Sunday, August 19, 2007
Ekka!!!
As I'm typing, I'm uploading the Ekka pictures I took with my cam. There're still some taken by Vic, and also some by Mel... and possibly some by Amanda too, so until I get it from them, I can only post these... =)
It was a fun-filled day, but a tiring one too. Haha! Luckily we were lazy and decided to go later so we could sleep more. The initial plan was to reach there by 9:30am... but Vic (who went there a couple of days before) suggested going later coz there ain't so much to see. So we ended up meeting at Roma St Station at 11am, then plus the journey there & everything, I think we got to the RNA Showgrounds at say, 11:15am?
It was a gloomy day and the sky threatened to pour copious amounts of rain on the fairgrounds. It was predicted that it would be a rainy day, but I told them the weather forecast is always wrong anyways, so they'll probably be wrong about today too! So we started walking, and this year, somehow, I started on the back end of the show! We started off with the animals first... haha! So yeah, cattle, sheep, chooks, cats & dogs & fishies, piglets, humongous pigs, ducks, horsies, ponies... every kind of farm animal was on display!
Three little piggies to start the day! Aren't they CUTE?
My little pony, my little pony... lalalalala...
Ok, here's the huge-ass pig... Imagine, the piglets are about my elbow to my finger-tip each. *nods* Yep! Not exaggerating at all...
Oooo... this cow is HUGE-ASS, literally AND figuratively. K... let's see... If I remember correctly, the height is about my height... U can actually see a person walking behind ya? HU-U-UGE!!!
And not just every kind... every oddity was there too! Take a look at this!
This one's beautiful, I thought. The patterns on it... looks like scales!
Anyways, we went on to the food area where skimpy fat, ultra-skinny, and just nice little girls did cheerleading no-heartedly. They all look SO sad! And then there were Australians doing Taekwondo... and we had Dutch pancakes and satay and spuds and... basically fair-food (as in funfair fair, not not-too-bad fair)... corn! And... kebabs... aiyah... Anyhoo, headed on to the Woolies area where they have wine-tasting and cheese-tasting and yoghurt and drinks and chocolate-coated bananas that look wrong, according to Vic & Mel... And lollies and chilli and chocolates and... what else was there? Basically all the more "normal" foods... =)
Went on to the Showbag Pavillion! Think we spent the most time in there looking through rows and rows of bags stuffed with candy and novelty toys and useless junk and snack foods and old magazines, healthcare products, soft toys, more useless things, masks, wigs, fairy wings, angel wings, angel halos, tritons, inflatable chairs, flowers, cacti, boxing gloves, devil horns, even more useless junk, bags, frisbees, mini-skateboards, more candy, coupons & vouchers, coasters, towels, cosmetics, blah blah blah... the list never ends. They have stuff that are NOT in bags too... like posters, RC choppers & cars & bikes & boats, books, tattoos, badges, iron-ons, caps, hats, food processors, wrestling merchandise, soft toys, watches, accessories etc etc... And the place was just LOADED with people (though not as many as last year).
Willy Wonka!!! Imagine all the Nerds & Gobstoppers & Runts & Oompa Loompas...
Oh oh! Fruity ribbons! Lo-o-ong... aren't they?
Just a small sample of the number of people...
And to show roughly what it's like inside... all the stalls with showbags hanging around.
This is us, outside the Showbag Pavillion, when we finally finished walking it all...
Wow... I'm really ranting man...
Anyways, went on to see all the rides and games, where the spirit of funfairs really thrive! All the colors and lights and smells and sounds!!! Reminds me dearly of Charlotte's Web's cartoon which I watched when I was just a teeny wittle boy. *contented sigh (coz of the memories + I just finished a bowl of home-made katsudon that was too wet)*
Abdul, Amanda, Mel, Vic & me! At the gloomy fairgrounds...
Mel & I! Hahaha! See? I did put our picture!
Here's Amanda, Abdul & Mel staring at one of the rides... haha! Think it's some Space thingy...
