The Kingdom

Pritzker Pavillion, Millenium Park
Photography by A. Monaco

It has been a trying few months battling health issues and a very ugly United Healthcare.

But there was blissful respite this evening as I sat on the lawn of Chicago's Millenium Park, enjoying the last concert of the summer, Elgar's epic oratorio, The Kingdom.  The weather was perfect with a  soft cool breeze drifting through the park as people set down their picnic blankets, chairs, and folding tables under the cloudless blue sky, pulling from their baskets and bags varied foods and drinks, from the sophisticated to the mundane. We had our usual faire of Chicago deep dish pizza, packed with calories and memories of previous happy jaunts to the park during other concert seasons.

The concert soon began - the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus steering me away from the thick rich pizza with its sublime performance of the prelude.  Dusk stealthily claimed the skyline - the fading light bringing with it a happy calm and contentment, ironic for a city setting packed with hundreds of people.  And as night set in and lights lit up the iconic buildings, accompanied by Elgar's masterful choral composition, I leaned my head on my daughter's shoulder and treasured that moment as I did numerous others when I gathered with family and friends during these charmed summer evening concerts at Millennium Park.

Here is a performance of The Kingdom with Sir Andrew Davis conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” (‭Acts‬ ‭1‬:‭1-11‬)

Rooms with Books

Here are some of my favorite interiors!

Bosworth Hoedemaker

William Hefner Architecture Interiors

Homedit.com

Emily A. Clark

Peranakan Houses

I am now back in the United States. Before I leave blogging about Singapore altogether, I feel I need to round out my write-up about Singapore architecture, having mentioned the colonial black and whites and the more typical contemporary houses. Any entry about Singapore architecture would not be complete without mention of the unique Peranakan houses as well as the more preponderous HDB flats. This post presents the quaint Peranakan row houses, homes of the Straits Chinese in the 18th C to early 20th C.

Peranakans are acculturated Chinese of Southeast Asia (particularly Singapore and Malaysia) who have adopted the ways of the local Malays and later, the Colonial British, when they migrated to the region in the 18th C. They have created an eccletic and fascinating lifestyle, its influences still evident today in its cuisine, fashion, language, and architecture. I am a Peranakan on my father's side. My grandmother wore sarong kebayas and beaded slippers (I'll have to blog on the colorful fashion at another time). My grandfather was a big fan of Shakespeare. Sadly, they did not live in a delightful Peranakan house like one of these pictured above. The above shots of Peranakan row houses on Emerald Hill are by courtesy of Toast and Nutella.

No Accounting for Taste

Hope you enjoyed the photos of the black and white houses in Singapore in my previous post. The above are more typical of the bungalows found in Singapore. I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder...but if there's beauty or grace to these houses, it is lost to this beholder!! There's no accounting for taste, obviously. These houses could probably sell in today's Singapore market for US$2-3 million! Evidently wealth and good taste do not always go hand in hand.

Black and White

Pictures by Munshi Ahmed

I am in general not a big fan of Singapore architecture. But the black-and-white houses of the colonial era are my all time favorites. This afternoon, on the way to purchase some Lunar New Year plants in the Upper Thompson area, my cousin and I drove through the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood. I was captured by the view of one elegant black-and-white home after another. These black-and-whites thrived during the late 19th C to right before WWII in Singapore, built to house the British officials and their families. They are quite large and airy to accommodate the tropical climate, built on relatively large parcels of land, surrounded by lush greenery. They are such a pleasant contrast to the modern, cramp style of the majority of Singapore's contemporary homes.