In Continuum.

Explosions In The Sky

Come on, come on
Put your hands into the fire
Explain, explain
As I turn and meet the power

I missed the Singapore Fireworks Festival last year, and the year before last. The worst part about missing those festivals weren't so much about missing them, but because of how ignorant I was about the events until after they actually happened. It felt like the painful memories of the Damien Rice concert a year ago, when I found out about the concert one day after the actual performance. It was like a slap in the face, with a knee jab into the balls all at the same time. All and all, it wasn't a pretty feeling, and it was made worse after Ahmad and Valerie both reported to me just how brilliant the fireworks were, tagged to their vivid descriptions the high definition pictures plastered all over the place. I was envious, and at the same time frustrated by the fact that I missed all three fireworks altogether, especially when two of them happened on the weekends. I was determined not to miss the fireworks display this year, despite the fact that it has one less country participating, and one of them being China.

Armed with our cameras, a pair of Hotdogs as our dinner and a whole lot of enthusiasm, Ahmad and I embarked on our perilous journey into the town just to get the best angle for our shots. We were aiming for the East Coast Parkway bridge that spans over the mouth of the Singapore River, where Ahmad was the year before the last when he took those stunning shots of the fireworks that exploded right in front of his face. It was a miracle then that his face was not blown into shreds, with the fireworks exploding that close to the bridge. I was excited to grab the same shots of the fireworks as him as well, and when the traffic on the bridge started to build up, the both of us just wanted to the car park that was closest to the bridge itself. A row of photographers were already stationed along the pedestrian walkway along the bridge, and we wanted our place at the crest of the structure as well. We contemplated about whether or not we should be like inconsiderate Singaporeans and park in the middle of the road, but Ahmad decided against the idea because...well, he has a personal grudge against bad drivers.

This time, This time
Turning white and senses dire
Pull up, pull up
From one extreme to another

The Suntec City parking lots are famous to be jammed up after major events such as this one, but the both of us wanted to brave the rumors and the legends. We knew about the myths, but the fireworks festival was more important than anything else at that time. We had two things in mind back then: Dinner and fireworks. Nothing else matter very much, as we took more than fifteen minutes to find a decent parking lot in basement two. Already, the cars were flowing into the parking lot like flood water, and it was growing harder and harder to find a place to park the car. It was fortunate for us to be there two full hours before the event, because everybody else jammed up the roads soon afterwards. As if the magic that happened on CTE the other night when it became a carpark, the same thing happened on Rochor Road as well. The moment we emerged from the shopping mall and towards the bridge, the roads were already filled with horning cars and fuming drivers. The level of anger in the air could be heard and smelled at the same time, all for the fifteen minutes of fireworks.

The bridge loomed up in front of us as we turned the corner, and the staircase that led up to the top came into view soon after. A bunch of people were following us to the same destination, with similar camera equipments hung on their shoulders and arms, I guess nobody wanted to miss one of the only two legal display of explosives every year. Ahmad had his precious camera carried in his arms, while I had the stand slung across my back, using it also as a spear to make way for the people behind. However, people were walking in the opposite direction when we reached the foot of the bridge, grumbling and cursing under their breaths as we got closer. That was when we realized that the bridge was actually closed for the night, mainly because of the chaos that happened last year, when drivers parked on the bridge and photographers were climbing over railings and cars.

From the summer to the spring
From the mountain to the air
From Samaritan to sin
And it’s waiting on the end

Desperate, we scrambled all around the venue where they were firing off the fireworks in one and a half hour to find a better spot. With the bridge gone, everybody was swarming down from the top, and it became harder and harder to find a good spot with every passing second. Even the directions from the traffic police helped little at the junction, and the two of us began to head towards the general direction of the place where we felt to be the next best spot for photography. There was the option of the skyscrapers from all around, but it was an option that should have been thought of hours before, not when you are sweating all over the place with the time running out. We contemplated, and found an empty spot right below the crest of the bridge itself. It was tucked away in the corner of the road, with most part of it blocked off from the eyes of the public due to the constructions that were happening close by. Ahmad and I crossed mud pits and wet grasses to get to the middle of the clearing where a bunch of teenagers already gathered, and found a place next to the metal fences to set up our equipments.

The legs of the stand were stuck into the ground, and the camera was mounted at the top. While Ahmad adjusted the settings of his camera, I found ourselves two giant slabs of concrete abandoned by the side of the construction site to sit on. With still an hour to go before the event begins at nine, the two of us started observing the crowd that followed us into the empty area below the bridge. There were a bunch of fellow photographers, who came with their bags of lenses and cameras twice the size of Ahmad's camera, and some of them looked so professional that we felt intimidated altogether. It was the sort of the feeling that was inevitable I suppose, and he started readjusting his settings, afraid that his pictures may turn out to be bad, while I satisfied my craving for the dinner.

