NDP @ Marina Bay 2007 CR 3

went for the NDP combined rehearsal with wilson ( sec sch friend) at marina bay. this is the first time we are having NDP on a floating stage and its the world's largest floating platform... blah blah blah. aiya. you can go read up on the official word la.

anyway, in the spirit of the NDP, i've revamped my title. now its gone! replaced by a baner taken from the NDP site. had wanted to put the flash banner. but dunno wad's wrong. cannot accept html. wtf. anyway, i took quite some pics and a few videos. this year's parade promises to be something very different from the previous years. cos there's water all round, the organisers made full use of it to make something entirely new and fun.


singapore flyer.. damn big wheel. wheel structure is done. but the cabins not up yet.


can see the merlion from where i'm seating, the green area.


soon to be IR...

as you can see, the seating is sort of permanent. like cast in concrete. only space for 20K plus people compared to the 60K capacity of the old national stadium.


the organisers found a novel way for the hosts to arrive. they put then on speed boats and race then to the stage from under the bridge....


and they are gonna load them onto the Fiat Puntos...


and ferry them to the front of the seating area. notice the hosts are poking through the sunroof? haha. very novel..


some local artiste is supposed to sing some song. but she not here. so the poor girl got to go up in her place and hold a card bearing her name. and she gotta stand there for 3+ mins. if is me i sian diao..


there was supposed to be a dragon boat race between Bukit Panjang Govt High, TPJC and ACJC. but some how this being a CR they no shot. so they put 3 flags on the speed boats and get them to race each other while the emcees work each other up cheering for the boats. -.-


the Tang Quartet also performed to a modified version of Singapura.


see them red dots? the red lions!!


smoke trails marking their descent. stupid wire. spoil my picture.


1st jumper. with the video cam on his helmet.


INCOMING!!


a job well done. always the crowd pleaser..


marina wave... adapted from the kallang wave.


dancers from the SAF music and drama company..


parade RSM.. think he's ordering the support contingents to march in.


supporting contingents marching in...


forming NDP '07


RSM handing over to parade commander. as usual he's a LTC but this time is NS. so i dun think he's a regular.


colours party marching in. i've read that the job of the escorts is to protect the colours and that should the flag bearer faint, he must catch the colours. flag bearer die also never mind.


guard of honor contingent. colours party followed by navy and then the army contingent. army is from the 1st commando battalion.


the other side also marching in. air force followed by SPF.


notice the supporting contingents men. the way they hold their rifle. dunno wad position is this..


guard of honor forming up.


colours party fanning out.


parade at sedia. the men are shouldering their rifles and the officers are holding their swords.


parade at senang diri. the men are hugging their rifles and officers are leaning the swords on the shoulders. last time when using M-16 is put the rifle on the floor and hold by the bayonet.


men from the singapore artillery stand by to fire the ceremonial cannons. every year only use 1 time for NDP.


state flag flying in via the Chinook and escorted by 4 Apaches. also din announce gonna sing national anthem. see the choppers fly in then they play le. everyone was caught unaware and have to stand up and sing.


nice tight formation.


bomb burst by the F-16s. looks slanted. haha. air force needs more practice.


presidental land rover..


artillery firing during the inspection.


as mentioned. this yr quite different. this time the president rides on the rover and inspects the parade. not like last time walk le then board land rover for a drive round the stadium.


Feu-de-Joie ( fire of joy) by the guard of honor contingents. they fire from left to right and back 4 times per shot command.


very smart..

i din take any pics of the march past cos i was taking video. had wanted to post it on youtube. but its too big. anyone knows how to chop/edit quicktime movies?


the commandos repelling from the Sheares bridge into the water. part of the NS 40 demo.


Chinook flying super low... its like a few tens of metres above the water?


they are dropping naval divers into the water through the rear ramp though i din manage to catch any of them on the camera.


fast craft interceptor. can go at 40+ knots. which is pretty damn fast.


cute right? i think it was adapted from the army's Bronco All terrain tracked carrier. looks very similar. this is used primarily to fight forest fires.


Apache flying here and there...


see. there's 2 of them. executing high g manovures. they even flew upside down. which is possible. but din manage to get any shots as they flew quite fast.


saluting the nation. they sort of 'bow'


let the show begin.. very nice right? the towers' lights all can change colours one.


jelly fish!! haha. like rubber balloon. pulled around by army guys on boats in the bay. wonder how they co-ordinate.


cool right? looks like molten gold pouring into the sea... haha. the boat is used for another act..


the stage is very very nice..


the 'boat' docking with the stage...


den it move onto the stage as part of an act..

as you can see, when you enlarge the pic, its getting more and more blur. cos it's getting dark pretty soon and the camera will need more light to take a proper pic. so the shutter stays open longer. and since i'm holding free hand, it will shake. which makes the pic blur. its nearly impossible to take sharp photos at night. unless one is using tripod or a bigger cam like a DSLR.

the different colours of the stage...






that's it.. no pics of the fireworks also.. cos is taken in video.

my next cameras:


Canon EOS 400D

OR


Nikon D40X

both are entry level DSLR costing: Canon $1.6K & Nikon $1.1K respectively.

i think the DSLR will allow me to take better photos in that i have more control over my pics and in manual mode, it won't be as bad as my Kodak as i dun have to use the tripod everytime i go into manual mode.

will have to wait till i enter army b4 i can buy either one of them.. well.. for now, i can just look... lol..