Happy Birthday Singapore

Today is Singapore's 44th birthday. They are a young nation, but have done a lot in that short amount of time. To celebrate their independence we have seen the city become decorated with banners and flags. The military and other participates have been practicing for the parade that will be held later on today. There are military processions, performances, and fireworks. Plus, each year Singapore has a new song. If you would like to hear this year's song you can click here.

The theme this year is Coming Together- Reaching Out, Reaching Up. This description of the symbol is stated this way by wikipedia:

"The NDP 2009 Logo depicts a stylised hand reaching out to Singaporeans of different backgrounds, connecting all as one united people. A motif of the heart on the palm of the hand embodies people's compassion and care for their citizens.
The five stars forming the fingers symbolise democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality in vibrant colours reflecting the nation's diversity. Reaching up in celebration of progress as a nation, the shooting stars represent people's hope for a better future."

To continue with the coming together theme, at 8:22 pm, people are supposed to stop what they are doing (eating, reading, walking, etc.) and say the Singapore pledge together. To read more about National Day you can click here for the official site.

We celebrated Singapore's National Day yesterday. We headed over to Camille and Blake's condo for a BBQ. We had so much fun. Camille had gotten us Singapore flag tattoos, poppers and sparklers. She and Blake had a great spread of food including cupcakes baked into an ice cream cone- impressive. The night was filled with great conversation and laughter- [Plod? Banister?]. Pictures will soon follow. I didn't take any pictures because there were enough cameras out already and people graciously offered to share their pictures with me.

The following pictures are of some of the decorations around the city. (They are a bit blurry because Singapore is a bit hazy due to fires burning in Indonesia.)