Happy Chinese New Year! This weekend has been great so far! Festivities have taken over the city and I get the next two days off of classes, not too much to complain about there. (Except the rain, I can complain about that. But hey, it's monsoon season, what do you expect.)
(Fireworks in Marina Bay)
On Saturday, Marina Bay was where the party was at for Chinese New Year. Well actually not true, if you are a white tourist who showed up for that day only, then apparently the party was at Chinatown. We visited for a little bit because we heard there was a show, but we were met with a Disneyland-style line to even get out of the MRT (subway) station. Once we got out we found that not a whole lot had changed about Chinatown from earlier in the week, except for the fact that there was a street show that we couldn't see and thousands upon thousands of people.
So to re-clarify, Marina Bay was where the party was at for us.
There was a wonderful set-up on the far side of Marina Bay in by the Helix Bridge with wonderful illuminated decorations, fair food (and even rides), a stage with performances, and just a lot of cool things to take pictures of and to enjoy until the fireworks started. The fireworks were amazing and were shot off in the very center of the bay. I bet it would've looked cool from 1-Altitude or the SkyPark in Marina Bay Sands. In fact, there were events and sights to see all around the bay (including an outdoor jazz concert), but we spent most of our time near the main set up.
One of the many cool illuminated exhibits at the street fair in Marina Bay was a gated off pile of oversized coins. Hanging in the spaces of the coins from different angles were bells, each bell had a meaning to them (Body, World Peace, Children, ect.) and if you threw a coin from outside the gate and hit the bell, you would bring luck to that particular area. I'm interested to know how much was collected because it turned into quite the money sink for the group I was with.
(Didn't hit the "World Peace" bell, sorry, looks like that's not happening this year. My bad.)
After the fireworks at midnight (which were spectacular) we headed back to campus. Over the entire night, while we did visit Chinatown, we spent a majority of our time in the Marina Bay area (specifically on the Marina Bay Sands side). If you happen to be in Singapore for Chinese New Year ever, I recommend spending your time in Marina Bay, there is more to do, great fireworks, and it's a lot less crowded. While you should visit Chinatown while you are here, do what I did and go when it is less crowded. You'll miss the show that they have in Chinatown, but in my opinion Marina Bay is good for New Years Eve, while Chinatown should be seen during the week. (So you can peruse the shops and by things you don't need)
The next day, we had a wonderful little potluck where a few of my friends and I got together to cook too much food in one of the dorm kitchens. It was a lot of fun, and especially handy because many stores and restaurants are closed on Chinese New Year. Plus, I got to make pasta, and I really missed pasta.
I plan on celebrating my next few days off by spending a lot of time in Starbucks working on some things (re-writes on my book, homework, ect.) and just enjoying way too many shots of espresso. I'd actually like to start collecting questions (about Singapore, my trip so far, study abroad, all that jazz) that you guys have for me and I can do a Q&A post eventually where I answer them (on a rainy day when things get boring and I'm not laying on a beach).
So drop me a question on the comments below, to my Facebook, or to my Twitter (@thechrismorgan). I look forward to answering them!
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