Sunday, 24th August 08...

Yesterday, Minnie, Aishah and myself were due to go for a Charity Fun Walk at the Esplanade Park. But it had been pouring since late morning and the weather didn't change for the better at all for the rest of the day... The initial plan was to go for the Walk, check out the carnival at the end of it and then meet XiuTing (XT) for the Singapore Fireworks Celebration 2008 held that night nearby too...

When we finally got around to meeting each other at CityHall at about 4.30pm, it was still raining and I was no longer in the mood to go for the Walk.; especially not in the rain. Minnie did mention it too and we convinced Aishah to go along with our proposed plans... Hehehehehe... We even went to the extent of cooking up funny excuses to get ourselves excused come Monday... **rolls eyes and shakes head...

As I was still in my "sporty" outfit with obsolete sandals and Aishah wanted to change her top, we headed into Raffles City Shopping Centre. Unfortunately, the washroom lines were all the way up to the ladies' entrances itself on various floors!! So, we did the unthinkable and approached a really nice children's outfit shop, requesting to use their changing room. They very, very kindly obliged; God Bless them all... So myself and Aishah got changed and we started on our adventure. Due to the change in plans, we decided to walk about the mall before meeting up with XiuTing later in the evening...

XiuTing, being the sweety-pie she is, had actually offered to share her tickets to the fireworks show with us.. And that's how we got to the show. Sweet thing!.. Muacks!!!

As I had only a quick brunch earlier in the day (a super-small pack of nasi lemak) and was feeling quite peckish, we headed to the basement's "Out of the Pan" place for a quick bite. Although Minnie and Aishah initially planned on just desserts, upon the sight of the crepes, we all ended up ordering the savoury crepes too... Nice and simple food; albeit a little expensive, but still different from the usual pastas, sandwiches, etc. Minnie and Aishah shared a cheese chicken sausage crepe and I had the bratwurst sausage crepe with sun-dried tomato flour... Hmmm, are you wondering if the crepe might have turned out red in colour? Hahahaha! Nah, it was just a little orange but it did have a tinge of the "tomatoey" flavour I had hoped for.

We got desserts too... Aishah and Minnie shared the triple chocolate dessert while I got the pecan pie. Boy, don't I feel like a pig now!! Both desserts were good-looking, in particular, the triple choc was certainly the best thing to satisfy a sweet tooth although mine was not outstanding at all. I was really disappointed in the crust of the pie: a rock-hard / no butter / cheap-looking / mass-made type of crust used with minimal pecans and a rather burnt sugar and butter base. Caramelisation is one thing, burnt is another.

Anyway, having ourselves filled with happy food and thoughts, we ascended the floors of the mall in search of wonderful windows to look through. Among the shops we went to, two stood out, because that's where we found really nice stuff...

River Island & Esprit.

River Island has some really good accessories. I found a pair of really cool sunglasses priced at $43, and then a nice pair of blinged bracelets, one in pink and the other in blue. Nice, really nice.. I was very taken in by the sunglasses but didn't purchase it. (Am currently trying to watch my budget.)

Next, we walked into Esprit. Spotted a beautiful bag and found various colours for the same model. We did more exploring and found the most nicest of nice hats and berets too! Aishah eventually purchased a very pretty black one for herself; it looks really nice and sweet on her, I tell ya... I found a brownish one later too, brown mini-stripes with glitter thread sewn in; in the men's section of all places, but it looked good ok! And I do kinda regret not purchasing it... The cap really upped the funk factor in my outfit...

We carried on shopping until we met XiuTing and Andrew outside Starbucks. The 4 of us ladies then headed for the NDP Parade grounds... That was where the show was to be held. Although it was raining throughout, I still think the wait was worth it. It was so immense and colourful and loud.

When we got to the complex, there was a mini-carnival of food and crafts/gifts all around below the stands... You can always trust Singapore to never let its people go hungry.. Hahaha!! :-P

So we got some munchies and headed up the stands... We kept climbing and climbing up to our row (row number 44) and after a while, it started to feel as if we were being punished for skipping the Charity Walk earlier... (Had we attended that Charity Walk, it would have been just 2.5km but I'm guessing we walked quite a few more kilometres than that on that night...) There was also a performance by TKS (Tanjong Katong Sec Sch) before the actual fireworks display.

When the fireworks started, it never seemed to end. The colours, the noise and the smoke was so much for the senses. I loved it. Colours of red, green, white, gold, and blue were so pretty that I could only wish for them to be in the palm of my hand. It was beautiful, simply breathtaking. What an eye and earful... Yay!! :-)

So, after the fireworks display, there was a live performance by "Cats in the Cradle", a local band that had taken part in the Singapore show "Live the Dream"... Their selection of songs was good and would have been the perfect end to a night of revelry at the parade ground before people moved on back to the Esplanade for some real partying...

However, this is where the organisers screwed up; they had a US comedian as the last act of the night following the live band. How silly, to mix up a natural sequence. I felt bad for the performer as he ended up performing more for an empty audience... How silly of the organisers to do such a thing; they have insulted the performer and have embarassed themselves. I hope they eventually learn that it's not always the money that makes a good performer, it's about the audience and the reception the performer gets...

Anyways, as we went back towards the Esplanade, we ended up walking even more as several areas had been boarded up and closed. But Minnie bought her favourite chocolate-coated strawberries too... They are juicy and oh-so-delish, I tell ya!.. ;-)

We eventually made it back to the station at CityHall and after saying a huge round of goodbyes, made our respective ways home..

Now that, was a very sweet, sweet Saturday... :-)

**grins**