Last Friday, we went to Ngee Ann Polytechnic for the Dialogue in the Dark session. It’s my 2nd time attending this session as I went there during my Polytechnic days as an excursion as well. Nevertheless, I was still as excited to experience it once more!
Here’s my experience graphs:
Please click for a better view!
Happiness Chart
The little symbols of sight, taste, smell and touch are senses that I’ve used for the various areas. So lets begin a little more detailed sharing shall we?
Spatial Chart
Entrance
We were given our own walking sticks and it’s really cool that they provided two different heights of sticks. It’s white, smooth to touch and have a certain weight to it, definitely not light. We walked through the curtains and was soon enveloped with the darkness. I was kinda freaking out as I’m not really fond of the darkness… so I had to hold on to Anna for extra security hahaha. But! Our guide soon appeared and her soothing voice sort of make all of our panicky hearts calmer.
We were told to follow and feel the felt walls by our sides, and had to hold the sticks with our right hand which really frustrates me as I’m a left hander 🙁 The beginning made me felt kinda frustrated and confused as I kept bumping into the walls.
Park
Finally! We start to hear some civilisation! Well not exactly, but nature, with the birds singing softly in the background as we walked closer to this new area. The smooth floor gradually changed into gravel and I was taken aback with something brushing against my arm, which I figured out was leaves hahahaha. Initially I thought it was fake leaves as it felt kinda like those daiso fabric leaves, but apparently it’s real and they are pandan leaves. We were brought to a bench, and had to sit down (kinda scary) because there’s a sudden change in height and I was afraid that I might fall flat on my butt. But anyhow, we sat on benches while the birds singing surrounds us~ which I really like as it made me felt comfortable as it is familiar.
Sir Stamford Raffles
There were something cold protruding and we started feeling it. We knew it was alphabets and couldn’t figure out what it says, until someone said there’s a “S I R” here! And I was like, “SIR STAMFORD RAFFLES!” Yep we got that right hahaha. It’s the sculpture of Stamford Raffles! The alphabets were probably made in metal as it’s cool and smooth to touch?
Bridge
We had to walk away from the walls and felt ropes around our waist and we proceeded to walk to this shaky wooden bridge. There were sounds of waves and water, splashing softly in the background – since I came here before… I knew it was the boat scene which was my favourite!
Boat
We were guided slowly into the boat, and onto this U-shape bench which was a sudden change in height, felt a little scary as I couldn’t feel where was the bench in the beginning because it was too low! Soon, everyone of us were huddled closely together (how cozy). The motor engine started roaring and we were moving!! There was wind and the boat also rocks that enhances the experience of a boat ride, really cool! We guessed that we are in the Singapore River and while the guide started explaining the iconic areas near the river, music started playing as it slowly drifted away. So guess what, we actually passed by Clarke Quay!
But suddenly, we hear another engine coming near us and there was a sudden SPLASH – with real water at us. And wow that was an experience, it felt really real. I’m still as impressed even though its my second time here. The boat ride ended and we headed to the next area.
Road
We were sort of rushing for time thus this place and the later areas went on in a blur… I couldn’t remember which events went first but lets just say, the road. We had to cross the road, even though it’s fake, IT FELT REALLY SCARY. Someone had to press the button while we listened carefully to the traffic light beeps before crossing the road. Soon, we started feeling this biggggg object which has a smooth and cold touch to it, couldn’t really identify what it was until I touched the side mirror of it – so its a car! Followed by this triangular, leathery 3D object, and it was quite obvious to me that it’s a bicycle.
Market
I think this was a new segment as I didn’t recall having experience a market place a few years back? But anyhow, I picked up this sachet, with drawstrings felt some motifs printed on it. Put it near my nose and smelled it (BAD DECISION), it was some sort of super strong-smelling spice which I couldn’t quite figure out what it was. Followed by, touching an apple and orange! We were later taught on how to differentiate red and green apple through their bottoms and the texture. Green apple are much smoother than red apples.
Cafe
The last stop! I remembered I didn’t quite like the cafe part back then… and now, I still didn’t feel comfortable during the cafe stop, I’m not sure why 🙁 Probably it’s because of the smell? I don’t know why but it makes me feel all insecure and uncomfortable. But lets put that aside. We actually ordered our food, and paid for it in the dark. Wow and I felt really brave to order a hot chocolate, because, isn’t it ballsy enough to take a hot drink when you can’t see anything at all!? We went to sit at the couch, which I felt really cramped and constricted 🙁 not sure why either. The freaky part is, I’m supposed to stir my drink and I was sooooo scared I’ll spill it. But luckily, it all went well. Also had to feel where’s the mouth piece before drinking it.
A mock up with we on how we felt about the space!
Overall for the DID experience, I’m very impressed!! Even though it’s my 2nd time experiencing it, I’m still blown away by how much effort was put in for this exhibition itself. It really made me appreciate my senses more now and that I should not only rely on my sight, I should also make more use of my other senses like my hearing and smell.
I’ve always been more inclined in trying to make Singapore a elder-friendly place but now then I realised, we ain’t doing much to cater to the blind or the people with special needs here. We should of course, further explore ways, and ideas to make a better living environment for everyone.
