River Hong Bao and Chingay Parade

So, Chinese New Year was officially on February 7th, but they continue celebrating for a couple of weeks (I think until this weekend). Anyhow, on Friday the 8th we decided to go to the River Hong Bao at Esplanade park. I had heard they were going to do fireworks, and I thought it would be fun to go see some more, I had also heard that the River Hong Bao was fun. Well, there wasn't too much to see at the little festival thingy - they had some rides set up (like Gilbert Days) and some booths and fair type things. They also had this giant god of properity (probably 3 stories tall) and a representation of all the Chinese zodiac symbols. It was kind of fun to walk around and see. Drew saw the rides and decided he wanted to go, so Scott took him to wait in line for the paddle boats. They stood in line, litterally, for about an hour then Drew got his turn for about 1 minute. When they started taking him out the poor kid was so confused! He couldn't figure out why they stood in line for so long and he got such a short turn.

And, they pretty much missed the 5 minute firework show. Oh well, it wasn't too exciting. Actually, even the people who could see the firework show, were so intrigued with this spinning ride that some didn't even turn around for the fireworks.

This guy couldn't believe his eyes - his expression didn't change for a while.

Another thing that happens during Chinese New Year celebrations and especially around the time of the Chingay parade, a lot of people get married. And, as part of the ceremony the bride and groom sit and recieve gifts and congratulations. They had a couple there and we didn't give them anything, we just took their picture.

Then, last Friday night, the 15th, we went down near the same park for the Chingay Parade. Chingay is a Hokkien (a Chinese daialect) word that means "the art of masquerade." So, there was a huge parade with the most ornate floats, costumes and dancing ever. They had people who balance these huge poles with lanterns on their shoulders or heads as they walked down the street. There was a Star Wars entry - complete with Darth Vadar and an army of the white soldier guys (sorry Star Wars fans). They had dancers that represented Malaysia, the Phillipines, Singapore, China, Japan. It was really a neat celebration. We were there from about 7 until 10:30 and when we left there were still a number of floats that hadn't even gone yet. So, we missed a bunch, but I didn't feel good and the boys were tired. Here are some pictures of the parade.

Some of these lovely dancers were men! Nothing surprises me here anymore.

This was one of the guys balancing these huge lantern poles on their shoulders, heads, etc. (just not in my picture.)

Here's the NUS float and dancers.