New Year Eve Outing

On New Year eve, my cousins and I wanted to go to the Marina Barrage to catch the firework at 12 midnight, so after dinner we set off at around 8.30pm and headed towards Marina South. The traffic from Toa Payoh to Marina South was very smooth until we reached the old Marina South Driving Range there were a huge traffic jam! We could not turn towards the Marina Barrage car park because it was already full and the police on duty asked us to U-turn back to park at Shenton Way.

We were thinking it must be crazy to park at Shenton Way and walk all the way to the Marina Barrage. Yet as we drove out from Marina South, we saw hundreds and thousands of people were actually walking towards Marina South, presumably towards the Marina Barrage! I really admired their enthusiasm!

Eventually, we arrived at the Tanjong Rhu Driving Range Café and I found a good spot at the Café that offered a great view of our Central Business District with the Singapore Flyer in the foreground, which will be great for my pictures compositions! I thought we found the perfect place to watch and to take photos of the firework but only to be told that the driving range gate will be locked at 11.30pm and all cars have to clear the compound by 11.15pm! As it is we were back in hunt for another favourable place to watch the firework!

As time is closing in, we decided to park at the Indoor Stadium and take pictures from the Kallang Basin. Although we could still see the Singapore Flyer on the left and the Pebble Bay Condominium will be blocking most part of the firework, we decided to stay put and watch the firework from there.

After setting up the camera on the tripod we sat around chit-chatting and unknowingly the time for count down has begun! Everyone shouted – “five, four, three, two…Happy New Year” and as the clock strike 12 midnight the first burst of firework blasted off brightening the night sky and it signify a New Year has began! It is now the year 2009 and everyone turned to their family members, their friends or strangers standing beside them to wish each other a Happy New Year and made lots of noise to welcome the New Year!

We stopped by the Old Hong Kong restaurant in Katong to fill our stomach before bidding each other goodnight and headed home. Here are some pictures taken on my New Year eve.