I am contemplating a revisit to Chinatown maybe next week to take more photographs of the Lunar New Year decorations as the session i planned last Friday was marred by the afternoon thunderstorm!
In the meantime, i am not going to waste those pictures taken last Friday and thought it's better for me to publish them today. p.s. there's a slim possibility that i might not return if my full-time work continues to bog me down.
Focus is always on the main, 11-meter tall, centerpiece in between Eu Tong Sen Street and New Bridge Road and as it is the year of the canine, let us present to you the family of six dogs!
There has been a bit of controversy over this year's centerpiece; not seem since the chicken year in 2005 when the rooster was sitting on a bed of eggs.
Aside from the position of the alpha male, which was said to appear as if it's humping the mama dog from a certain angle, it's the expression that many Chinese took issue with.
Many commented that the dogs look like foxes and the expression was too 'fierce'; latter of which isn't appropriate for the happy occasion known as the most important festival among the Chinese.
I share the same sentiments although i viewed the controversies positively; at least it gets people to talk about it and for the designing team to be more mindful of the wires in the future. Personally, i thought they could have been more adventurous with the colours.
Colours for the 88 hand-crafted canine lanterns, i meant, and maybe various breeds in the mix to differentiate from one another.
From this angle, it appeared as if there was a pack of dogs waiting to chase the passing cars! I wouldn't be surprised if a driver, who is scared of dogs, braking suddenly when he/she drives past.
Taken further down the street, away from the centerpiece; in total, there are 2,188 lanterns purposely handcrafted for the street light up at Chinatown and "powered by around 13,000 environmentally friendly LED light bulbs", according to the article on Straits Times.
Hanging decorations along Eu Tong Sen Street and New Bridge Road, respectively. The use of pineapples was because of its similar pronunciation to two other Chinese words; the dog's bark and prosperity.
The stage for yesterday's opening ceremony.
Time to check out the street bazaar but before then, let's check out the queue at Chinatown's most popular bak kwa store; Lim Chee Guan! Queue was manageable at about 20-person long and pricing wise, the signature sliced pork bak kwa was selling at S$56 a kilogram as of 26 January 2018.
Street bazaar with over 400 stalls that run across a few main streets in Chinatown! As you can see, the floor was wet and that's no thanks to the light drizzle that eventually turned into heavy rain! :(
It's a bummer as many stall owners had no choice but to cover their wares with plastic sheets / curtains to prevent water damage.
Taking photo wasn't easy as i needed to protect my camera too! As business is dependent heavily on the weather, i hope the weather in the next few weeks would be better with minimal rain.
Didn't help that some of the streets were still open to traffic and in addition to the danger of being hit by a car, there's the risk of having water splashed onto you!
The above wasn't covered as the pomelos would benefit from the water!
Cross junction of Smith Street and Trengganu Street with the iconic building that's always featured on my CNY festive decoration postings.
Dog statues for one to take picture with.
Has there been a renovation? Trengganu Street seems much wider than before although i figured it would not address the issue of human jams in the run up to Chinese New Year's eve.
Taiwanese jellies and samples!
Bored with standard festive decorations for your home? Check out those with LED lights and sound. Thankfully, i am super lazy when it comes to decorating and have no interest to adorn my house.
S$38 for one?!
The irritating dancing dogs. On second thought, they would not be as bad as the shrills and screams coming from the chicken toy!
Started raining really bad and my mood was all gone since i specifically took leave that day to cover the new year decorations.
Many people were just holding on to their brollies and like me, praying for the rain to stop so that we can continue to roam the street without having to get wet.
Dog lanterns for the year on top of a store's awning - i thought it's nice to have them all around Chinatown instead of being restricted to zones.
Things improved nearing 6.00 pm but i honestly didn't have the enthusiasm to continue the photo-taking as i would be meeting my friends for dinner and i think the stall owners were worried that the rain might start again; hence, their products were still covered up.
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Chinatown, Singapore
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