Only Chloe and Michele arrived on time- 4.15pm. The rest of us were miserably late for Ken's proposed meeting time, and found Freda waiting for the rest of us stragglers at City Hall mrt station. The crowd there was impressive, and gave us a cause for worry that the Gardens would be just as crowded by the time we reached. Ken appeared shortly after myself, followed by Seow Hwee and finally, Shou Fong. ^^

Dinner was at Thai Express (for me, a first. ^^)- not very sure what the rest of the table had, but Seow Hwee had laksa, (green and very spicy!) Ken had some sour mango salad thingy and meatballs and Shou ordered a nice desert of mango and glutinous rice which I got to share. =P

Having forgotten to give Chloe and Michele a heads up, they had to chiong eating their ice-cream before we entered Esplanade MRT station. ^^ Shou managed to convince Xing Yao to come, and we spammed him with various instructions on how to get to Bayfront. Fortunately he hadn't acted on any of them and observed the shortest route for himself.

I learned that it was very easy to board the wrong train at Promenade station. ._. The crowd on the correct train was horrible though.

We finally got to Gardens by the Bay and were almost instantly greeted by the deafening roar of the planes. Ken picked up a Singapore flag from the ground because the national flag shouldn't be thrown haphazardly away or left there. Oh and I'm sure that at some point of time Freda half tried to push Shou Fong towards the water haha! Luckily we didn't need to utilise the lifesaving ring nearby. ^^
We found a spot by the water's edge and took advantage of the evening sun to take our first group photos. Ken and Shou Fong left to get ice-cream- they returned with three flavours, Orchid Vanilla, Lavender and Red Hibiscus.
Ken's face when he first tried the Red Hibiscus flavour! It was so dramatic that Seow Hwee asked if it was a ploy to keep the tub for himself. ^^ As Shou wrote on her blog though, we seemed to all have differing evaluations of the taste, though the shocked face upon tasting it for the first time was probably identical. Shou found it like iced flowers (no surprises if it actually did ^^); Ken was all for it tasting like wolfberry while I clearly tasted tomato of some sort. ._. When Shou Fong said that Lavender tasted like sweet soap Ken seemed appalled that she tasted soap before. It was rather joke when Ken's apparent horror increased when Shou said that it was accidental etc. ^^

After numerous calls and Seow Hwee getting up to look for him, Xing Yao arrived with his DSLR and tripod. The sky was darkening- while the two guys went ahead to find a good spot for Xing Yao's photos, Shou Fong and Freda explored ahead- the rest of us settled down to take more pics, partake a bag of chips, play bridge with Michele's pack of cards etc.

The firework display did not disappoint, though I think we were nearly deafened. ^^ Michele uploaded four videos- during which squadmates may hear Seow Hwee and Chloe trying to take a photo together with the firework display as a background.

The crowds dispersed shortly after the end of the fireworks. Several networks were down I suppose, for neither could we get Shou Fong and Freda by phone nor did Chloe or Michele manage to post on Twitter the photo of the flag on the underside of the skypark which people on it wouldn't see. Seow Hwee and Chloe got up on several occasions to find our squadmates.

When we back together again, we decided to go around the Gardens.

Xing Yao was damn joke, though this narrative probably doesn't capture an ounce of that. He kept bullying Freda by suggesting and trying to prove that his tripod was taller. Ah yes and doing that test flash to annoy us all. I think it is suitable retribution that his battery died on him before the end of the night. XP

Not before having a significant number of shots of the Gardens of course. ^^ The place was truly very beautiful, though my words would do them no justice at all. It was a wonderful sight- MBS in the background, those lighted "trees" that changed colour etc etc. Closer to the pretty trees, it felt as if the scene before me belonged to a fairytale. The navy blue sky, the many coloured spots of light that stood in the stead of branches and leaves... It was so peaceful. We could just lie there looking up to the heavens above for ages...

We took quite a few group shots together, courtesy of Xing Yao's DSLR. ^^ (none of which he has uploaded as of yet zzz. -.-) we finally got up and left the place for the bridge Ken mentioned. The view was very different, though picturesque in its own right. ^^ The fantastic cool breeze, untainted by the pollution from the lighted expressway beneath us... MBS on one side and the Gardens on the other...

There was general reluctance to leave I'm sure. The magic of the place we should return on another occasion as a squad to experience again.
9 August 2012 was awesome. Thank you squadmates. =)

Photo credits to Ken and Xing Yao! =D

-Jing Yee