NDP 2016 Preview

NDP holds a special place in my heart:)

As a little child, I was often fascinated by the fireworks at the end and while we will watch it at home religiously on TV every year... at the last part where the fireworks are out, we will open the door and rush out to the area outside our house and look out towards the direction of National stadium... and we will see the blazing lights from far far away and feel so happy :)


So, when I was much older and started dating, I had this wish that one day, I will be able to watch the fireworks up close with the love of my life:) And when I got to know Max, my wish came true.. by chance, we arranged to go Geylang to eat Tian Ji Zhou and Beef Hor Fun (he was not vegeterian yet then) and it happened that it was the day of the full dress rehersal for NDP... and we were seated at this little alley... with a space in between two buildings and through this space, we could see all the the fireworks upclose..without having to have the firepowder dropping onto your face... so it was like a magical dream come true:)

Then also, just before I got married, I actually took part in one NDP as a trainer and it was a very interesting experience for me. Got to meet with and make friends from all walks of life and I will never forget the love from the aunties who made us dinner cos we were sick of the weekly KFC dinners we were served :)

For many years, I have been trying my luck to get hold of balloted NDP tickets..  so that our entire family could go watch NDP together but I have never been lucky lor... This year I contemplated not even balloting since Ace will be going for the NE Show... But I thought.... nevermind lah, just try lah...

And I got it! Woohoo!

Since we had 4 tickets and Popo says she has never been to any NDP, we invited her to come along and arranged to pick her up, park our car in Paya Lebar and take MRT there...

Mr Chow Bin had almost black face throughout... No wonder his son also always chow bin....

I think we were SUAY lah.. reached the MRT station and realized tat the freaking MRT broke down! So it was dam crowded.. thank goodness it got resolved pretty quick and we managed to squeeze onto a train... I pity all the people in the next two stops because they couldnt even get onto the train at all...

View of the train station.. sea of red..

Being impatient, Max's face turned even blacker...and when we reached the stadium... WAH LAU... even worse. As this was the first time this event is held here and this is the first time they are doing a trial of the bag check thing (because there is VIP attending this preview), we had to queue again under the hot sun for another hour...

By the time we reached our seats, Max super black face and declared that he will NEVER EVER want to attend another NDP again...

Still some time before the performance starts.. so I took selfie with my mummy:)

I pity the cheerleaders who are supposed to lead in the song singing in the pre-parade segment.... so warm lor:)

But I do feel very warm in the heart too.. mostly cos the Singaporean girl in front of me turned around and asked me if I wanted some chocolates;) hahaha :) So kampong spirit like that...

Opened my biscuit to eat and found that my biscuit is heart shaped one ;) Ace's one is merlion... SWEE!

Parade started proper!

THis is the part that will bring back lots of memories for Max... Cos when he was in the navy, he was the flag bearer and was carrying the flat of RSN during NDP... the year where Kit Chan sang the song HOME as the NDP song... that is why this song always has a place in his heart... cos he said he teared when she sang that song during the parade...

Max says that his favorite is still the Navy uniform... But I guess it goes without saying:)

Deep in thought.. maybe reminiscing..

Then it was time for the FAKE VIP to come one round.. hahaha

Time for a family photo ;)

When it was time to say the pledge, they had this special "flag raising" ceremony where the flags where hoisted upwards from the lowest audience area upwards...

VIP of the day is Speaker of Parliament, Halimah Yacob...

The 21 Canons ceremony but they took place quite far away from us... the thing about holding the NDP in the new stadium is that they cannot do the fireworks thing inside.. nor can all the weaponry and vehicles come in.....

Meanwhile as they were going through all the various parts of the ceremony.. Ace was just playing games... tsk tsk tsk..

Ace trying to telling his dad what is coming up next...

And the performance starts... Max says the whole thing is like some sort of major musical or concert like tat... Doesnt really feel like typical NDP.. but well, I guess the only thing that is constant in this world is CHANGE...

Check out the fire dancers...

You know the balls at the top that look like rocks or something... they actually change when there is changes in the lighting and they are one of the main reasons why we feel like this is some sort of big scale concert...

Took this photo to show the contrast of what we see... and what you can see from the top of the roof:)

4 races dancing in harmony..

Then there was this segment about this flying unicorn... which was already impressive cos it was glittering... but I was even more impressed to know there is a little boy sitting on the unicorn! So brave lah this boy... Heard he is the son of popular blogger, Mr Miyagi..

Then there is this segment where people came dancing with outfits that were fitted with lights... this one hor, if anyone makes a mistake.. it is super obvious one lor:)



Also, check out the squarish things on the bottom left of the picture above... those things can set up and become props... that will transform into the buildings in our Lion City..

And the buildings are transformed:)

And then, the moment we have been waiting for.... the SOKA dancers!

Pity we were seated at the side and cannot see the pictures they formed...

Can you tell what this is?

Pleasantly surprised to see the buildings  transform into trees:)

And then it was time for the indoor fireworks!:)

Celebration with confetti and balloons..

That's Popo singing along:) hahhahaha...

WHen I asked her how she felt about the show... she said she was rather touched :)

But hor, somehow for me...it seems to have lost its magic touch...

We realized there is fireworks outside of the stadium too and we were lucky we were seated near an area where we can see it..

One more selfie with Ace..

We thought might be good to wait for the crowd to thin out by going for dinner there..
Ace asked to eat at the Japanese  cafe we visited during the Para Games again cos he wanted to order the drink he did...

I also ordered since he say till so good... Here is a video of it..

So all in all, not to exciting a trip for me.. But at least my mum can say she has ever been to NDP:) Hehehe..

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