Monday, January 17, 2011

Marine Parade OH! Open House [16/01]

I first heard about Open House last year when they held it at Niven Road and had been a fan of it ever since. It's a pleasant surprise when they are holding it at Marine Parade this time round.

When we arrived at 3.55pm, we saw two long queues - one snaking out from a counter which is selling tickets and another by the side. We just joined in the queue which stretches all the way to the Marine Parade library entrance. Halfway through the queue, we found that the other queue are people queuing up for departure. Buying the tickets took me 40mins in all. AJ joined in the other queue and I managed to get the tickets just in time for the departure.

There were 15 participants in each group and the departure is spaced at 7-8 minutes interval. This event actually span two weekends as seen from the sign below.

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The best part of the Open House is that it's held at Marine Parade. It's the place where I call home for the last 30 years. We will be visiting 4 blocks (5 houses in all). Thereafter we have to match the home owners to the cartoon figures at the bottom.

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The tickets cost $10 each. Purchasing the tickets is a rather slow process as everyone have to fill in their particulars (Name, NRIC, Contact).

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There is a free OH bandung gelato if we purchase from a regular gelato from the Marine Parade CC. And here we go, below is our tour guide. We departed at 5pm and she will be with us for the next 2 hours. She gave an introduction to Marine Parade at the middle of the overhead bridge which join between Marine Drive and Marine Crescent.

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All the rest of the participants standing by the side listening to her introduction.

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Below is an anchor. I have been walking by this sculpture for the last 5 years (or maybe more) everyday but I didn't know what it is. The anchor means the ships that are parked by the sea. I only know of Tao Nan school kids playing around this sculpture after school.

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Marine Parade is a windy town. During the rainy period of December - January, this place is pretty cold. She mentioned about dolphins and I'm quite surprised to hear that there are actually dolphins at East Coast Park in the 1950s. But they most probably got 'eliminated' once Singapore start industrializing.

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We arrived at the first block (Blk 32) and newspaper cuttings greeted us once we left the lift landing.

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The two houses are next to one another.

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The first house to the left have many images of East Coast back in the olden days, as well as photos of dolphins.

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The second house owner is more into new age, yoga stuff. Here is a mini multi-religious altar.

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The shroud to the right is special in that if you look through the holes at different angles, you will see different sights.

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The dining table is very well designed.

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Paintings line up the wall.

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This room is also the owner's meditation room. It has a perfect mirror image and it feels like the ceiling is the floor as shoes are placed up on it.

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We walked to the next block 58 and this is where the famous tape drawings are.

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From a certain perspective, the images look 3D.

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The next house is actually owned by a couple. The entrance looks very beautiful.

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They were planning to publicise the event by placing the shirts outside the house, but no banners are allowed from HDB estates. So here they are indoors.

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There are many blogs on the Open House 2011 at Marine Parade which gives more in-depth description of the art pieces. I do not know much about them but it looks good. Below are many houses with tree in it. That just reminded me of a photo I took recently for work which has a mini-tree in a crystal.

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The owners are very nice and treated us to some snacks. On the walls are also some personal collections.

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The second last house is at Blk 54. In there, one of the artist is explaining to us the exhibits.

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The interior design is very beautiful.

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The below showcase earthquake as experienced by residents in Marine Parade. I do feel tremors in Marine Parade. Think the buildings rock and roll more.

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The owner, though working in the healthcare industry, is an avid artist. Below are her tools.

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The final house is at Blk 5. I have blocked out their address for privacy reasons.

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She has a beautiful dog. There is this white shroud in the house where people can take a peek through it.

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Let's take a look at one of them.

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The Open House at Marine Parade is a fascinating concept. I really found out a lot about Marine Parade history through this tour. I'm living at Blk 18, just next to the underpass. ^_^ Along the way, I also caught a few friends, FYL and TK.

The organisers have done a great job and I'm definitely very supportive of the local artists. Many of the guides and people involved in the event are volunteers.