Me, Karl and Juliet in Chingay dreamland
“With great power comes great responsibility”. Little did I imagine that Spideman’s quote can be applied to being a Chingay Stomp Blogger. For the month of January, I and 3 other bloggers, Juliet, Karl and Gary have been bestowed with great power, or rather exclusive privileges (attending media parties, press conferences and ahem…attending Chingay for free) so with great responsibility we shall pay back – ( filing our blog reports on STOMP for all of you to read and enjoy).
And that teeny-weeny media pass of mine can actually command so much power during our Chingay Wonderland experience on 30th and 31st January…psst..i attended the parade on both days to double the pleasure and double the fun and of course, double the photos to share with you. Poor Mr. Camera overworked himself with 554 photos snapped. Every pixel of the photos was crammed and squeezed with colours, colours, colours!!!!
I could practically taste the anticipation
The month-long festivities of CHINGAY 2009 culminated to an all-time ecstatic high on the final parade on 31st January, with 4000 performers from 47 groups from 8 countries putting up a show of their lifetime for 1.5km, from City Hall to Marina Bay . The world’s their stage – and in conjunction with the inaugural Chingay Awards, I will also be dishing out My ( Kenneth’s) Chingay Awards – being the award-show junkie.
With that, I shall rewind time back and here we go with My Chingay Experience!!!!!
“Flower Fairies” lend a helping hand
7:05pm: First proof of power of the media pass : With just one flash, I was allowed entry into the holding area, which was out-of-bounds to most people. My heart skipped a mini beat when the usher even opened the barricade for me to enter
The parade had barely started and the performers were already in their own party world. They were just bursting with excitement. Cue to maddening laughter and buzzing chatter. Pre-performance jitters? No.more like just having hyping and gearing up for Chingay!!! I passed by a group of giggly young “ flower fairies” and all of them swarmed around me to take photos..Me!..Me!…Me!…they started chirping and I was only too happy to snap them. Others were just doing last-minute touch-ups on the make-up while some were caught ZZZ-ing away…
Guess how many teddy bears she has on her body?
Mr. Bra Cups and Goddess of Fortune
As I squeezed past the plethora of floats and “fantasy” creatures, I came face-to-face with Ms. Hong Bao, Ms. Soft Toys and Ms. God of Fortune…so wacky and out-of-this-world!!!
The Stage is Set
And All you need to do is……dream…
730pm: Seats in prime location – next to the VIP area ( checked ), cameras positioned, notebook opened. It seemed that the pre-parade party was in full-swing- with the host energetically chanting “ Party Party People!!!!”, while a fist-full of bursting colours lined the road. All the night’s performers crammed and gathered at the stage – all revved up for their big night, C-Night!!!!!
Off to a “roaring” start – The First Float of the Parade by STB
8pm: In 3, 2, 1….the charming lights of the colonial City Hall suddenly dimmed and out roared the first float of the night. A majestic golden lion, with purple-and-red dyed mane roared aloud. But all eyes were on President SR Nathan, who was ushered in on top of it!!! What a way to make an entrance!!! Even Madonna would be soooo jealous
8.10pm: After the done-to-death opening address by the Guest of Honour, A LOUD Bang!!! It shattered my ear-drums..i almost choked on my saliva as a string-full of fire-crackers exploded in front of us, with ear-deafening crack..crack….crack….s……I was close to enough for the ash fromS the firecrackers to land on my notebook ( it gave off a stench too!!!) .. Let’s Get this Party started! Out came the “ Royal Jester of Chingay Wonderland” , who introduced us to the mystical world of Chingay Wonderland…..visions blurred…….
The Attack of the Red Dragons
Flag down the Phoenixes!!!
The “courageous” opening segment was all about auspicious animals – a bonanza of Lions, Dragons, Phoenixes and larger-than-life flags display..
Soaring Dragons roaring “ Chingay!!”
