4th of July with the American Association of Singapore

(you know you're at an American gathering when there are metal detectors at the door)

Alright, I know I'm an entire week and a half late, since AAS held their annual 4th of July gathering on the 2nd of July. But hey, at least I'm determined to be thourough with our event coverage, even if not timely. To be honest, I caught a cold soon after the event, rapidly followed by Pris, so we've both been miserable and unwilling to expend the extra energy on blogging. This is my second time ill in two months now, not to mention that wonderful two month trip with pneumonia at the beginning of the year, so hopefully that'll be it for the year.

In any case, onto the fun stuff: along with thousands of other proud Americans and those who just wanted to watch fireworks, Pris and I traveled out to the Terror Club in Sembawang for the yearly Independence Day Celebrations for the second time. I'll let everyone stop here to snicker at the name of the venue for celebrating American independence. Entrance is free and, even better, they provide free shuttles too and from Sembawang MRT.

We attended last year to Ben and Jerry's ice cream displays, awesome corndogs, real sno cones without beans and corn on top (looking at you, ice kachang), and the only fireworks I'd seen outside of National Day. Unfortunately, it was also during a storm, and 75% of the venue was unusable due to mud, though we still returned home dirty and disgusting even trying to walk on the wooden planks.

This year we enjoyed much better weather, though much of the same good times. AAS kept several live bands playing throughout the event, which actually went from 4-10pm, even though we were lazy and only arrived about 7pm to make sure we'd get a spot to watch fireworks. The bands themselves were much the same as last year, very country and very good for background noise. I don't think there was ever a big crowd gathered at the stage to listen, but it was good to have some more local tunes playing through the hours.

We agreed the crowd seemed a bit bigger this year, though that could be due to better weather bringing everyone out. Either way, the long lines meant we had to forgo the free popcorn and cotton candy handouts, though we did grab a Snicker's ice cream bar that was probably my favorite part of the entire year. And oh yeah, the corn dogs were still just as amazing.

(to a homesick american this is like crunching into rainbows covered in sunshine draped in happiness)

There were a bunch of stalls set up for people to walk around and check out, from the local American school to a Navy booth, medical resources and pretty much anything you could think an expat might need. Most didn't apply to us so we didn't have to spend too much time looking around, but they were handing out free tote bags at one of the stalls!

More than anything, it's just a welcome relief to be surrounded by your own countrymen now and again in celebration, and the spirit was definitely high. Everyone had a good time chowing down food from Fat Boy's Burgers (they look amazing!), Fridays and the like, although Ben and Jerry's was sorely missed. Oh yeah, and drinking enough to put out a fire. Just the the 4th of July celebrations back home!

We did get a decent place to watch fireworks too, but unfortunately they were a little lacking this year. Last year seemed pretty short itself, maybe a 5-6 minute display, but this year couldn't have topped 3 minutes. Ah well, you can expect much in the way of fireworks in Singapore.

(they look a lot better if you just put a bunch of them together!)

Overall we did have a good time, both this year and last, and we'd be happy to recommend anyone come join in next year!

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.

Lots of Pig in the Year of the Rabbit

Needless to say, it's been getting busier and busier as Chinese New Year draws closer. A constant medley of traditional festive songs fill the air wherever you go. Fortune cats squint cheerfully down at customers as they haggle with vendors for the best prices. Stepping into Chinatown is like stepping onto and into a red carpet. Nearly every shophouse lining the narrow, bustling streets is filled to the brim with all manner of goods in every shade of red imaginable. Decor, floor mats, storage containers, signage - the color red is auspicious in Chinese culture, symbolizing good luck and prosperity, and you would be hard-pressed not to find it everywhere during an occasion such as this.  

 Very popular during Chinese New Year, but not uncommon otherwise, bakkwa (also known as bah kwa) is a smoked, preserved pork snack normally sold in thin, square slices.  It may be served alone or together with other foods, and is sometimes be cut into circles to represent coins (wealth). Prices for bakkwa hit a high around this time of year, with some brands which normally cost 23SGD per kg going up to as high as 50SGD per kg! 

The queues for bakkwa get ridiculously astoundingly long, sometimes taking up to three hours before reaching the front of the line (you can't even see the bakkwa shop in question in this picture):

I'd introduced Michelle to bakkwa a couple months back (when it was cheaper) and trying a bite of it at first she didn't seem too impressed and described it as being "similar to beef jerky". After eating a full square slice of bakkwa the opinion was upgraded to "delicious". I quite enjoy bakkwa myself and we both treat ourselves to a couple slices sometimes, but for now I'll wait for the prices to deflate. Ching chong.

Tong To-Tong Chiang

With Chinese New Year on the way, everyone in Singapore is gearing up for the celebrations throughout the country. Personally, I'm gearing up for the two days of paid leave from work.

Chinese New Year this year falls on February 3 and 4 and is a time when relatives go from house to house visiting their family members, eating some of the millions of CNY biscuits, and either giving or receiving ang pow (red packets filled with money and often given to children, sometimes unmarried family members).

The biscuits really are fantastic though! And there's no shortage of selection. So far my favorites are kueh baulu (actually Malaysian but everywhere right now), kueh bangkit, and almond biscuits, though Pris tells me I need to try the pineapple tarts as well!

We've got some celebrating right outside the door as well. They set up a stage where a singer performed a few nights and some sort of shrine where people are lighting incense as an offering. They're very decorative and beautiful~

Mandarin oranges are another auspicious symbol of the new year, so we're seeing plenty of miniature mandarin orange trees being sold and placed in front of businesses. They're very cute!

Now that some Chinese New Year events have started popping up we'll probably head down to one or two and check it out sometime in the next few weeks. Looking forward to seeing my first CNY in Singapore!