It really was a pity that it was a gloomy day... washed out colors of the rides really takes the mood away... We decided that we would come back when it's dark to take photos of the lights, so we went to the arena to wait for fireworks!
They weren't fantastic though... you guys should see the Riverfire! Whooo! Anyhoo, by the time the fireworks were over, it was dark already... so here u go... the fairgrounds at night...
K, we were tired but happy with our (their) purchases...
Spinnin' Ferris Wheel! Wheee!!!
We were using a tripod & timer, and people were walking past, staring at us... haha!
Pretty pretty Ferris Wheel! 35m diameter only though... Can't wait to see Singapore's own!
Duncha think the clowns look damn scary?
Oh, this is fun. See the fainter lights spread out near the middle? Those are seats chained to the top while the whole thing spins... hahaha!
And all the rides designed to make you puke just keeps on spinnin'...
Look at the amount of soft toys they have! Wow-wee!
Haha! This booth has a monster in it... damn cute can!
Spinnin'...
Anyways, the Ekka is a, I'd say, cultural experience that people who can go should go. Once-in-a-lifetime... or in my case, twice in 2 years... (Vic's twice-in-a-week)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Today's service was talking about passion for GOD. Thong was talking about how it all stems from love. And love isn't calculative, concealing, and conniving, and he gave examples of that from the Bible. And I thought, do I calculate when I love people? Do I count how I can benefit from the relationship, or whether people can see that I'm giving so much into whatever relationship I'm in, or anything at all? Am I manipulative and scheming in a relationship? Do I manipulate people so that they will feel bad and do what I really want them to do? Reverse psychology is a wonder y'know, if you know how to use it...
So... am I? I sure hope not... but someone please tell me...
And after service, Thong gave an altar call to pray for a renewing of spirit, a rekindling of passion... and it was like in camp when I felt I needed to go to Pauline... I just felt that I needed to go forward. But I was holding back & thinking when I should go, coz there were alot of people out front already. The prod came from Mel, who sat next to me, and I knew she'd go because of all that she's involved in and all the stress & frustrations she's been experiencing. So when she wanted to go out, I went out with her. She went by the back though, and I was wondering if I should follow her. Instead, I went straight to the front... and I stood there & before I know it, before anyone came to me, I started to cry... then someone came to me, and I felt so paiseh to be crying! But I figured they must've seen it a million times... so I just kept on crying... He asked me why I came up front, and I told him, in between sobs, that I just felt like I needed to be there, and he prayed for me and my heart and, I remember when Mel first went up last time Huiru was here, she said GOD just prompted the person to pray for whatever's in her heart, even though she didn't tell him/her anything, and that was exactly what happened! To be cynical, I'd say it was a fairly general prayer... but to be faithful, I'd say GOD was working through them! And I'd much rather be faithful than cynical... so yeah.
After this guy (shit, I can't even remember his name after he prayed for me) prayed for me, I just stood there & continued crying... then when I realized most of the people who've come out have gone back, I didn't wanna go back, so I just sat in front, on the floor, and prayed & cried & prayed & cried... until the end of the service...
I could see Mel cried too... and though I'd really like to know why, I didn't ask coz I thought it'd probably be something really personal. In fact, I don't even know why I cried...
It has to be GOD.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Came home to an old couple in their 70's, and their mum, 91, waiting anxiously for an ambulance to come. They couldn't get their car outta the garage and were panicking abit. So I asked Jared to help open the garage door so they could get out, then I waited with them for the ambulance to see if I could offer any help. The bloody ambulance took forever la! Luckily the husband was feeling better than before. I can't imagine if someone had a stroke or heart attack or seizure or something, and the ambulance took like half an hour to come... Die already lor.
Anyways, so yeah... by the time I got home, it was like 9+ already...
Why'm I typing these? I think I need to sleep now. Wash the dishes and sleep... 3:30am... *yawn*
Good night everybody...
Love me
if you
dare...
19:49
0 thoughts on this post
This one's beautiful, I thought. The patterns on it... looks like scales!
