There was a parade last weekend. Chingay Parade. It is a celebration of the multiculturalism of Singapore. Which I have to say seems to really work. In 1972 they outlawed fireworks. A big deal for the Chinese community, for they are big on fireworks. For safety reasons they outlawed them, and the tradeoff was a parade that culminated in controlled fireworks.
It started pretty small but has grown in to a huge production. They had thousands of volunteers and thousands of participants. I was surprised there were any Singaporeans left to sit in the stands.
It really was hilarious. A human fence of teenagers in red t-shirts from the mrt stop to the stands showed us the way. A very good thing, because Singaporeans do not sign well. We were in temporary stands that sat probably 5,000. There had to be 10-15,000 volunteers in the parade. I exaggerate not. The parade was on 2 nights, in this location, and then the next 2 weekends was in other street locations. They expected 15,000 to see it.
Nobody can do spectacular the way the Chinese can. 2 Hours of non stop floats, walkers, music. Each community was represented. A Malaysian float, a Chinese float, a Japanese float, a Tamil float, floats of a community cooking school ( they were on little golf carts, and stopped to stir fry garlic, ginger and onions, on a real burner!). Zumba dancers were represented, hundreds dancing by in matching neon coloured Zumba Club outfits.
There were pop singers on floats, there were school children playing ukeleles, there was Chinese Opera, there was Tamil drama, there were stilt walkers, of all ages, everything you have ever seen at a parade was here. In neon colours, with more lights than you can imagine.
We were given loot bags that had pompom shakers and whistles. We were encouraged to shake the pompoms and blow the whistles. AND we were taught this really catchy cheer.
Check this out.
Chingay chingay we are one
Parade parade we are one
People people we are one
Singaporeans singaporeans we are one.
Now try that about 50 times, at full voice, with thousands of others, with whistles blowing, pompoms shaking, and microphone blaring. It is just soooo catchy, don't you think?
I will have a tough time limiting the number of pics I attach.
I went to a yoga work shop and it was terrific. 1 1/2 hours of tough yoga, then a talk by a nutritionist about switching to vegetarianism. I learned a few things I will pass on, that I didn't know before. Most I had read about, heard about, but.... eat fruits on an empty stomach. They are full of good things that get bypassed if being digested with other food. So after a meal is not as good as 1 hour before. Also if using almonds in a smoothie, soak them overnight and then when you blend them in they become very creamy not chunky.
The woman, Shalu, has a cooking school walking distance from me, so I have signed up for some cooking classes, and have bought a blender. We have had 2 fruit smoothies, yum, and are going to try a veggie smoothy for supper.
For me I am not going to eat anything else, and it will be a detox day. Tim doesn't believe in those things, so he just had some eggs and toast.
Tonight we are off to Sri Lanka. Hope to go into the hills to the tea plantations, and to apparently some of the best beaches in the world. Oh, just eat you heart out. I have bought a camera so I hope my pics will be better.
The parade theme was fire and ice. Two challenges that Singaporeans face with strength and purpose They had snow at the end. My parade photos will not truly capture that wonderful Chingay chingay we are one spirit, but here goes.
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