Ambling @ Chinese Gardens on the eve-eve of Chinese New Year

Decided to take an evening walk out to the nearby Chinese Gardens last Friday, and it couldn't have been a better time, because it was the day before they closed the grounds and only admitted paid entrants. So the day we went, all the decos were kind of already in place but we could get in for free, ha :D This was taken at the other entrance (the one near the Chinese Gardens MRT) upon exiting to grab dinner at the nearby hawker place opposite:

Apparently, they're having this 'Spring Fiesta' during the Lunar New Year Period, till 29 Jan 2012, entrance fees are $6 for adults and $4 for kids.

What was even better for us, was that it was sunset time, and you could actually view the blazing red sun (which can't be captured as accurately on my mobile camera as actually seeing it in person) in the direction of the main Chinese Gardens entrance. We had entered a little past 6pm and it was starting to get dark at that time:

Butterflies resting on the shrubberies greeted you on both sides upon stepping in!

The arced entrance bridge (anyone knows the name?? Shall find out next time I'm there again) was decked out colourfully too. It felt abit like a 'heroic' kind of entrance (banners fluttering in the wind and all) harkening back to the olden times, where visitors had to cross the moat before entering the 'city gates' at the end . Much kudos to the decorators:

The fortune god (cai2 shen2) at the end caught my eye upon climbing a little ways up the bridge so I made it look like I was ready to ask for some 'cai' (wealth) from him. Notice how the joggers behind me seem to be rushing to meet him, lol:

Here's the view upon reaching the end and turning back. There were a few bhangras even more enthu than us, being all trigger-happy on their mobiles with every few steps they took:

Aaand, we get the man of the times:

Actually, what caught my attention more was that the white parts of the 'city gates' were, suspiciously too whitewashed. From this observation, we later realised the gardens' caretakers had actually touched up the colour of their buildings with fresh coats of paint and probably to make it look all spiffy specially for this occasion.

Upon entering the 'gates' we get the koi pond area. The yellow sashes on the pseudo terracotta fellas reminded me of my martial arts belts in my Nam Wah Pai classes back in my NUS days:

Yup, the walls are awesomely pristine:

This is what the central pond area looks like. We were kinda disappointed as the park people had only bothered to put up red flags and pass it off as being decorated enough. The flags actually made this area look kinda strange and out of place, no indication of the Chinese New Year spirit:

So we veered to the fringes of the park (where the lake was) and things started looking more festive again:

I THINK that's some dynasty poem (don't take me on my word, because I can't read traditional chinese :P) Doesn't the slab look gorgeous with the sunset ray beaming on it?

Saw a small barge puttering past and thought it'd make my shot look quaint. The sun had other ideas though and really messed up the exposure of this picture. And you can see part of the arced (actual multi-arced?) bridge on the left that I was on earlier in the post:

NOW we start to see why the fringe of the gardens had a more lively feel eh. There were deserted set-ups of a mini-carnival by the lake :D

Carnival games! Haven't seen them in like, forever:

To make the place even more livelier, look what we came across, a whole parade of the 12 zodiac animals (the baby-friendly version):

I can have my white carrot:

Lil' dragon getting jiggy:

Nice doggy...it probably got excited by the princess cat on her shirt:

Monkey nice, money bring peach:

Tadpole?? :P

Really liked the colour of the 'piglet', it's almost like the real skin tone of swines don't you think:

Baby rooster??? Now that's something you don't see everyday. Mom leads child away before she starts asking difficult questions:

Three old fogies in front, another three hip and colourful ones behind:

Photo op stop:

People flying kites (the black specks), higher than the tallest tower in the gardens:

I don't quite understand why the sashes are tied to the board stands? It looks like slimming belts:

The side entrance near the MRT, take note of all the NOs and you'll be fine, not fined ;) :

Later on at night, after we had our dinner at the central hawker centre located opposite the MRT, we passed through the gardens again, and I tried capturing the central tower (in person, the lanterns was making the whole tower glow this salacious red):

And we came across a whole family of adorable pandas that we earlier missed out (there were cranes too a little ways away but it was too dark to capture anything decent of them) The lighting weren't turned on that night so excuse the quality of the pics:

 ^Taichi panda? :D

 Trust me, they look way more endearing in person.

Also came across the scary giant lambs which are permanent feature of the gardens (they are at the entrance of the bonsai area) This is one of two of them:

And as we exited through the main entrance, here're a last few parting shots. I think the garden could do with better lighting like more lamposts, don't you think? Then again, it could be that the organisers were saving all the lighting for the real event:

 The 'two towers' in the background:

Remember to bring tripods if you're gonna be taking pictures there at night! Else all the pretty lantern lights will appear as light blobs in your photos :S