Come on, come on
Put your hands into the fire
Explain, explain
As I turn and meet the power

The crowd continued to stream in from all directions. Families with their children came in hordes, and some of them even brought picnic mats. A Malay family came with their whole generation I suppose, with the children terrorizing the spectators there and making a racket out of things. With a fireworks display, there were bound to be couples lurking around in the shadows. Couples came in with their fingers locked and their heads tucked into side of one another's, as they waited patiently and lovingly for the even to begin. In the soft quiet murmurs of the crowd, we passed the time by talking about fireworks and other issues. I myself spent my time talking mostly to Ahmad, but also to a working pair of guys that must have came down from the office buildings nearby to catch the fireworks as well. They asked if we were there on NDP a week ago, and asked if the place where we were guarantees a good view of the fireworks. I told them that I wasn't sure, but as a last minute solution it was as good as it gets. So with the camera ready and our stomachs satisfied, we waited. And waited, and waited.

It didn't happen at nine, or five minutes after nine. The crowded waited in eager anticipation, and even the noble boyfriend that offered his left thigh to his girlfriend as a seat, gave up waiting and became tired. The crowd became rather restless, and there were complains about the delay rising up from every corner of the shadows. Ahmad and I were amongst the crowd that anticipated for the fireworks to begin in any minute, and that must have been the same feeling that went through the hearts of the thousands that waited for the fireworks all about the bay as well. It was then, when the high beams were dimmed, and spotlights shot into the towering clouds above. Corinna - who was somewhere in the bay area as well, though I didn't know at that point in time - was half expecting the Batman sign to appear in the clouds. But the beams merely moved from left and right, as if they were searching for a spaceship in the night skies. Colorful kites flew into the air, giving me an eerie feeling for some reason. After some aimless moving of the kites and the beams, I announced to myself that it was the end of the event jokingly. That was when it actually - against my presumption - began.

This time, This time
Turning white and sense dire
Pull up, pull up
From one extreme to another

A single shot blasted into the sky and exploded upon reaching the right altitude. Thousands of sparkling debris sprinkled down upon the waters at the bay, the lights blinding our eyes. The crowd cheered, as the shooting lights threatened to swallow the city skyline from where we were standing. Every space in between the fireworks were filled with even more fireworks, and that continued for a few minutes as the crowd continued to stare in awe. Blue, green, red and white, all of the shot out from a thousand different directions into the night sky, followed swiftly by the sound of a cannon exploding that made my ribs tremble. That was how close we were to the actual venue, the way everything exploded right before our eyes, and it was a stunning display right from the very start. It was the third time Ahmad was seeing fireworks up close, and there he was snapping pictures rigorously like a child in a candy store.

In between the explosions, the silence in the crowd was deafening. The horning of the vehicles in the backgrounds were drowned by the silence in the crowd even, because everybody had their words sealed up and their heads tiled up into the night skies. Their faces lighted up with every explosion, turning them into a vibrant display of red, white and blue. The children danced to the unsteady sound of explosions, cheering with the biggest explosions and pointed at the most playful of them, as they swirled and played hide and seek in mid air. My neck was tilted upwards as well, snapping pictures furiously like never before, despite the knowledge that the battery was running out. It was a moment that I didn't want to miss, and I was way closer to the explosions than I was eight months ago at the Taipei countdowns. It was a treat for me as well as everybody else, because nobody in this world dislikes fireworks - nobody.

From the summer to the spring
From the mountain to the air
From Samaritan to sin
And it’s waiting on the end

The end of the event was marked by another series of explosions. The fireworks were like giant thunder claps, or the coughs of a pneumonia patient that goes on and on into the night. It continued even until we thought they were going to seize, and kept on going even beyond our expectations. The lights continued to reflect off the walls of the hotels around, and the dark waters in the bay that night became illuminated with a thousand different colors, as the laughter and joy of the crowd from all around bounced off the surfaces and made invisible ripples everywhere. I smiled when the last explosion made its final curtain call, and left behind a trail of smoke as a token of its appreciation of our attention. To be honest, it wasn't any greater, or better, or fancier than the fireworks that I have seen before. But to be so close to the explosions, to feel the thumping in our chest just felt good. Fireworks are one of those things that can never be viewed to satisfaction on a television screen. Because live, everything become so much more realistic, so much more beautiful.

As the crowd left the place, some of us remained to pack up our things. The smoke still lingered in the air, as if to wave to us a final goodbye. I waved into the sky like an idiot too, but nobody saw me doing so as I did it discreetly and carefully. But there I was, like a child after his visit to the candy store, smiling like an idiot as we crossed the road back to the car park. The rest of the night spent in the crowded car park wasn't a pleasant one, as the both of us were trapped in Ahmad's car as inconsiderate drivers drove in opposite directions. We were stuck in the basement of Suntec City for a full hour, playing twenty questions with one another until we ran out of questions to ask. After finally making it out, we celebrated over supper at Chomp Chomp with Corinna, and that was - to me - the perfect fullstop to the night of brilliance. Despite everything, I was still blown away by the fireworks. Everything that night - worked, and it was more than the fireworks that made the day, but the company that spent the night with me as well. Thanks guys, though I don't say that enough these days, but thanks.