Chinatown Festivities Part II

Don't worry, there was plenty more crazy CNY fun to document in Chinatown. The whole first post was just material from one tent! To be honest, this is probably as spirited as I have seen the normally subdued Singaporeans. They don't get too worked up about much, but there is certainly a festive spirit in the air, which is nice to experience. There was certainly no such warm feeling of celebration and community during Christmas- just a lot of neon lights and the occasional modern interpretation of a Christmas tree, which is nothing compared to the onslaught of CNY decor that hits you from every angle in Chinatown (and most of the rest of the island).

So I am not sure how to describe this...dance? It was dancers, attached to these bendy poles, doing some very beautiful movement, with the lovely Chinese temple in the background. Dave's first comment was something to the effect of "how do you start your kids balancing on a pole?" While I share his confusion about the origins of the practice, it was really beautiful. Of course it was also not super easy to get a good picture of it and I wasn't smart enough to think a video would be a better idea. 

So while I remain confused on what exactly we were watching, I was very impressed. It was graceful and lovely and ostensibly related in at least some tangential way to Chinese New Year? 

Eh- who cares, it was cool. 

After the dance-thingie, it was back to the markets, where there was endless CNY items to be gawked at. The sea of red is almost overwhelming! 

You know how I love strange fruit....and these guys really fascinated me. They are basically massive green grapefruits (they call them pomelos, but I am pretty sure its the same thing, and at the minimum in the same family). Unclear what benefit is derived from them being suspended in little red harnesses, but they look luscious. Unfortunately I have a hard enough time finishing a whole normal sized grapefruit for breakfast, so I am not sure I am willing to spend S$10 dollars on one of these suckers. But I am tempted.... 

And these are..... no clue. None. And no one at the both spoke (or wanted to speak) enough English to enlighten me. Any guesses? 

OK- its past my bedtime, and we have a busy busy busy few days coming up, so more later! XoXo