The First Years Video 3 ; First Steps, Adis Road House and Family

     This is the third video of me crawling and at the verandah of our first house at Adis Road. A bungalow off Sophia Road. My father and my uncle David Mun, Aunt Susan Mun and some of my father's friends are also in the video. 

     This was taken in 1963, apologies for the grainy and poor quality video. 

Paris Musee d' Orsay - Dec 11 2016

Outside Musee d' Orsay on a brilliant sunny cold winter's day 

      The Musee d'Orsay is second only to the world famous Lourve in terms of number of art pieces, sculptures, paintings with over 30,000 pieces mainly from French Renaissance artists such as Paul Cezanne, Claude Monet, Manet and Frederick Bazille amongst other world famous artists. I am a near ignorant art museum with engineering and logic being my background, so please excuse the almost simplistic decriptions of the paintings.

The view from the museum of the 7th arrondissement 

       It was a brilliant Sunday morning, and we took a casual breakfast (le petit dejeunner) of croissant, orange juice and coffee before heading to the I'll de Cite. In the basement are mainly sculptures of the Roman Byzantine era while those on the 2 to 5th floors highlights the more Renaissance artists. The works for Frederick Bazille are currently highlighted and they occupy the whole 5th floor. He was an artist who painted with watercolor as with all other struggling artists of the late 19th century (Monet, Manet and Cezanne). He was an accomplished pianist and came from a well-to-do family. Unfortunately he died at 30 while fighting against some uprising from the regional fishermen. Below is the picture of the artists who mostly stayed together (many were gay) on the left bank of the Seine.

     

Frederick Bazille's studio on the left bank

   The draw for artists from all around Europe from 1700s to early 1900s was that here was a place for all to come and share ideas, discuss philosophy and perhaps pool together their money to hold joint exhibitions. It was a fervent time and many great names have stayed here for years. Van Gogh, Manet, Monet, Cezanne, Bazille, Miro, Picasso and Dali all had legnths of time in Paris. 

       

Men at rest and play - Frederick Bazille 1887 

  

   

The First Years Video 2 ; Parties at Adis Road and the Famous Slide

      This was taken sometime in 1966 when I was about 3 year old, my brother had just been born and we had a birthday party in the big garden at Adis Road.  The slide was the centerpiece for all the kids and I had the toy gun and brandished it around with glee.
      
      There was a merry go round and all the aunties and uncles came over. The last part shows my brother John at the front steps of the garden. 

      Apologies again for the shaky video.  This was taken 50 years ago !! 

The First Years Video 1 ; Adis Road 1963 - 1966

      This was recorded by my late father Geoffrey and using his Cine camera which was 'state of the art then' ; it shows my first steps as a baby, my grandfather (an Anglican priest) Aruputhan Abisheganaden, the garden, my dog Scamper and some neighbourhood children pulling leaves. My mother is dressed in red, and I was playing in some inflatable canoe in the verandah where I spent most of my infant and toddler years. There is some footage of our first dog, a cocker spaniel called Trixie. 

        My Por Poh (Mum's mother), Mdm Wen  can also be seen in her cheongsam. The video ends with all of us going into the Simcar for a ride into town. 

       Please excuse the shaky recording of this video which was taken 50 odd years ago !

       Thank you to Youtube and modern video editing technology.  

Take me to the Pilot- Elton John in New York

This was the intro song by Elton John in front of a small audience of 120 at ANR studios in New York, he had just 'broken out' from obscurity and was a genius on the piano. One of my favourite pieces of live work by an extremely talented then 20 something. 

A real gem and a rare find ! 

2017 - I am ready for you   

These words I just cannot get around to understanding !

Somehow, having learnt and mastered the English language for decades, some words still just befuddle me or leave me scratching my head as to how they are used and more importantly why they were even added into the language !

1. Eschew
2. Escrow
3. Prose
4. Protagonist
5. Bemused
6. Misnomer
7. Reproach

My Car which I've had from 2012 till today

Political Terms

1.Left Wing
2.Right Wing
3.Centre Left
4.Conservative
5.Liberal
6.Centrist
7.Far Right

Somehow the world of the 60s and 70s seemed so far removed from politics and ideology. Or maybe its just me ! 

The First Years 10 ; Por Por (Grandmother)

L to R : Me, Por Por, John and Mum (Anna)

    This is a priceless picture of me with my maternal grandmother Por Por Wen and my mother Anna. This was probably taken in 1975 some 42 years ago during one of our earliest swim meets representing Singapore Swimming Club in the Sanya Sammaki Tournament around the ASEAN region.  

      My sprightly Por Por was about 80 years old when she passed away. She stayed with my parents in our bungalow in Adis Road for roughly around 10 to 11 years when she suffered a stroke. She had 5 children, 4 daughters (My mother Anna and 3 younger sisters Dona, Mina and Mona Wen) and 1 son (my Kao Fu David Mun) from her marriage to P.C.Wen and 1 other son Gordon from her second marriage.

    I will read up and research more about her and update all in this and further posts.