Gong Xi Fa Cai, Hong Bao Na Lai

  

Now in its 25th year, the River Hongbao is an annual event celebrating the Lunar New Year (3 - 4 February this year) and lasting 13 days, opening daily from 12 noon to 11.30pm until this coming Sunday, 13 February. This year's event was held on The Float @ Marina Bay, and with 2011 being the Year of the Rabbit in the Chinese zodiac it was only appropriate that the entire event had rabbits displayed in nearly every form, size and direction, alongside the customary Asian decorations.

Upon stepping onto the Float we were greeted by numerous strings of lanterns swaying gently overhead:  

  

A giant double-sided "coin" of a rabbit had been placed at the entrance, with bells strung along certain points in its wireframe. Many people came to toss their loose change at it in hopes of striking one of the bells for good luck and fortune:

 I'm not sure which is rarer: actually being able to hit a bell,
or witnessing Chinese people parting so freely with their money.

Right beside the Rabbit Coin was an enormous statue of the Chinese God of Fortune, Cai Shen. We didn't get to see it, but at certain intervals during the day the statue sprays gold glitter and confetti onto the waiting crowd below. Superstitious Chinese and delighted children were picking glitter off the ground around the statue when we arrived, so I can only guess the God of Fortune had given his blessings just a couple of hours beforehand.

It was at least three storeys tall! No idea where the confetti
came from, but I'm placing my bets on the ingot in his hand.

 The Float @ Marina Bay is right next to an open-air stadium normally reserved for race car events and the like. For River Hongbao this stadium was made freely available to the public and we were able to take a seat and settle down to enjoy the nightly performances. There were songs and dance:

 

Martial arts and acrobatic displays:

 

More songs and dance:

BO BEE BO BEE BO BEE BO BEE BO BEE BO BEE BO BEE AH!!
...why did they hire those creepy things
to dance instead of getting a couple of girls?

...more songs and dance: 

 

......more songs and dance:

"Love your mama! I love my mama!
Listen to your mama!" Yeah, I wish I was kidding too.

Eventually (but not entirely regrettably) we decided we'd listened to our fair share of cultural music for the night and made to leave, but not before taking one last picture of the bustling float in its entirety.