Singapore Youth Olympics Opening Ceremony

As a Singaporean, I should be very proud that Singapore is hosting the inaugural Youth Olympic Games. But somehow, like most singaporeans, I am not really interested (according to a poll by CNA). Maybe because its not just us, the world seems to be turning a blind eye on the games too. I was looking at Yahoo.com and Yahoo.com.sg, there was no mention of the opening ceremony that happened yesterday. This is a far cry from the attention and praises the media had on the Beijing Olympic games 2 years ago. Was it a failure in our publicity effort? Maybe. Maybe its the lack of a certain thing that we can marvel at and call it a symbol of the olympic games. The Beijing games have the Bird Nest and the Water Cube..we have nothing. We dont even have a proper stadium for the opening ceremony. Its the first day of the games, so its still hard to say if the attention will grow over the next few days. But seriously, Yahoo Singapore dont even have a page dedicated to the olympic games...how sad is that!

The opening ceremony last nights has some high and low points. There were no spectacularly choreographed stunts or performances. Perhaps its unfair to compare it to the Beijing Games but pole dancing for the olympic games? Seriously? There were some cringe-worthy moments like when they welcome the athletes with "客人来看爸爸，爸爸不在家.." ..what were they thinking? and I know the wonder girls are hot and korean culture is the IN thing now but glorifying "Nobody , nobody but chu..." in the opening ceremony? And the familiar children day song "Sama Sama..." and "There are five stars arising..out on the stormy sea"..I thought I was watching some children's day celebration or the retelecast of last week National Day Parade. Then the flag bearers nearly screwed the ceremony up when many of them look lost after they appeared on the stage. Some turned left when they supposed to go right while some just stood right at the center only to realised that they are not supposed to be there. This is not supposed to happen, considering its just a simple matter of communication. Just follow the damn person holding the card in front of you! How difficult is that? The flagbearers cannot be blamed as they genuinely looked lost. The organiser should be blamed for not briefing them properly on what they were supposed to do.

Anyway, it was not all bad. There were some great moments during the ceremony. The fireworks display was amazing. The best I have seen since the opening of the Esplanade theater. The water stage called the reflecting pool is kinda cool as well.

The Olympic rings formed on the reflecting pool is really beautiful.

They really brought out the big guns for the fireworks display.

This is a really beautiful picture with MBS as the backdrop.

Its the moment that everyone , at least those who cared, was waiting for.. the olympic flag raised on singapore soil for the very first time. Tan Howe Liang, our first olympic medalist is one of the flag bearer. I was hoping he will be the final torch bearer.

I liked the idea of the pheonix delivering the olympic flame.

And the final torch bearer goes to...Darren Choy..who? That was my first reaction when I heard his name. A quick google search revealed he is the world champion for sailing. His parents must be really proud of him being able to light the olympic flame.

The olympic flame blazing above Darren Choy. The tornado effect is a nice touch. The light house design is rather cool too.

So relieved

I passed my examination. Yeah! At least I did not go USA for nothing. So relieved.

Day 8: Last day in New York

I decided the last day shall be the day I spent touring New York leisurely. But it turned out to be rather crazy. I practically walked the entire stretch of manhattan from 103th street to brooklyn bridge.

I started the morning back where I started a week ago on a saturday morning - Central Park. This time, I went to the east side to explore areas which I didnt see the last time.

Its weird to find an obelisk in the middle of Central Park. This obelisk was erected in Egypt and then removed to Alexandria by the Roman. It was presented to the city of New York in 1881 by Egypt.

The Ramble at Central Park.
At the center of the park is the Bethesda Fountain.

The wollman rink reopened by Donald Trump. Its an ice skating rink during winter and a amusement park during summer.

The Apple store just at the border of Central Park. It was packed with people queuing up to get their ipad and iphone 4.

A few streets down is the Abercrombie and Fitch Store. As usual they have their models standing in front of the store to attract customers.

The Washington Square Arch.

Everyone having fun at the fountain. The heat was unbearable that day. I think it was at least 36 degrees.

My second visit to the Brooklyn Bridge.

My final stop was at Ground Zero. I was there in 2007 and it was a construction site. 3 years later, its still a construction site. I wonder when it will finally be completed.

Day 7: Shopping Time!!

The 2nd last day of my trip was where I spent the most money. Woodbury common outlet stores. They have so many branded stuff at really cheap prices. I went crazy over there. I think I never bought so much stuff at one go.

Final tally : SGD 580. Two belts, one watch, two polo tshirt, one t shirt, one shorts, one pair of shoes, one pair of underwear, one shirt.

Day 6: Boston

The final day of the tour started with an early morning tour of Harvard. I guess this would be my only time stepping on the premise of Harvard..haha. Wish I was smart enough to actually study here.

After Harvard was the equally famous MIT college.

All the parents were so excited about the two colleges. For me, I guess its too late.
The one hour ferry ride around Boston was more interesting. You get to see the entire bay area of Boston.

