Dragon boats and a Merlion

This past weekend we wanted to explore Singapore a bit more. We decided to visit a place called Chijmes (pronounced 'chimes') which was once a church but now houses restaurants and shops that sell things from around Asia. We saw that it didn't open until 11, so we decided to go to the Boat Quay and see the Merlion which is the symbol of Singapore before Chijmes opened.

When we got off the MRT we noticed a big crowd by the river. It turned out that they were having dragon boat races. Dragon boats are these skinny boats that hold maybe 20 people seated with an oar each, a person standing in the back to steer, and a person in the front, seated, beating a drum. (You can look at the picture and see it better than I am explaining it).

These races were sprints. It was crazy. When we first watched it, we were by the finish line. As the boats approached you could here the drums and shouting getting louder and louder as the people rowed frantically. It was pretty cool. I guess in June (?) there is a dragon boat festival.

After watching the races we headed to the mouth of the Singapore River and saw the Merlion. Definitely the place to go for tourists. After we took part of the photo taking, we headed for Chijmes. When we got there it was 11:30 and only 2 restaurants were open. We ate and walked around a few shops until Elyse needed to go home for here nap. We only saw a part of Chijmes and hope to go back soon.

This is a video of the part of the race. It's not the best quality since I was zoomed in so close, but you can see how fast they were going and you can sort of here the drums. Also, look at how the drummers (on the front of the boat) are being jerked around as the the boat moves forward.