A Trip to Haw Par Villa - Tiger Balm Garden

My cousin and I were planning a trip down to  Haw Par Villa - Tiger Balm Garden on a Monday morning.

So at 9am that day, my cousin surprised me by coming to my home with breakfast to look for me. I was still sleeping when she came.

So after having breakfast, we set off to Haw Par Villa.

Arriving at Haw Par Villa at 10.40am.

Still remember my last visit here was actually 13 years ago where I came with my family and relatives. 13 years had just passed in a blink. It brought back the memories of the past.

Haw Par Villa (虎豹別墅) used to be a popular spot for tourist attraction as well as for locals. The admission is free. Not sure is it because it was a Monday, therefore the park was very quiet and I only met 9-10 people throughout my journey in the park.

A photo with my cousin.

I was here with her 13 years ago too. We were here to reminisce the past.

The park showed us a glimpse of many Chinese legends. They were many figurines and statutes built within the park.

Entering Haw Par Villa. Be warned about heavy images ahead.

Statues of mythological figures in the Buddhism were spotted.

How can there not have Tiger Balm products in Tiger Balm Garden?

Nah, here's the famous Tiger Balm ointment.

With the tiger photobombing us.

苦海无涯，回头是岸.

In English term, it means "The sea of bitterness has no bounds, turn your head to see the shore".

Repent and be saved!

Wishing well.

I wish that 2015 will be an awesome year for me and that everyone of us remains healthy.

Reaching Ten Courts of Hell, the main attraction in Haw Par Villa, where some of the gruesome depictions of Hell in Chinese mythology and Buddhism were featured. 牛头马面 are guarding the hell.

Braced myself for the walk to Ten Courts of Hell. I didn't took any picture inside because it was kinda of eerie and we are the only 2 human souls inside.

Through the walk, we understood that one cannot do any bad deed in life because they will be punished in hell when one died. So the figurines showed the scenes at Hell where souls were being punished horribly for violating the code of filial piety, stealing, telling lies, gossiping, gambling, disrespect to elders, killing, corrupting, wasting food and etc. 

The punishment for committing the above crimes: heart being taken out, be slave, tongue pulled out, body torn apart, disemboweled, thrown into a pool of knives...

After going through the punishment, one will reach tenth court of hell - Wheel of Reincarnation. The prisoners will drink meng-po soup that makes them forget their past lives and proceed for reincarnation.

I think one has to be a sage in order not to make any mistake in their lives.

Sumo Wrestling fighters spotted at Haw Par Villa.

I was surprised to see Statue of Liberty here. I thought aw Par Villa featured stories were based on Chinese folklore. Now we don't need to travel to New York to see Statue of Liberty.

Beautiful scenery, looks like the place where people can shoot for Chinese period drama.

Fu Lu Shou. The 3 deities representing Happiness, Prosperity, and Longevity.

Pose for a photo.

Found a sitting area to rest by the lake before we continued walking. 

The weather was hot that day, we took out our sunglasses.

Entering the story of "Journey to the West". Meet Sun Wukong, Zhu Baijie, white dragon horse and Sha Wujing.

The battle between Sun Wukong and Hong Hai Er (红孩儿).

Here comes shi fu, Tang San Zang.

Confucius.

He was China's most famous teacher. I remembered when I was young, I went to temple and my mum will tell me that this statue is Confucius. You must pray to him to have blessing for exam.

Jiang Ziya, the legendary sage.

What is he doing?

He is fishing without the fishhook being bent.

Have you heard of the famous Chinese phrase - 姜太公钓鱼愿者上钩. It means "A Willing Victim Letting Himself Caught".

This marked the end of my trip to Haw Par Villa. We took an hour to finish touring around the whole place.

If you have run out of place to visit, you might want to consider visiting Haw Par Villa as an educational trip? It is free admission and the place is convenient to visit, it is just directly above Haw Par Villa MRT station.