Tallest Float of Chingay 2009 : Draconika – the trio of robotic dragons stretched up to a height of 9m!!! It was deftly designed by the engineering brains from NTU. I heard some shocking gasps when the red dragons spurt fire out……
No lighting effects needed..These are real HOT fiery sparks
Hottest Performance of the Chingay 2009: The magical ( and red-hot!) Tong Liang Fire Dragon – China’s number 1 Dragon and it is not difficult to see why… the dragon leaped and rolled as a explosion of fiery sparks from melted iron ( at 1300 degree Celsius, mind you!!!) splashed across – and the dragon-dancers were topless..so don’t they get burned by the sparks??!!!! Ohhh!!!I was simply blown away – it was like watching the Matrix unfolding in real life. Heard that they performed for the Beijing Olympics’ Opening Ceremony. If it is good enough for the Olympics, it is good enough for Chingay!!!
Most Feel-Good Float of Chingay 09 -Wonderland of Dreams by the S’pore Tote Board
After the dragons, it was time to up the feel-good factor (we are in Wonderland, remember?) And when I say feel-good, free gifts must be involved. During the “ Wonderland of Dreams” float, sports celebrities ( Paralympics Gold Medalist, Yip Pin Xiu and Co.) started throwing Hong Baos onto the sea of audience…and everyone started to make a dive for them ( me, included), arms outstretched with hopeful eyes screaming gimmme gimmmme…One hong-bao landed on my head, but someone was quick enough to catch it….rats…
These cute giants can even BLINK!
The Most Feel-Good Performance of Chingay 2009: The aptly-named “ Happy Bellies” made my belly happy, with the adorable, big-hat dolls with smiling faces on their bellies….and presenting the Tallest puppet in Chingay History at 7 metres high!!!!!
8:40pm: Chingay will not be complete without our friends hailing from over the seas so it was time for “ foreign talent” to add into the melting pot of diverse cultures!
The Taiwanese gave us a glimpse of aboriginal tribal music and feathery dances
Betcha you didn’t know that this tiger-head/peacock weighs 30kg
The Indonesians and Indians scarred us their demonic masks in their dynamic tribal dances. I am intrigued by the tiger-head on peacock feather masks home – they weight a whopping 30 kg but can be lifted by just biting a small bamboo stick!!! Amazing!!!
Finger-twisting actions from the Land of Smiles
The Filipinos and the Thais wowed us with their vibrant and joyous dance moves, beaming with rustic authenticity
Picture Perfect: The Korean Fan Club
Trust the Koreans to fuse Taekwondo, traditional fan dance ( love the sweeping gowns!!) and harvest dance into a harmonious mesh of vitality and colour..kimchi-licious!!!
The Japanese “Make-shift” Drums station
Most Catchy Song of Chingay 2009: The chorus: “Hey, Hey Singapore, Konichiwa Singapore” came from super-kawali Japanese float, the sakura-flower adorned float filled with Japanese drum-beaters and vivacious folk-dancers. They even sang the song live ala Karaoke style. I could not get this infectious song out of my head..in fact, I am humming the tune as I write this entry!!!
Ready, Set, Kick!!
Sexiest Bodies of Chingay 2009: The taut and abs-olutely nubile bodies of the shirt-less hunks who were executing the slick and clean-cut movements of Capoeira ( Brazilian martial art) in “fake-dueling”….I overheard 2 over-excited girls just screaming and pointing ( at the boys) during the Brazilian segment . Sign me up for Capoeira classes anytime .
9: 05pm: After making a round-the-world trip, Chingay returns back to Singapore with performances from local community groups and even a GRC ( most of them are making their star-studded Chingay debut!!!)
You are never too old for Toyland Fantasy
Marine Parade GRC brought back the child in all of us with their Fantasy Toyland floats..bring out the castles and the HUGE toy soldiers playing percussions.
City Hall under siege…..by jelly-fishes
…not only that all 280 residents showered the streets with an army of multi-coloured jelly-fish and flowery dancerms ( most of them looked like auntie/housewives type..they were so dedicated in their dance moves), all shaking to the pulsating drum beats together
WearingCreativity off their sleeves – The Wearable Art Contest
Most Fun Performance of Chingay 2009: Who says Singaporeans are not creative? Just look at the out-of-the-box designs hanging off the CDC Wearable Art Public Invitation Contingent. A Chingay First, members of the public can also be involved in Chingay. The spontaneous bunch donned their wacky costumes, all unique and made from recyclable materials ( I met some of them earlier), I saw Harry Potter, A walking durian, Robocop, Miss CD-ress ….
