Isn't it mindblowing knowing that the first book of Harry Potter was published in 1997?
In 1997 I wasn't even in Primary School yet.
In 1997 I just knew basic english words.
In 1997 I din't even know London existed
One fateful night in the year 2000 when I was Primary 3
My dad gave me a Floppy Disk (Haha yes FLOPPY DISK)
And in it contained the first 4 books of Harry Potter in Microsoft Word Form (That makes them the very first ebooks i've had!)
From that moment onwards, my magical journey started
I read it every single day, sitting, immobile, facing the old CRT monitor screen as though I'm a mannequin in my father's old office.
I had to change my spectacles two times in that year.
Come to think of it, I don't even know if my linguistic ability at that time was enough to fully comprehend every part of the story.
I had a dictionary
Then in 2001 came the first movie
A godsend...for we now have faces to match to the story
The characters
The buildings
The elements
The magic
All coming to life on the big screen
Easily, easily the best movie i've watched at that time. Thankful that they didnt do it with lousy CGI and bad acting.
And the rest...
...was history
We grew up with the plot, going through cycles of
1) Reading the book
2) Waiting for the movie for the previous book
3) Watching the movie for the previous book
4) Waiting for the movie for the current book after waiting for and finally receiving...
5) ...the new book
I never got disappointed with it.
However, the story got darker as evil grew stronger.
If the first few books of Harry Potter were a colourful picture, the story eventually made it black and white, then sepia, then Holga-ish.
Deaths, pain, suffering and anger became frequent
Beloved characters get murdered off, as we flip the pages back and forth, wide-eyed, hoping that it was all but just a cleverly written twist.
I got irritated with Harry Potter with his temper issues
Almost as if JK Rowling had problems with her CAPS LOCK key
Guess teen angst caught up with the boy who lived...
And Dumbledore was never the Santa Claus primary-school-me imagined him to be
As of 2011 the magical journey ended with Part 2 of the movie for the last book "The Deathy Hallows".
Fifteen years.
Fifteen years of waiting for a letter and a half-giant that never came
Fifteen years of waving random objects whilst shouting Latin words we never knew
Fifteen years of hoping that JK Rowling was a witch, writing about a real world.
Fifteen years of staring at objects, really hard, as if it'll actually levitate
And Fifteen years
Of an awesome childhood :)
The exhibition at the ArtScience Museum was amazing. I went on its Opening Day
It's made up of themed rooms from the movie, such as the Forbidden Forest, Hagrid's Hut, the Grand Hall etc.
Every room had a display of the movie props. From what they wore, to what they used, and even some models of the creatures in the show.
AND OMG MY FAVOURITE STATION WAS THE QUIDDITCH PITCH (ADHD me typed that). They had like real Quaffles (Like 4 or 5) for you to throw into the 3 goal posts. Every goal gives off a satisfying "Gonggg!" sound played by some hidden audio speaker.
Its really like those basketball games at the arcade where the ball keeps on rolling back and you keep throwing it. (Except that this one is free!)
Be careful though, the Quaffle ball is surprisingly heavy (made of leather), and missed shots bounce off the goal posts REALLY fast, and it can totally smash your face if you don't dodge.
(No there are no buldger stations, sadly)
Every Harry Potter fan would be amazed
Then comes the Harry Potter merchandise shop.
WANDS. Exact replicas of the real thing! Design, weight, length, feel, everything.
For example, Voldemort's wand was made of a material that was lighter than the rest, so the metal rod in it is much lighter.
Every character had a wand that was designed differently.
This is the set of 6 wands on sale. S$350 dollars.
Every wand for sale was S$75 individually, regardless of its design and 'owner.'
S$75!!
So tempting
Sirius Black, Snape, Voldemort, Bellatrix, Dumbledore (Elder Wand) and Ginny Weasley's wand designs were the coolest. (Seems like the bad guys have the coolest wands)
http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Wand See the designs here!
Not all are for sale in the Singapore exhibition though. So far only Bellatrix, Snape, Sirius, Harry, Ron, Malfoy, Hermione, Dumbledore, Ginny, Voldemort and Luna Lovegood's wand is for sale here.
Wand belonging to Fred and George, Percy, Remus Lupin and Narcissa (Malfoy's mum)'s and many others are displayed at the exhibition.
Photography and filming is strictly phohibited.
But cmon its such a rare opportunity how can you expect people to not sneak a few pictures.
Everyone was busy snapping away haha.
Please go visit this exhibit at the Artscience Museum! :D
It's only about S$20 for adults and S$13 for a kid. (Do not come dressed as a kid)
