Welcoming the New Year like a true Jedi.
Happy New 2018, everyone!
Great your new year will be, may I so add.
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I shouldn’t be putting up a post like this, not with it being the first for this year. But, what happened last night was really too unforgettable not to put into writing.
But before that, allow me to share something. For whatever reason, New Year’s Eves never turn out right for me. This, no matter what I do, how hard I plan.
Something inevitably goes “wrong” before the big hour.
Take for example those years in the late 90s. (My varsity/party years) Once, I got so smashed I didn’t notice the countdown happening around me.
Two years ago in 2016, the evening started off decent enough; I had a pleasant second viewing of The Force Awakens at Capitol Theatre. Thereafter, curiosity got the better of me and I decided to take a stroll around the Marina Bay area, just so, you know, to “check out” the festive crowds.
I quickly ended up trapped in endless one-way streets and was forced to walk through the entire bay area on foot, just so as to reach public transportation. By the end of it, I was so tired, I stumbled into the nearest MRT station at 11.45. I spent midnight in a MRT carriage, staring at three sullen migrant workers.
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2017 wasn’t too bad. I watched La La Land, then managed to secure a spot along the main road to catch the fireworks. I was actually quite pleased with myself too for discovering that great spot, it was nice and spacey and kind of deserted. And then I discovered, at the stroke of midnight, why it was so spacey. The substation across the road effectively blocked out half the fireworks.
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As for last night, what happened was this. Traumatised by yesterdays, I was determined to do it “right” this time. I pre-purchased entry tickets for The Float @ Marina Bay, and got there before 9. The big plan was that I would INSTALL myself on one of the seats and spend the remaining hours of 2017 toying with my phone, right up to midnight.
Right up to midnight. Thereupon, I’d leisurely take out my D7500, extend my tripod, and get a first class recording of the 6-minute fireworks. 4K resolution and all
Sounds foolproof? It was. And it would have been, had it not rained.
Rained. All the way from ten till midnight. Right up to this afternoon, for that matter.
Looking back, I ought to have expected it. It was raining before I left home; as in, it was wet the whole afternoon. Also, I ridiculously thought a poncho was good enough to keep me dry and I could just shelter my camera with something.
Well, I did manage to keep my camera mostly dry. What didn’t occur to me was how miserable the extended wait in the rain before the fireworks would be.
Even more ludicrously, it only just occurred to me, as in while I’m writing this post, that I could have gone to a sheltered area and remained there until the New Year. Perhaps it was the whole Zen, Master Jedi feel of it. So many people were sitting around me, all huddled up in ponchos, staring at the sea … the lights … at each other …
As an Indian gentleman behind me remarked to his son, we are HERE, sitting in the RAIN, staring at the SEA. (Ooooh!) I literally felt the FORCE moved me as I meditated in that ambiance. Oh wait. The Force? That was the wind! Every so often, it was playfully billowing my poncho to get me wet.
Anyway, here’s the video I took! As you will see, I didn’t manage to keep the lens dry in the end. The rain was blowing in from all directions.
What a way to begin 2018! (Strangely, I felt high at the end of it, and strode out of The Float like a proud Jedi on his way to a duel). Hopefully, as the event emcees kept reminding, this downpour implies showers of blessings for 2018. If this wouldn’t be the case for me, may it be so for you in this New Year! 🙂
Read my other Singapore festivals posts.
 fireworks video for you, and the Jedi experience leading up to that.){kind=link}