Chingay 2012

Last week, Chingay 2012 was one of the deal of the day! What do I mean by that?

Although the tickets were priced at $50 each, you can save 25% if you purchase through Deal.sg!  There are many more similar deals if you're looking for a short getaway trip, meal deals and/or treatments.

Deal.sg invited us to catch the Chingay performance at the pit building, category 1, which was worth S$50!  I had no idea the pit building was so far away from the Promenade station. 0,0  I was drenched in sweat by the time I found my down.  There was a delay and I think the performance didn't start until after 8.30pm.

Here's a view from my seat:

I didn't expect to see a big pool of water in front of me. Little did I know that it was ACTUALLY the stage. Its stage set-up was very different from the previous years and I know I was in for a real treat. 

The show started with a huge dragon swimming across the sky, looking magnificent and very"huat".

As it moved across the stage, I see how challenging it was to control the direction of the dragon and make it look "alive".  The dragon was off to find his partner on the other side of the stage - a phoenix.

The VIPs arrived in style. They stood in sampan boats and waved to the audience.  I thought that was really cool, making use of the water stage!

We then enter Prelude Scene 1 where students lined the stage, playing the Erhu (although it does look a bit creepy since the girl on stage wore traditional Chinese clothes, braided her hair and playing a rather melancholy tune against the blue lighting...).

There were fire torches and speedboat! It zoomed across the water so rapidly my shutter wasn't fast enough to capture 0.0!

The performers used a spade or something to create patterned splashes, very creative and looks good!

Clearly the theme this year was Dragon, because it almost all the segments, there will be at least one.  These two dragons are made up of drums!

AND THEY LIGHT UP. SO NAISE.

Combination of rhythm and gusto!

Well the first vehicle on parade is a replica of the Singapore Flyer, gorgeous!

Does the dragon have a spastic expression? Hehe.

This has got to be my favorite. There's actually water flowing down, almost like a veil wrapping around the vehicle, pretty!

The beautiful swan and elephants were presented by the Indian community.

A huge colorful vehicle made of balloons!

I was very impressed with the Taekwondo performance. Not only did they break wooden planks while showing their moves in the water, they also threw some high kicks and did a few flips in the air. Fwah.

Bicycles and unicycles in the water!

What about characters from your favorite movie?

At first glance I was like, cheh, it's lion dance performance again.... sian *goes back to phone*. But upon a closer look, these are balloon lions! I can imagine how gentle the guys have to be in order not to pop them.

Balloons, brides and trishaws~

HIGHLIGHT OF MY NIGHT goes to these two horses that gallantly trod across the water stage. HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!

This was the final scene and nearing the finale!

Burst of colors and confetti!  I was really thankful that it didn't rain and the air was cool throughout the performance. :)  Can you imagine the confetti being damp and sticking onto us and the color runs? Eek.

Chingay 2012 ended on a good note with fireworks display lasting about 10 minutes. And this post also officially marks the end of Lunar New Year 2012. Hope you had a great one, just as I did!

Huat ah!


To be honest, even if I'd to pay $50 for this year's Chingay, I would say it's worth every dollar! It was really a spectacular performance and enjoyed every minute of it. Thank you Deal.sg once again for bringing us to the Chingay Parade! 

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The "English" Spring

I guess I must have misled several people into thinking I was a party girl even before they knew me in person.  Over the years, I've been accused of so many things it's hard to change an impression any way. 

In fact, I seldom celebrate festivities at huge parties or night clubs.  However, when I'm invited to attend, it's my pleasure to join friends for countdowns and have a good time.  

On New Year's Eve, I was feeling rather worn out that night and almost missed the new year when the clock strikes 12.  The initial plan was to stay home and/or check out the nearby community centre activities, but his family decided to "cross" bridge to see the fireworks.

I dozed off as he cruised; and though the radio was playing some fine club music, none of the channels was accurate with the countdown. -,-"  We knew only when the fireworks started lighting up the sky.

We honked and yelled "Happy New Year" to random cars who drove past, and waved madly too. :D

And that was how I entered 2012.  The car then went around the island once and we all headed back to bed.

We woke up the following morning to have a traditional breakfast, followed by spring cleaning (now everything feels so clean!).

I also cracked the first 3-digit combination lock in my life!  It was hard work and required A LOT of patience, and that maroon vintage suitcase was my reward.  Hehe.  Totally worth it if you ask me. :)

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It's A Spanking New 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

What would you like to achieve this year? :)

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Happy Rabbit New Year!

Another year has passed and as we enter the Year of the Rabbit, it's also the time for gluttony too! The perfect excuse to indulge in excess hongbaos, bakkwa, makeup and clothes.