Boston City Center.

Our last stop was the very old Quincy Market.

Its a market place where you find all sorts of food.

But the most famous in Boston is lobster and clam chowder and thats exactly what I had for lunch.

After lunch, my tour officially ended. The bus took me back to New York City where it all began.

Back to New York.

Day 5: Niagara Falls

Next day, we woke up really early..5am to go to the Niagara Falls. We caught the imax show which was about the history and the legends of Niagara Falls followed by a ride on the famous Maid of the Mist.

The raging water that will eventually flow down the American Falls.

The view is so beautiful with the rainbow and the massive amount of flowing water.
This is the Rainbow Bridge that connects America to Canada.

On board the Maid of the Mist that brings you right next to the action.

The horseshoe falls

After the boat ride, I was totally wet..here together with Amanda, a friend I made during the trip.

How to resist taking a photo against such a beautiful landscape.

After that, its nearing the end of our tour. We had to endure a 8 hour bus ride to Boston. A lobster dinner was what awaits us.

Boston Chinatown.

My own lobster. It was my first time having lobster. Personally I dont think its anything great. Just taste like prawn..a huge prawn. Lol

Day 4: Bus ride to Niagara Falls

The third day of the tour was rather uneventful. The highlight of the trip was Niagara Falls and the entire day was spent getting there. On route, we made two stops - Hersheys Chocolate Factory and Corning Museum of Glass.

Hersheys Chocolate factory. I was rather excited at first but was kinda disappointed in the end. I thought the factory would be the real deal..but it turned out to be a "theme park" for the kids. I would be very excited if I were 20 yrs younger. The chocolate factory tour is too cutesy for me. Oh well, at least I got a free chocolate bar.

There were other stuff to do..like watching a show, learning to make chocolate..but we did not have enough time for that. So after lunch, off we go to Corning Museum of Glass.
Corning Museum of Glass. Yes, first thing came to my mind was the glass pots my mum called Corning ware. And yes it came from here. But I was not interested in cooking pots, there were many beautiful glass exhibits in the museum such as this one..

Looks like an aquarium encased in glass.

The glass chess set was another intricate masterpiece as well.

A giant standing glass chandelier.

The highlight was a 20min show demonstrating how the glass vases were hand crafted. A simple vase took many rounds of painstaking work by the lady here to form. It took repeated heating, forming, heating and spinning to form the shape you desire.

At the end of the session, there was a lucky draw and two lucky winners went home with vases. Unfortunately, its not me.

Then it was anothe 4 hours ride to reach niagara falls. Its a pity we were late and we couldnt get better lighting to view the magnificent horseshoe falls.

Nevertheless, it was amazing seeing the falls right before me.

My attempt to capture the falls in night mode. I was very happy to be able to get the waterfall effect with my camera. hehee

Beside the horseshoe falls is the american falls which we would eventually visit the next morning.

Day 3: Washington DC

Day 2 of my tour began with a two hour bus ride to Philadephia. Just a brief stop at the Independence Hall to see the Liberty Bell.

Its interesting that a bell with a huge crack is of such huge significance in the history of the US. The bell was ordered in 1751 for use in the Pennsylvania State Housenow known as Indedepence Hall in Philadelphia. The bell cracked during testing. There is a long story to why the bell eventually is honored so I shant elaborate here. Hehe

The Independence Hall is right beside where the Liberty Bell is housed now. It is where the Declaration of Independence was signed.

Next was another 2 hours bus ride before we reached Washington DC. Our first stop was the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. This museum was also featured in Night at the Museum 2 together with Lincoln Memorial which I also visited during this trip.

The Space sector with all the space rockets and space vehicles.

The lunar landing vehicle.

The rover used to land on Mars. Again, the stay was too short. I especially liked the space section of the museum where you get to see lots of space vehicles and also learned about the apollo missions.

Less than 5 min walk from the museum is the Capitol Building.

Unfortunately, we can only view this beautiful piece of architecture from afar.

Same thing for the white house. We had to view the White House from far as the road was closed to public. I managed to get this photo thanks to my camera 10x zoom.

Washington DC is a place with lots of memorials. This is the Jefferson Memorial dedicated to Thomas Jefferson, the third president of US.

Washington Monument on the left and Jefferson Memorial on the right. The Washington Monument was built to commemorate the first president - George Washington. The obselisk structure was referenced in Dan Brown' s Lost Symbol. I was quite excited to see it right before my eyes. It is the tallest structure in Washington DC.

Another memorial. This time is the Korean War Memorial.

The ghostly carving on the wall represents the people who perished during the war.

Scupltures of soldiers who fought during the war.

The Lincoln Memorial.

This scene was featured in so many movies and here I was looking at it from the same point of view. Its amazing and surreal.

The day ended with a leisurely boat ride touring the city.

View of the Washington Monument from the river.