Our er, jubilee weekend...

I’ve been looking at the amazing photos and reading about how spectacular the SG50 celebrations had been.

Yup, that’s how close we got to enjoying everything. Mostly through our phones and the newspaper.

To those who managed to be in the thick of the action, thanks for keeping us updated via your videos and live updates. Felt like we were there! Well, not quite. Who are we kidding, right?

We so wanted to be part of this magnificent milestone, but being such chillax and unstrategic people, the weekend didn’t quite go as desired…

So many fun events, so many free admissions! I decided to narrow it down to just a handful so we wouldn’t be frazzled by the end of it.

I had it all planned. We’ll kickstart the long weekend with breakfast at the legendary prata stall at Sin Ming which I had been dying to try after reading the review by a friend.

Checking out the Art Science Museum for the afternoon sounded fabulous, with an early dinner at Satay by the Bay, followed by the dazzling display at the Super Trees seemed like the perfect way to enjoy the first day of the jubilee weekend.

All set. Or so I assumed.

We seriously underestimated the crowd and queues. Everywhere.

It took us more than an hour to get our breakfast.

I must say the coin prata was good. This photo doesn’t do it justice at all. It had a nice chewy bite to it.

Faizal & Aziz Curry Muslim Food

That took up the whole morning and it was almost time for Kate’s nap. The museum would have to wait.

#2 broke her guitar strings so since we were waiting for Kate, we went to get it fixed.

Another bad move. The queue to enter the carpark at our heartland mall was unbelievable. Seems like everyone was enjoying the long weekend and was out and about.

I had enough of queuing and was easily persuaded by the kids to skip the Art Science Museum and head to our club for a round of bowling (glad we did, as I read that the queue closed early due to the overwhelming crowd).

Brilliant idea, kids! People were busy queueing all over the island that we had the whole bowling alley to ourselves.

The kids were hungry so we had tea at the alfresco cafe and it was just what I needed to recharge.

Onward to Gardens by the Bay!

Well. You can guess what happened. The queue to enter the carpark was even longer than the one at the mall. It was hardly moving as people wouldn’t be leaving until at least the first show had ended.

This was one time I wished the hubs was with us so that he could have dropped us off while he figured something out.

I decided to hang around in the car, and hopefully when it started, we could catch some action. Light and sound travel, right?

Argh. Not even a whiff came our way.

Defeated. Tomorrow will be better! We are going to Marina Barrage to celebrate a birthday with friends I have known since I was a child. So looking forwards to watching the Black Knights do their stunts. Fingers crossed that the weather would hold out.

Picnic baskets packed, spirits running high, kids all up bright and early.

But… It was pouring! Never mind, we’ll squeeze with the crowd at the sheltered lower level and wait it out.

In the end, we decided it might not be wise to battle the rain and crowd as the event organisers informed us the place was already packed. We had a lovely party indoors, and on hindsight, it was a good move as we heard that there was a massive jam around the Marina Barrage area, and even if we had managed to get in, we might not have been able to find a spot to plonk the whole group of us down on our mats.

Spagetti Carbonara

Back from the party, the kids had friends over and this time, I had wised up. Better stay home and cook. I googled some recipes for dinner and am so proud to announce that I made successful spaghetti carbonara! The kids loved it and polished everything up. We had a swell time playing Pictionary and it was a fun way to end the night.

Pictionary

On National Day, the hubs was back and as we didn’t manage to get tickets to the NDP, we decided to join the crowds, soak in the atmosphere and catch the aerial displays and fireworks.

This is the first time we have ever done this, and didn’t know just how early we had to go to chope a good spot.

We waited for Kate to wake from her nap, got everyone ready, and drove towards town. Traffic signs warned that all carparks were full in the Marina Bay area.

The hubs suggested we try boat quay as the whole Padang, esplanade area would have been cordoned off. We’ll grab some snack or quick dinner before settling down to wait for the fireworks.

Wrong again. No way to grab anything that night! Everywhere was packed. Dinner can wait. Time to search for a good spot.

Wow. We have never seen so many people converging on boat quay before. There must have been tens of thousands of people around.

Wherever we looked, it was a sea of people in red. Sitting on the bricks by the waters, standing on the entire length of the bridge, filling every patch of grass.

Kate was perched on the hub’s shoulder and the whole trail of kids plus the gramps were valiantly trying to follow in single-file. Every so often, the hubs would stop and wait for everyone to be accounted for before moving along.

After reaching his intended spot, we waited, and when the flares were shot, he realized that the view was blocked by the trees. Off we would move again to find a better spot. We must have looked like lost chicken.

Finally, as it was nearing 8.15pm, we decided that the middle of the bridge provided the most unobstructed view and stayed put.

As the fireworks started to burst forth, we saw people dashing past us. #2 got so worried. “What’s happening mum?! Why is everyone running away?”

It looked like Armageddon. The noise from the fireworks, the smoke, and people running for their lives.

Then it dawned on us. These smart people had figured out what was happening.

The Fullerton was blocking the entire view! The fireworks was not going any higher.

For the next few seconds, everybody started sprinting!

Fireworks!

To this spot where the building ended. To catch the last few seconds of the fireworks.

It was such an epic fail that it was simply hilarious. Everybody burst out clapping!

Kate had no clue what was happening and was happily soaking in everything.

We asked if she liked the fireworks and she replied, “Yes! Can we go again?”

Chilli crab

By the time we had dinner, it was 9pm. The kids were hungry, tired, and bewildered. Talk about an anti-climax.

Of course, we had to order chilli crab and fried man tou.

Ah well. We can always find comfort in our local cuisine.

~ www.mummyweeblog.com – a blog on parenting 6 kids in Singapore ~