I used to dislike Chinese New Year (CNY), but I think as I grow older, it kinda grows on me as well. But did you notice? With the increment in your age, the lesser hongbaos you receive. :/

Anyway, I've been busy eating my heart out at two reunion dinners - one at 和平饭店 along Macpherson Road, the other at a coffee house in Elias Mall.

My favourite dish is not abalone nor shark's fin, but Yu Sheng:

We put all the healthy ingredients into a huge plate, topped with salmon slices, sweet sauce and crackers, and we toss them all together while shouting words of good luck. Recently, "HUAT AH" is more popular since it's of a lesser syllable and fun to say.

I didn't realise that most of the pictures I took are all of Yu Sheng. :/ Guess I must really like it  then. :P

Dinner at 和平饭店 was so good, I only took a shot of the sharks' fin soup, and for the rest of it I just focused on eating.

Meeting the relatives on the paternal side always make me feel funny, since we only meet once a year. The atmosphere was awkward, and the siblings will always giggle among themselves (I'm guilty of that!). For most of it, we were just typing furiously away on our phones. However, I tried to break the ice by asking if they have a Facebook account. Yes, we aren't even friends on FB. How can?!

People who meet on Twitter, blog events, clubbing...are already friends on FB, and we're not! Odd phenomenon if you ask me.

Sometimes I wonder if reunion dinners are obligatory.
-

Because of the dinner at 和平饭店, last night's dinner at Elias Mall seemed sub-standard. No idea why the Yu Sheng tastes so sour. :(

Still, the coffee house was mad packed and workers buzzing around. Their staff were as young as primary 4 kids!

That's me, caught slipping a strand of radish while the others while happily tossing.

For some strange reason, ah gong heard that rubbing the orange skin on his bald head will help his hair growth. -,- Nevermind because we all had a good time laughing at it! Nothing beats a happy family dinner. :3

The television set at home has decided to break down a few days before CNY and so it was a very quiet countdown last night. Dad was streaming China's celebration programme in his room, while Sis and I were busy doing our nails.

Cute or not? Bunny and carrots, geddit?

And this morning, I woke up early in the hope of heading out early to play Mahjong, but Sis and Momster took 2 hours to get ready. I ended up entertaining myself with shots of QQ and decoration in the house.

Love the flowers I picked last night from SinFlora. It has becoming an annual tradition that we will pick up pussy willow and flowers after reunion dinner, then I'll arrange them and complete the rest of the set up.

QQ celebrates CNY too!

Outfit for CNY Day 1:

Sis (right) received lots of compliments today from the elderly.

I did not intend to wear this initially, this teal dress has been sitting in my wardrobe for three years now. I wanted to wear the disgusting cheongsam from Far East Plaza since I already paid so much for it, but it was really awful. Even the parents were teasing me. I look like a manager/waitress from the Chinese restaurant featured in those stupid US comedies. -,-

So yeah, the elderly liked this outfit. Conservative, sweet, mature... right. I made it better by pairing the long dress (I have a short body) with my stilettos. Hehehe. 

During lunch at Aunt's house, there's a family staying opposite her with a large collection of shoes. Out of curiosity and amazement, I asked. They have five children, that explains it. They have enough shoes to open a shop!

Last stop of the day is my favourite hideout at Gujie's.

That's my family friend-sister, the strong career woman.

And little Rachel who seems to be a little under the weather. :/

With Gujie!

All together, plus my messed up hair.

Looking forward to more visiting tomorrow! ^^ Just eat don't think! Laugh out loud! Happy Lunar New Year! 

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Merry Christmas 'o8

My Christmas Eve was spent in school with BoyThunder and Eil doing our project work (so loser-ish I know). We had the companionship of Gibby's as well.

As usual, Gerald and I would be late, only this time he was way later than me.

He saved his own ass when he lugged a bag of goodies and passed the tidbits around:

Heh. It's been a long time since I last received a candycane! So we all starting tearing off the wrapper and eating it. That was my lunch by the way, and decided that it was not right. So I head over to the vending machine to purchase the tapioca chips, and it got stuck in the machine. =,=


By evening, I've found myself a new shopping kaki, and I love him! *rubs palm with glee*

My Chirstmas countdown was spent playing Cherades, Pictionary and Uno. I also shared my UP and DOWN for the year, and guess what was my answer for the UP part?

Getting to know a new bunch of friends from this place called CowboyBar. I said,

Even though the age gap between the youngest barfly to the oldest barfly is not exactly small, we get along just fine and they are a group of very nice people!I like spending time together with them.

But of course I have yet another UP too. ;)

QQ received a present that she didn't really fancy.

 I think it's the bells. And the sizing is wrong. QQ's head is too small. 

But she looked absolutely adorable in it. *rubs her face*

Okay, I'm off to work! And for the first time, we get to wear our own clothes instead the usual uniform for work! I even bought a prop to go along with my "theme". Heh.

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