Having an enthusiastic Resident’s Council can be rather amusing. Every year they put up nice decorations for various local festivals and it really helps to bring the festive cheer to our neighborhood.
This CNY placement sure made me chuckle:
Rabbits, Luck and Prohibitions
The inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG) has officially begun, in our sunny (and often thunderstormy) island state of Singapore. Being very pregnant (I’m now pushing 8 months), I didn’t think I’d get into much of the sports hype. But out of sheer spontaneity and coincidence, Littlelam and I managed to get in the thick of action during the YOG Torch Relay. The 6-Day Torch Relay, which began in a girls’ school on 8 Aug 2010, involved people from all walks of life and even went over waters in a Dragon Boat. Part of the route for the Relay on Day 2 happened to be at the road right in front of my HDB block. To keep the onlookers occupied, and no doubt to drum up more interest, there were even mini carnival games set up at the waiting area by the side of the road. Apparently it’s called “Experience the YOG Torch Relay in the Heartlands” or something like that. With cotton candy, popcorn and balloons attracting the kids, how could I resist taking Littlelam to experience a part of history! After all, this would be the first and (and probably last time) I would get a chance to see the actual Olympic Flame.
Red YOG Bus that first appeared... and the obligatory police convoy that always follows official vehicles!
The Blue YOG bus that appeared 2nd
Olympic Flame!
Somebody enjoying her cotton candy!
Trying her hand at throwing plastic fruits into Taz's mouth
The next carnival game was not really a ‘game’, but rather a booth to encourage people to save energy and adopt a more environmentally friendly lifestyle. As I mentioned before in my Earth Day post, people who are not very rich already have somewhat of a ‘do not waste’ attitude, which probably comes in useful in games like these.
Spin the wheel, answer a question, get a prize!
The sweet teenage girl (who was undoubtedly roped in as a ‘volunteer’ from her school) was so surprised that Littlelam was actually able to answer the question on her own! Then again, the question was REALLY EASY:
Q: What should you do when you leave the room? Turn ON or Turn OFF the lights?
Littlelam: Turn off!
Heh, guess my nagging does pay off! I always remind her to turn off the toilet lights when she’s done.
The little makeshift 'carnival' area and the thronging heartland crowd
The other really hilarious thing that happened was that she sneezed at the Guest of Honour, the Member of Parliament (MP) for our district, Minister for Transport Raymond Lim. Well, not exactly AT his face, but out of sheer coincidence (again), Littlelam and I happened to be standing along the path where he was walking to the stage. I kinda saw it coming, that’s why I was trying to escape the route, but had no choice but to stand there like the perfect photo opportunity that I was, because the police were stopping people from walking off the other side. So, yes, the nice Minister came up to me, shook my hand (while the cameras around me flashed), and then looking down at Littlelam, said, “Oh, is she yours?” And at that very moment, she must have sneezed and as EVERYONE looked at her, there was this super long drip of thick mucus streaming from her nose!!!!! I promptly swiped it off with my bare hand (the one that was not shaking the Minister’s hand) and laughed sheepishly together with the Minister, who was having a good chortle himself! The old aunties around exclaimed and fussed, “Poor thing! Aiyoh!” and started handing me tissues, after the Minister had asked me a few more questions about my bulging belly — ” Congratulations. When are you due? etc. etc..” I am sooo glad we didn’t end up in the news. I think if she actually sneezed ON him, or sneezed out the YOG flame, then that would be a different story… heh! Sorry, I obviously did NOT get a picture of this.
ANYWAYS, here’s wishing the YOG athletes all the best!
