Singapore turned 40 on August 9th, and in recognition of this occasion, the city hosted a whole week of celebration. I attended the celebration at Marina Bay on Sunday evening with a group of foreign students from China, Japan, and Hong Kong who all live in the same building as myself. After making many transfers between trains and buses, we found our way to the celebration site, and decided to start the evening with a traditional "steamboat" dinner. Steamboat reminded me of Japanese suki yaki because it was a pot filled with boiling broth placed in the center of the table-- everyone then went to a buffet of raw meats and vegatables and filled heaping plates to bring back to cook in the broth. This particular steamboat had the added element of a grill surrounding the pot where each diner could choose to grill meats and vegetables instead of boiling them. It was a kind of make-your-own dinner event (which I love). Most of us foreign students were amateurs at steamboat, and managed to burn many of our meats on the grill, before we realized that we were supposed to put some oil on the grill to prevent burning. Alas, we ended up making such delicacies as "cucumbers a la charcoal." The meal ended with a free ice cream bar-- flavors to choosed from: red bean or corn. I really have a hard time getting used to beans and corn as the dessert flavor of preference in this region of the world.
After dinner, we made our way out to the concert grounds, where Singapore played host to a number of famous singers from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. We watched a sort of "Asian Spice Girls" performance before the stage fell silent for the fireworks show. And what a show! These fireworks far out-performed any I had ever seen. In the U.S. we tend to think that the most magnificent fireworks involve the biggest explosions, but here the fireworks became a form of art, like a dance. Each night during the celebration Singapore hosted a different fireworks "choreographer" from around the world. The man who put on our show was from France, and the entire show was beautifully choreographed to music and sound-effects blasted through speakers. It was so beautiful that there were none of the "oohs" and "ahs" of a usual fireworks display, but instead a deep silence of appreciation.
Monday, August 15, 2005
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