The Youth Olympic Games 2010 Opening Ceremony at The Float at Marina Bay was held on 14th August 2010.
-I felt honoured and privileged to be there live in action, together with my family. There were an estimation of around 27,000 viewers sharing this special moment. We parked at Marina Square at around 5pm plus. Unfortunately, we were off to a glitch because we ended up queuing for entrance at a hotel for officials. We were directed out and headed off for the green zone.
-Boy, was the conditions tough at the stands! The earlier rain had stopped, making the conditions extremely humid and hot. I was perspiring away just sitting at the seat. It seemed that there were quite a lot of foreigners and tourists there, which kind of surprised me.
-It was supposed to be free seating yet we have to sit packed to the sides first. I can understand that but the system will be better if they allowed us to choose the seats in the beginning, just like booking for cinema seats. They can also disallow people from leaving spaces in between.
-The goodie bag wasn't as good as the National Day's. For one, there was only a muffin to eat. And fans should be provided as well. I hid beneath a huge pair of sunglasses and used a pamphlet as shade.
-Already I tried to dress as minimally as possible. This beat some officials who wore long sleeves and jackets.
-As the day waned, the heat sweltered on, more and more people arrived. As the sun set, a mild breeze blew past and everyone sighed in relief. Alas, dark clouds gathered on the horizon. As the time ticked by, the dark and heavy clouds moved steadily towards us, people began to unpack their ponchos. It was such a bad timing if it was to rain.
-We saw the clouds moved above us and slowly, as if a miracle, moved onwards near to Marina Bay Sands instead. It's almost time for the ceremony to start.
-Luckily, as the day turned into night, the clouds disappeared into the dark skies and the show went on with nary a problem.
-The Opening ceremony was unlike others, it was upbeat and not that solemn. It was like a gigantic party, which fits the theme as this is the Youth Games afterall. It's young and energetic and the songs used kept your feet tapping. We rummaged our goodie bags for the torches and mini flags.
-Furthermore, this is a special place to host the opening, traditionally, opening and closing ceremonies are always held in stadiums, whereas in Singapore, we held the ceremonies in an outside setting, on a floating platform no less. That has to count as something.
-Athletes arrival was done in a quick manner, it was not wishy-washy and they were quickly led up to their VIP seats in the middle. It must be great for them, to be able to sit in the stands and witnessed the opening as well. In my experience, athletes always don't have a chance to watch the ceremonies, as they have to be in the middle of the stage.
-The flags bearing was done in record time too. I salute them for that. The flags came in one after another and was handed over to the volunteers.
-The appearance of the golden dragon was something special for us as it was driven by my cousin. The dragon head looked fantastic in shimmering gold scales and fire-breathing nostrils! He drove up the slope without any problem and the "body" made of of carps followed closely. Although, I have to say that the "tail" of the dragon didn't follow as closely, so it looked disembodied.
-Pretty soon, it was time to "Blaze the trail" as the sacred flame which had travelled through the five continents and the whole of Singapore finally arrived in a grand fashion, on a Phoenix no less.
-The whole bay was dark and over the distance, I can see lights as the dragon boats entourage came into sight. The gigantic Phoenix-designed boat held the flame and it was so whimsical and gorgeous. I bet no one thought of arriving like that before.
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In a zig-zag fashion, the flame was passed from bearer to bearer and finally, it arrived on stage. The final torch-bearer, whose identity has been kept hush-hush until then, ran across the reflecting waters and literally, lit up the beacon. The flame travelled in a spiralling pattern, until it set the "lighthouse" on fire.
-Wow, what a grand spectacle! The people behind all these sure know how to create an entrance. It was sure a grand finale.
-The fire burned on strongly, unlike other ceremonies. Up close, it looked like a tornado of flames.
-Fireworks lit up the skies, but I felt it wasn't as good as the National Day's There was too little variations and colours.
-And we cheered! For Singapore and the world. I felt so proud at that moment, it's finally our turn and I have the chance to witness this.
-We saw my cousin on the way out and we took a photo with the dragon head, unfortunately, it wasn't lit.
-The journey back took a long time, because of road closures and what not. We reached home at around 12am plus. But, looking back, it was all worth it.