In sailed the Eurasians…. The Eurasians ( literally) arrived in a majestic Carrack ( like how their forefathers did) and made me Ohh and Arr over their nifty foot work from the elegant dancers in blood-red gowns…strangely, the dancers look more like Spanish bull-fighters…
Noah and Family giving the royal wave on his ark
Ship number two docking in, The Christians showed us a new beginning with Noah’s ark and animals galore
Chinese words on a float from a Malay group – No kidding
Most Multi-Racial Performance of Chingay 2009: When a German expat sat beside a Pan-Asian guy in the audience? No, it belonged to Perkumpulan Seni, a malay performing group who performed the Chinese legendary tale of Madam White Snake in this fusion number….a few tourists were rather confused with this eclectic item: Chinese Costumes, Malay dancers, Oriental-inspired float…???!!!! Only in Singapore, you get a Sino-Malay dance.
Most Green Floats of Chingay 2009: I suddenly missed Christmas ( & turkeys) when the two dazzling festive floats, complete with Christmas songs, rolled out. These darlings were made by NUS students, as part of their Rag and Flag Day …..and they even used recycled materials for that. Orange Peel and Toilet seats, anyone?h
A pre-mature Christmas delivered by NUS
Eusoff Hall presents a fairy-tale-ish toy factory ( gleeful elves, included) with moving gingerbread and snowmen. And Christmas is still 10 months away..Help!!!!
Flower Power: City Hall flourished and blossomed with a wave of graceful flower fairies – on roller-skates from the Dance Ensemble Singapore ..they zipped past the roads in their fluffy costumes and I was enchanted of the towering bell-shaped flower garland!!!!
PA’s Caterpillar looking all very greedy
Cupcakes on ants, anyone??
My Favourite Float of Chingay 2009 : The People Association gave me a science lesson in their “ Garden of Youth” float – teaching me the life-cycle of the Butterfly. There was so much action on the streets – we had the bees buzzing and swarming the flower-bed, and then a greedy-looking, hip wriggling caterpillar grabbed the spotlight ( yum..yum..), which morphed into a beautiful butterfly. Hot on the heels were with a buzzing army of ants and insects. What a sight!!!
The eye-petizing “Banquet” graced by the King & Queen of Chingay Wonderland
My Favourite Performance of Chingay 2009: Save the best for the last and that was what Chingay did for the wondrously grand finale, The Banquet @ Chingay Wonderland. It was eye-ppetizing, with an eclectic mix of dancers, slit-walkers, masked creatures, choir, acrobats gathering. It was reliving the Masquerade scene from Phantom of The Opera,,, my eye-balls did not know where to focus as every inch of my vision was filled with the spectacular visuals and there’s even a storyline to wrap things ( Chingay) up perfectly:
An eye-popping feast – my eyes did not know where to focus
Firstly, “ The King and Queen of Chingay Wonderland” ( theatre maestros, George Chan & Nancy Yuen) belt out a song written specially by Poet Prof. Edwin Thumboo….all those high notes gave me the goosebumps ( in a good way).
The idea of “wonderland” was more believable with an element of magic was( delete this) injected - Lawrence and Priscilla Kong (S’pore’s popular illusion duo) appearing. So many magic illusions were dished out: even on the futuristic looking float ( The Longest Float in Chingay 2009 at 28m). He made Priscilla mysteriously appear in a suspending cage ( I swear my were peeled on the cage!!!!) and then “slicing” her up in a box ( but she escapes unscathed). I mouth was gapping with wonder..unbelievable!!!!
Witnessing a magician burning in progress…
CThe “highlight” was witnessing Lawrence with getting burned onstage ( by the PA’s CEO) and only to reappear at the roof top of the City Hall building and he propelled all the way down!!! That really freaked me out – stunned and speechless..How????? I have seen the performance twice (during the 2 parades). I could sort of guess how they pull off the “burning man” act but how in Merlin’s beard did she disappeared from the box, in front of thousands of eyes???hmmmmm
City Hall – crowned with a breath-taking fireworks
Before logic could sink it, the night sky exploded with fireworks, amidst a stunning backdrop of city hall and the performers. All eyes were fixed on the night sky as a kaleidoscope of colours peppered the sky….ahhhh….i just love staring at fireworks *hearts*
It’s raining Pink Confetti, Halleluiah !!!
