer Palace, the to a German V1 Rocket, this museum has it all.  best of all it is free to Auckland ratepayers.

Auckland War Memorial Museum

The temporary exhibition when I visited this summer was the New Zealand event, the World of Wearable Art (WoW), which will later embark on a world tour to other museum.

If you get a chance to see WoW you should as it is inspirational and highly creative in the costumes on display.

The World Of Wearable Art Exhibition - Auckland War Memorial Museum

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Touring Interludes

The Te Maori Installation Team - 1986/87
From left at back: Dave Rapp, Ross Ritchie, Murray Lyndon, Helen Telford, Roger Smith
At front: Karel Peters

In the first two articles about the touring Te Maori exhibition in 1986 and 1987 I wrote about the exhibition and being on the road.

But not all that happened those years did so at a frantic pace.  There was time to enjoy each venue, the most enjoyable and hospitable of which was our time in Dunedin in New Zealand's South Island.

Our stay at The Establishment hotel in Dunedin was made even more memorable by the relationship we struck up with the Cook who prepared our breakfasts.  One morning she a created a dish of steaming cockles which she and her family had harvested from the estuary near Aramoana.  They were plump and absolutely delicious - the best I have ever tasted before or since.

As it was summer we spent some time sunbathing and swimming at Aramoana during our weekends off.  This spot was later to become the scene of one of the most infamous massacres in New Zealand history when a local named David Gray ran amok and killed thirteen people with his firearms.

But all of these tragic events happened three to four years after our work in Dunedin had finished.  I also remember losing a greenstone pekapeka ornament which I wore around my neck at Aramoana beach.  It had been made by Don Salt, a leading exponent of the craft and I was upset to lose it.  It had been selected from a tray of pounamu in a Rotorua shop shortly before I left for Papua New Guinea in 1979.

Another incident I recall was more humorous.  One night when Ross Ritchie was out on the town we 'borrowed' four ethnic type, head plaster casts from the museum and used one of the most fierce to make a dummy 'Mongolian' in his hotel bed. This was with the support and connivance of the hotel maid, young Jenny (?) Campbell.

Ross arrived back about one am after a bout with a bottle of Tequila. We in an adjoining room heard him open his door and then there was a loud silence, followed by a whispered oath. Beside ourselves with laughter we found it hard to contain our mirth.  There was a knock on the door.

"Roger", said the voice on the other side of the door.
"Yes", replied I, trying to pretend he had woken me up" What is it? Do you know what time it is Ross?"
"There's some guy lying in my room" came the reply. "And by the looks of it, he's dead".
He was answered by a chorus of laughter from the other side and we opened it to reveal all.  I don't think he ever forgave me.

Fishing The Taieri -  from left Murray Lundon, 'Mac' from the Otago Museum and I
Note who caught the biggest trout of the day!

At this time I was a keen fly fisherman having taken up the sport in 1972 when I was teaching in Pahiatua. So I jumped at the invitation from 'Mac' a senior technician at the Otago Museum to try my luck on the famed Taeri River.  Murray Lyndon came with us and did well considering it was the first time he had cast a fly. As the picture above shows we had barbecued fresh trout for lunch with a 'rustic salad'.

Yours truly on the Taeri Gorge excursion train in 1987

On another weekend a couple of us took the Taeri Gorge excursion train in vintage carriages from Dunedin to Middlemarch in Central Otago, where we enjoyed the Middlemarch A&P Show.

Manchu Munchies and Copper Calculators

It been what I might describe as a typical "Singapore Saturday" After some online work and house keeping we took the MRT to see one of the special exhibitions staged by the Asian Civilisations Museum.

Five stops from our station brought us to Raffles Place and then it was a pleasant stroll across the river to the Museum. The exhibition in question is entitled " The Kangxi Emperor - Treasures from the Forbidden City".

I have always enjoyed these mini-blockbusters that show off the culture and opulence of the Imperial Court.

The Emperor was no slug - a man of intellect, a warrior of some distinction and clearly a diplomat par excellence, at a time when the minority Manchu were greatly outnumbered by the ethnic Han Chinese. He ascended to the throne at the tender age of 14 and was the longest reigning of all the Emperors.

Interestingly, the influence of Western culture was encouraged under his reign. A twelve digit copper calculator from the imperial collections was modelled on the 15th century invention of a Frenchman, Pascal.

He had three wives who all predeceased him and according to the headcount, some 64 consorts in total (if one counts his concubines). He fathered 36 children. This number is probably higher as many of his offspring died early.

Despite all of this conjugal activity has still had time for the finer things of life and was the first Emperor to play a western instrument - the piano.

After viewing the exhibition we adjourned to the attached Indochine restaurant for a lunch of duck curry (my favourite at this eatery) and beef ragout.

To walk off the dietary effects of the lunch we strolled down the Esplanade Walk towards the "Durian" the Esplanade's theatre and convention centre. In so doing, we had to run a gauntlet of Falun Gong activists who were staging a mini-exhibit and protest against China, under the traffic overpass.

I found this rather surprising as the authorities don't take kindly to unauthorised activities of this kind.

Next we scaled the steps into the Marina Mall and walked across to SunTec, which last week was filled with IT bargain hunters.

This week it is the turn of the "foodies" as it is the Singapore Food fair that is drawing the crowds. One can nibble one's way around the exhibits, sampling many of the delicacies from this part of the world. Unfortunately being filled with curry and ragout I was not overly inclined to do so.

We did however buy something back for an evening snack. Here I must give an enthusiastic thumbs up for Pie-Kia's product. There small pies are only one dollar apiece and generous in their filling, with a good buttery crust to boot (not to be confuded with tasting like an old boot).

They are part of the Old Chang Kee Group which is renowned in Singapore for their curry puffs, fried sotong (squid) on a stick and similar delights. So far I have only tried Pie-Kia's savoury pies but given the chance I wouldn't mind nibbling on a jackfruit or mango version!

I have a feeling that such fare would not have been acceptable in Kangxi's court, even if he suffered an attack of the 'Manchu munchies' following strenuous evening exercise and was craving for western sustenance.