Spending the first 8 mins in 2013 to enjoy a dazzling display of fireworks in the sky with music played in the background at Marina Bay is amazing. I don’t think I’ve done a countdown in this lion city before.
The Countdown
I know, it’s crazy and it just makes no sense that I’m a Singaporean and I’ve never been to Marina Bay’s Countdown before. Having said that, everyone should at least experience Singapore’s Official countdown. If you haven’t, there’s always next year. But you have to wait for another 365 days for the next countdown.
In the meantime, enjoy viewing some of the photos below which I’ve taken on the day of countdown itself. Also, read about how I spent my last few hours before the whole nation screams “3,2,1!” and the earth shifts into position which marks the start of 2013.
Breath-taking views of our country’s skyscrapers at Marina Bay seems much more alive and beautiful on the night of countdown. Everything seems more impressive and peaceful at night. Standing at the promontory, enjoying the views with the cool breeze brushing across your face. Perfect.
Downtown Bites
As you can see, it’s rather wet that day as it’s been drizzling during the night. But no one seems too bothered by the rain. The weather is not going to ruin our significant moment when the clock strikes 12am!
Marina Bay Waterfront
Show this photo to any foreigner and they will be like, “wow, this is Singapore? In Asia? ”
Marina Bay Sands Shoppes
Since it was pouring slightly outside, everyone was seeking shelter in the mall. But Singaporeans just don’t like doing simply anything in the mall. We have to keep ourselves busy with either shopping or eating. There were long queues in every dining place here. We do have a huge appetite for food!
My two besties and I also took a shelter here while waiting for the rain to stop. Since we didn’t want to eat or shop, we just hand around in a corner to talk.
We started conversing our new year resolutions when Esther whipped this sheet of paper with a list of questions out from her bag. To kill some time, we shared and talk about some of our answers to the questions listed. So this is how bored we are! Hopefully, there will be more activities and events happening at Marina Bay to entertain the masses!
A little macaron treat from Mabel
TWG’s macarons were sold only for SGD2 and I love it! I had the 1837 black tea and blackcurrant macaron. It’s not chewy and tasted nothing like Laduree’s or Pierre Hermes but it’s so much less sweeter than most macarons and it’s in fact, slightly crunchy and had just the right amount of filling. That’s our Singaporean macarons from TWG which has lesser calories!
By the way, do you know that Twinings Tea Company from London is totally different from TWG, which is a Singapore tea company?
The whole of Marina Bay was cordoned by anxious-looking and impatient photographers with their tripods, raincoats and umbrella.
You might think it’s some sort of a spaceship that shoots light in different directions, right?
At around 10.30pm, I head over to the Promontory just in time to catch the 365+ concert by local acts.
Jun Yang from Sunsilk Academy Fantasia performing at 365+ concert, The Promontory.
Duet by Jun Yang and Hui Xian, who is the winner of Sunsilk Academy Fantasia.
It’s great to be seeing them performing in public after Sunsilk Academy Fantasia, a singing contest shown on StarHub Channel. I was also a official blogger for that TV reality show and it’s great to see them continuing to work hard in pursuing their dreams.
One word. Spectacular.
This is the night where all photography enthusiasts gather in one spot.
Then, the dragons crept in.
No, not dragons. I mean the Sky dancers. The team from GoFlyKite was there with their kites soaring high up into the night sky.
You will be left in awe when you know that it was a bunch of teens who were manipulating the remote-controlled LED night kites.
After the stunning performance by the GoFlyKite team, I continued to hang around promontory with my friends and then I heard…
Clarence Liew singing his self-written and self-composed song, Mary Jane. I remembered watching his videos on YouTube a month ago and I can’t believe I get to see this guy performing live on stage. I reckon he will be the next big thing in Singapore.
Happy New Year!
The most anticipated exciting moment is finally about to begin!
“BOOM!”
And everyone go “ooo”,”ahh”, “woah” and some even screamed at the top of their lungs!
I wasn’t exactly at the best spot for excellent photo shoots of the fireworks. Neither did I own a set of lenses or camera gadgets to capture photos under dark conditions. All I had was a Canon 650D, using the No-Flash mode to take all these pictures which were all unedited. But I guess, the photo above has got to be one of my best shots!
Look at how the fireworks were reflected on the glass panels of this building! Since I knew I wasn’t going to take really perfect shots of the fireworks with Singapore’s modern and advance landscape, so I thought maybe I could capture other things that were happening around me. I just to make use of what I have, right?
Besides, I’m not really into ISO, shutter speed, angle, and lenses. I simply just wanted my photographs to help portray my perspective of matter or to invoke a certain emotion that concurs to me so much that I wanted to share with you. Like blogging or writing articles, photography to me is a form of expression, not so much of perfection.
A True Red fiery of Brilliance
The Dawn of a new beginning
For me, watching the fireworks cracking and spewing sparks in the air wasn’t was remarkable as observing the people around me who stood in amazement. I mean, when would you ever get to chance to stare at the sky in amazement with so many people packed in one place? Some just stood silently and admire the beauty of the firework display from a distance while others, rejoiced in embrace,smiled and cheered with clapping hands and jumping feet. Everyone wants to own this very moment with their cameras and camcorders.Suddenly, you realised that the whole world is fixated on one thing – the sky or the start of a new beginning.
Shrouded in smoke
It lights up your eyes and warms your senses, but it leaves a trail of dust that blurs the horizon.
We now know where we are heading but we should never forget where we’ve first started off.
Set our hearts on fire
At last, the fireworks display ended and the whole masses of people begin heading to the train stations and bus stops. I thought I could get away quickly and reach the Raffles Place MRT station before everyone does but there were others who were way ahead of me.
Some of the exits and entrances to the MRT stations were blocked and there was a heavy human traffic where I could only inch my way through the crowd. You got to be fast if you want to catch the train and get home early! I had to be back before 2am as I got a flight to catch at 7am!
So, that’s how I begin my 2013.
With a countdown at Marina Bay and a trip to Bali for an adventure on my own.
