NDP 2013

Shane & I finally had a chance to watch together National Day Parade this year!

Since our dating days, I've always wanted to watch NDP with him, 

but somehow, it never did materialize.

Thanks to a dear friend, I managed to score tickets for this year's NDP's preview :)

The best part is we got the orange sector's tickets, which is the next best seats other than the VIP red sector.

Catching the last bit of sunshine before the sun sets :)

The NDP was hosted by 4 different hosts of different ethnicities.

We had Gurmit Singh, Siti, Roz and Sebastian.

They were all really awesome hosts, 

and their level of enthusiasm really helped to rave up the whole festive atmosphere.

The crowd anticipating the start of programme. 

Love how most people took the effort to dress up in our national colors of red and white!

Oh yes, I was seated at the 5th row from the front 

We arrived later than most of the people.

Apparently, they filled people up from the back seats.

The late-comers (like ourselves) were shown the way to the first few rows instead.

That is rather queer, isn't it?

My natural assumption is the earlybirds would get the better seats. 

As ours is a preview session, the cabinet members were represented by these young men.

You can hear chuckles from the crowd when they see the awkward expressions on these representatives.

lol. If I was in these  poor chaps' shoes, I'd be awkward too ;)

Just saw that the Red Lions did not manage to complete their act on the actual NDP.

That's really quite a shame as they were really a crowd-pleaser.

All of them landed very gracefully, and the crowd were more than happy to cheer on them on as they landed.

There is a female red lion in the midst too! Spot her ;)

The mini-versions of the 4 hosts.

I liked how the show had 2 sets of hosts (the younger and the original).

They had their own segments. 

I especially liked the part where the kids were telling the Singapore stories.

They are so young and innocent, and tell the stories in all earnestness.

Next up was a show of our competent troops and weapons.

This segment was fast-spaced, 

and they made use of every single space in the performance ground to showcase. 

The floating platform, the road, the sea, the air. 

Of the lot, I was really fascinated with the tanks.

They looked bulky, but they travel pretty quickly for their sizes!

The cast of "Ah Boys to Men" had a feature too!

The actors split up to walk up the stairs to wave hi too :)

As you can tell, the crowd kind of went crazy. 

One of the ladies shouted "Hello Lobang king!"

To which, he replied "Yaya! I'm Lobang king! You want any lobang?!"

Here's the army contingents looking all smart and handsome!

They were really uniform and neat in their marching. 

Really hats off to them for being able to tolerate the drilling in this overbearing Singapore weather. 

The moment we sang our national anthem.

It was a really heart-warming moment, to hear the whole crowd belting out the familiar national anthem.

It was years ago since I last sang it, and it kind of brought goosebumps.

And I couldn't stop grinning as I sang it again.

This human LCD idea isn't exactly new, but still, it's really cool to watch it live.

They had sparklers attached to the back of the bikes. 

So cool to see the bursts of lights come alive!

The sea of lights. 

Don't they look like lighted popsicles? 

I thought the idea of having the animated merlion to be really innovative!

It's humorous, and it's a joke which only Singaporeans would really understand and laugh about :)

Bringing a sense of togetherness, no? 

Then it was a showcase of our local talents in their respective fields.

There was the sportsmen and sportswomen, in synchronized swimming, table tennis etc.

There was the singing of NDP song 2013 by the 68 performers as well.

The oh-oh-oh portion was really popular with the crowd

Last but not least, the fireworks! :D

Here's us while waiting for the crowd to disperse.

Loots from the NDP 2013 funpack!

Overall, I really enjoyed this year's NDP.

The feeling of watching it live is definitely very different from watching it on TV.

The festive atmosphere rubs off even the most cynical Singaporean (i swear). haha.

Even though we as Singaporeans have our misgivings about how our tiny country is being ruled,

and we each have our own grievances to share,

but at the end of the day, we have to admit that Singapore does occupy a special place in our heart.

Our memories, our happy moments, our family and friends are here.

That's what that makes Singapore special to us, isn't it so? ;)