Chingay Parade

Since my parents have been back from Indonesia, we have continued to explore the island. One night the 4 adults went to the Chingay Parade which is a pretty big deal in Singapore. Kind of a celebration of Spring combined with a celebration of unity and an ushering in the new year with good fortune. That description doesn't do it justice. Click the link if you want the real explanation.

We started the night out by taking the MRT to City Hall and had dinner. We then walked to the beginning of the parade site. There was a "festive walk," but we somehow didn't get on that walking route. Anyway, we arrived and found our seats in time for the pre-parade show.

THE highlight of the pre-parade show was being able to see Gurmit Singh (JK) who was there to host the parade on TV. For those people who don't live in Singapore Gurmit is THE celebrity of the country. His main role is in a Singapore Sit-Com, but if you want a host for a TV show, a person to endorse saving the world, a person to encourage people to be courteous to others, a person to do a goofy video or anything else... Gurmit is your man. He seems to be everywhere. I know who he is if that tell you anything.
After Gurmit (and the other lady) opened the parade we began to see that wonderful sights of the parade.

This picture is of stilt walkers with fireworks shooting off their backs:


Men lighting firecrackers and parading around dragons (gotta keep those evil spirits away...)

Look at this amazing costume:

These costumes are made from balloons:

Some of the floats:

Crazy confetti at the end of the parade:

Fireworks ended the parade:

The whole thing was pretty amazing and the small sampling of pictures doesn't do it justice. It was very well done and as an added bonus the MRT wasn't crowded on the way home- gotta love that!