ndp 03

i lazy to do the layout nice nice la.. just plonk them all here.. *grin

went to see the national day parade, national education show, on the 19th July 2003, for the first time in my 22 years as a singaporean. granted it's not on the 9th August, but still!! its the same what!! just that instead of ministers in white, we get guy in green holding flag.. hiakz.. simulating them la.. tsk.. but it kinda corny though..

anywayz, wenshan and i met @ kallang mrt, then we cut across PA and crossed the bridge. there were army guys stationed all over the place.. and we were sheperded like sheep! faint. point here, point there.. and bestest.. this guy directed us to gate3 to take our temperature when we reached gate 3, the guys there said to walk round to the other gate.. which was the west gate..ok.. the stadium isn't like very small lor!!! faint. anywayz.. so we took our temperature and this guy offered me a normal looking dog balloon.. you know those twisted balloons thingy? yes..

anyway, we refused. then this other girl offered us a walking dog balloon.. or so she sayz... we took it anywayz.. hiakz.. but wenshan cannot make head or tail of the silly thing. knowing wenshan.. no prizes for guessing what she tot it was..

so we collected our funpack and proceeded to have our bags checked. this wenshan.. went shopping for handphone earlier in the day and HT bought her the ericsson t610. this military police @ the gate checked her bag.. he took out the t610 box, he actually wanted to open it.. den he shook it!! shake until can hear the contents of the box rattling inside.. and wenshan was like "can you don't shake the box? my handphone inside." and she was turning red she was like "what the hell is he trying to do?" and i'm like thinking to myself "faint faint faint.. u think by shaking the box the bomb would go off lor!"... the 2 guys beside the MP who were there to check tickets were trying very hard to control their laughter... silly MP.. wazan.. handphone box also shake until like dat. hiakz.. faint. gong gong one neh.

we were assigned our seats and started checking out the funpack.

the stadium when we got there..

the ns guys setting up the field..
wenshan getting all excited about the parade.

there was the preparade segment, where the 6 MCs, got us yelling and screaming and storming and waving..
"EVERYBODY ON THIS SIDE OF THE STADIUM .. SCRRREEEEEEEEAAAAAAAMMM!!!!!" and everybody went crazy! woohoo!!

OH and for the first time in my entire life, i did the kallang wave @ the national stadium!!! WOOHOO!!
ok.. there's this singapore chant thing that goes something like

or something like that.. strangely enough i forgot how the chant goes.. hiakz.. not very catchy huh? *shrug

then the Red Lions came down... the parachuters la.. and silly me.. forgot that my camera has the ability to record 30sec video.. so i didn take video of them landing!!! FAINT! the whole stadium went "wwwooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo" until they landed den we all went "YEA!" hiazk.. sounds dumb now.. but it sure was fun then!!

the marching contingent doing their last minute place check.

then the parade started proper and the contingents started marching in to the beat of "pride of our nation" and "we are one".

then the contingents came marching in.. this is greg's 'group', aiya, i dunno the correct term for it la.. er.. platoon? but cannot see him.. cos the guy's head block. even if nvr block also too small to see!
the Supporting Contingents

and well.. being the silly me that i am.. i failed to record them marching in.. sighz.. shit man.the parade is my favourite part of the NDP and i actually forgot to record it.. sighz.. oh well.. i shall take consolation in the fact that the video would have turned out small anyway.. the contingent hormated, i would like to think that they hormated us.. but they hormat for the colors to march in.. anywayz... it sure felt like they were hormating us! felt great! even though it was just wishful thinking on my part.. hiakz.. if i were given the chance to be in the ndp, i would definitely choose to be in the GOH contingent.. complete with the march pass!! i think the feelin is damn shiok lor! i definitely dun wanna be in the uniform groups @ the back.. actually i dun mind being in the army contingent .. got rifle to hold.. still got sparkler leh! i think as long as u get to march, and hormat with the rifle.. is just STEADY LA! but of course, i don't really look forward to the rehearsals la.. damn boring n tedious n boring n tedious n did i say boring n tedious? hiakz.. reminds me of the TKGS official opening.. faint.. we trained so long for it and it was all over in a matter of minutes!! i think @ most give u 5 mins. sighz.. so many hours under the hot sun, so many time marching the same route over and over again, standing in the sun not moving for so long..but it was all worth it in the end, when that minister finally arrived. anyway.. i sidetracked! back to the ndp..

anyway, the Army Supporting Contingents performed a marching transformation to form "NDP 2003" as in the image. to quote the booklet provided, "culminating with a 'domino compression' from left to right, executed with military precision to the rhythm of the popular soundtrack 'Superman'". excuse me for a moment while i interupt the quote, i dun remember hearing the Superman song lor.. maybe i dunno the song!! or maybe the sound like muffled.. hiakz.. anywayz.. the transformation was steady. serious. sighz.. if only i had recorded it man.

after the guys that were supposed to arrive made their appearances, the helicopter bearing the National Flag flew over the stadium as we were singing the national anthem. my god! the feeling is just so.. i dunno how to describe, but i felt like so proud to be a singaporean, there and then. its like shiok lor the feeling.. like nothing can ever beat that! YEA! Singapore RULZ!

then the healthcare workers came on the 'stage' and sang that song.. shit i forgot the title... oh yes, Thru' You Eyes (Heroes & Angels) and the army contingent went sparklers!!! aiya.. the fire-like thingy that spray from their rifle la...so cool!

then proceeded with the PA's performance, then the SOKA society.. well.. the SOKA pple were not exactly 'know their steps @ the tip of their fingertips' cos i could see the instructor running around and still teaching them where to stand and how to hold the thing!! just as well its not the actual NDP... then there was the commonwealth kids doing their item with the fan, and the military police and their fancy drill.. ooh!! they had dunno how many guys doing a human pyramid on the bike!!! u know like the police academy show? yes yes.. like dat!! and there was one hanging upside down @ the front wheel of the bike! steady huh! and there were breakdancers and aiya i'm not exactly sure which sequence they were in la.. luanz already.. the visual effects were nice.. OH! and just before the SOKA performance, they let loose the rows of big balls and the balls bounced down on our heads.. idiots.. no warning @ all.. i was just sitting there looking @ the field.. then suddenly i felt something bounce on my head.. gosh. the ball is heavy! heng its not totally filled with air.. still quite soft.. then before i knew it.. there were heads all over the place. all rolling down to the tracks.. hiakz. horrifying site if u ask me! haha!

oh and the motivators.. well.. as energetic as they were.. they were equally annoying too!! keep spraying us with thier water guns.. sheesh.. or shld i say sprinkle .. haha!! oh well..

oh and sun yanzi wasnt there.. instead it was Fiona Xie who sang.. and later on it was a Christie Ho or something.. cheyz!

then there were fireworks and all the participants came onto the field and started singing .. continued with the pledge and the anthem again. the feeling is really different when u're @ the stadium lor.. its like there's this feeling just welling up in you.. sigh.. next year if anybody got ndp tickets I WANT!!!

then all too soon, the day come to an end. in no time at all, the gallery was empty.. with a few straddlers left.. but apparently, when i reached home, greg was still @ the indoor stadium, awaiting his turn to return to camp. amazing logic these army pple have.. first to finish their item.. last to leave the area.. what the?!