Pink Dot 2011 Coverage

(i'm sure this is unnecessary by now, but... click here to go to the official site!)

Even though it's pretty late over here, Pris and I were so excited after our day at Pink Dot 2011 we had to make the post the same night. (We've already covered the basics of what Pink Dot is all about in our pre-post here, so check that post for a bit of background first if you don't already know!) We had a bit of early preparation to pump ourselves up with a trip to the neoprint machines in Bugis for a Pink Dot photoshoot and afterward headed straight to Hong Lim Park, despite the fact that nothing began at all until 4:30 and we were two and a half hours early.

(camwhoring for a good cause!)

To our surprise, the event preparation was well under way and there were already a few die hard souls gathering and grabbing some choice spots as well as a ton of volunteers hard at work setting things up. We got ourselves a spot too and watched as the first few dozen people or so quickly turned into several hundred, even though it was still well before starting time.

As expected, the Speaker's Corner turned into a sea of pink before we knew it, with great weather and everyone in high spirits making our time even better. We wandered around a while to see everything going on, but this turned out to be unnecessary for two reasons: 1) By the time things really started it was so packed walking was almost impossible, and 2) the volunteers were ridiculously on top of things, with dozens of trays being passed around with free drinks, cupcakes, informational brochures, pins and other fun souvenirs.

(this won the award for sweetest drink. seriously, go here if you can, these people are awesome! www.thegardenslug.com)

(go here too, these mini cupcakes were delicious! @thewokandbarrel)

 All the great free treats were definitely the icing on the cupcake, totally unexpected but wonderfully welcome, but the real stars were the staff who kept everyone laughing and happy, so props to all the Pink Dot 2011 crew, you all definitely brightened our day!

 Several staff were patrolling the area with sticky hearts they were asking people to write messages on. Both Pris and I wrote our messages and got to stick them on the walking message board (see above), but when we saw where they all ended up it was even more fun and touching.

(Pink Dot message board! Instant written pick-me-up)

Soon after that the promised concert got underway, with performances by the Dim Sum Dollies, Voguelicious and Rima S and plenty more. 

(told you they were there. unfortunately, we didn't get to hear the MRT song today)

 (they had some serious dance moves. also, look at those heels!)

The concert was great, but the best part of the event came when all over 10,000 of the participants tried to form a huge human pink dot. Unfortunately only citizens and PRs could form the dot, as per the rules of the Speaker's Corner, but even they alone managed to take up the entire space. I'm going to link here to pictures from all the Pink Dot events just for comparison to how insane this was:

Pink Dot 2009- 2,500 particpants

Pink Dot 2010- 4,000 participants

Pink Dot 2011- over 10,000 participants!

We're not sure if they actually expected this high of a turnout, but if they didn't no one could tell. Despite the huge crowd, there was excess of everything; drinks, snacks, brochures, balloons, pom poms and pretty much anything else you could expect. We got a few of our own pics of the dot forming (well, I did, Pris was already in it. Try and spot her in the photos!), but definitely check out the links, the aerial view is fantastic.

 Once everyone was gathered there was a countdown and all at once hundreds of balloons were released by the crowd. 

I gotta admit, that was a pretty tear jerking moment, with everyone yelling in support and cheering and the general excitement in the air. Not something you'd expect in a country where it is still officially illegal for two men to be together (of course, there are no provisions on women in the law, I suppose the government doesn't think that exists?)

We even got a quick snapshot of ourselves before heading off.

One last note before signing off here: if you haven't already watched the Pink Dot 2011 video, you need to watch it now. I don't think anyone with half a heart could finish through that without shedding a tear or two-

edit 19 June: Pink Dot made the local Yahoo news again! 

A Trip Back in Time: Pulau Ubin

This Sunday we took a trip to one of Singapore's 63 islands, Pulau Ubin (or Granite Island, for those who don't speak Malay) to escape the stress and hectic lifestyle on the main island.

Like something out of an old picture book, Pulau Ubin is a far cry from today's industrialized Singapore. No McDonalds, no skyscrapers, not even many people!

To get access to the island we took a bumboat for $2.50 SGD, about a 15 minute boat ride from the Singapore coast. Luckily when we arrived the boat was just full enough, so we didn't have to waste any time waiting around. The first few minutes off the boat see plenty of people. There are a few small eateries and tons of bike shops (as low as $2 for a bike rental per day! If only it were so cheap at East Coast Park!), so there were a good number of tourists hanging around.

From there we decided to hike to Chek Jawa, about a 45 minute hike through the tiny island to the east coast, where there is a vast ecosystem and plenty of cool things to see. Unfortunately, this area has been claimed by Singapore for land reclamation and may not be around as early as next year unless something changes.

Imagine our surprise at seeing no one else making the trip! I think this was the first actual quiet I've had in the last 8 months since arriving in Singapore.

We picked the perfect day. Since we're in the middle of monsoon season it has been raining just about every day for weeks, but the skies cleared just long enough for our day out. We even had a nice breeze and good cloud cover the majority of the time!

After being eaten by dozens of mosquitoes, we finally made it! Like the rest of the island, there weren't many people around so we took the opportunity to relax in the sun and enjoy the nice breeze a while before moving on down the board walk.

Chek Jawa is definitely worth the trouble to get out! Absolutely beautiful and very interesting. We saw mud skippers and a few different types of crab along the coast as the tide went out, although the elusive horseshoe crab never made an appearance. If nothing else I'd recommend it for the ability to get away from the crowds of people for a while.

Around the boardwalk we eventually came to a tall observation tower in the mangrove. Climbing up was kind of scary and we could feel it swaying in the breeze from the top but the views were gorgeous. Around that area we came across one last thing:

Real wild monkeys! It was my first time ever seeing wild monkeys so I was pretty pumped. One of them stole another visitor's orange and was munching away.

Overall we've agreed we'll definitely give Pulau Ubin another few visits at least. The peace and quiet was relaxing, the views were spectacular, and overall the day was amazing. Definitely worth a look at to anyone coming to the little red dot!