Nope, the rain did not turn pink
Then, a glorious shower of pink and white confetti just rained on us….and really blanketed the floor with heaps and heaps of paper, some even went into my eyes, my hair, my clothes..it was everywhere!!!!..even my bag was buried underneath layers of it. After the downpour, we had some much fun scooping the debris and throwing at others ( very bad right?) I really pity the cleaners who have to sweep the area ( they appeared 15 minutes after the parade ended, armed with brooms and determination).
Let’s P-A-R-T-A-Y like its 2.0.0.9
If you are expecting “ The End”..well, fat chance, the night was still young and there was still City Alive! to par-tay the night away ( till 3 am). There was already a strong crowd, all fidgety and waiting to enter into open-air club: City Hall…..
Thanks to our “powerful” media passes, we ( the bloggers) could jump queue and cris-crossed our way and got past barricades…every question was met with the same answer “ Oh, we are from the media” ( proceeds to flash the pass and sheepish smiles). I could smell envy in the air
By 10pm, the City Hall front was jam-packed with people, as they thronged the main dance area to witness the hip-grinding dance moves of the finalists of Funkamania XIV – let the battle for street dance supremacy begin!!!
View from the Media Lounge – Faces packed like molecules
Squeezing into the sardine-packed crowd is like going to an IT fair-meets-Great S’pore Sale, omg, every molecule of oxygen was snapped up by people. I was nearly breathless!!!! Jordin’s Sparks’ No Air came to my mind, as we squeeze past the crowd to embark on our “ mission”- to get onto the open-top Hippo Bus…where the DJs such as Sassy Pandez ( For the record: Maxim certified, World’s Sexiest DJ), Japan’s DJ Sarasa and local DJ KoFlow spun their heart-pounding tracks to the sea of party people below.
The Hippo bus was strictly meant for the VVIPS, but kudos to the “powerful” media passes, the staff relented and allowed us to go up the hippo bus. It was a bird’s eye view of the entire “club”!!! And the air up there was like, heavenly!!!!
So you think you can dance?
Later, we managed to squeeze our way through the crowd to get to the Media Lounge which is perched above the dance stage and facing the crowd.. Funkamania was happening, right under our noses ( literally)…..what a sight to behold..seeing 5000 small heads and some gyrating hips edging out from atop while we were snapping shots and feasting on chocolates….
Making full use of the first-class view, we decided to do what we like to do – CAM-WHORE!!! Amidst the smoky background and the floor gets quite shaky with the deafening music!!!!
Yours Truly – A very happy blogger
With that, it ends my sweet and memorable Chingay Experience on a peak – a ecstatically high note!!!
I really enjoyed meeting passionate people from all walks of life – be it the journalists, the glamazon bigshots
( DJ Sassy Pandez, Yiu & Bo, in the flash, or sharing a Kodak moment with Oli Pettigrew), my fellow Stomp Bloggers, the performers.
Behind the jovial façade of Chingay wonderland, lies a lot of sweat, dedication and succinct planning –
from the PR, to handling the media to performing and meddling with logistics – everything down to the last second before the parade rolls out.
I feel really privileged to be involved in this – for every press conference, showcase and erm..very freebie
or kodak moment snapped. I have seen how the Chingay process has evolved
– from the first rehearsals ( the STB's Lion float was half-painted, lifters were used in place of the floats)
to the incredibly stunning visual " dream come through" at the parade…
I will savour and look back on my short but "powerful" stint of being a Chingay Stomp Blogger in 2009 with fond memories.
This is truly something once in a life-time and I am glad to share this with you and keep it in my memory for a long time to come…
Chingay Wonderland got its Happily Ever After…..
Time to say goodbye to Chingay 2009
With great power comes great responsibility”, so I shall inform you guys with some Chingay nuggets here: Chingay may have ended, but this is what you can still do
1) Catch the repeat telecast of Chingay 2009 on 7 Feb 09 on Channel 8
2) Head down to Chinatown on 7 Feb as Chingay makes an appearance there!!
For more information, go to www.chingay.org.sg
I will save this for the last line: Please Vote for me!!!!!
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