Monday, October 16, 2006

'Grand Old Dame' of Kallang

We were up bright and early on this Sunday morning (and this was after an extremely late night of karaoke with some of the FJC guys) for a noteworthy occassion. It's the Fit Jazz Club's annual photoshoot. However what was significant about it, is that the backdrop is the soon-to-be demolished National Stadium.

The idea of having a national stadium began about the same time when Singapore gained independence in 1965. 3 million bricks, 300,000 bags of cement, 20,000 pieces of plywood, 3,000 25m-long hexagonal concrete piles, 2,500 tons of steel, 2,000 tons of timber scaffolding later, the National Stadium first opened its gates on 21 Jul 1973. After 33 years, the National Stadium will be torn down next year to make way for a new Sports Hub. I don't know about you guys but I definitely have my share of memories of the National Stadium - the Kallang Wave and the Kallang Roar :)

We reached the stadium at 10 plus (we were very late due to last night's karaoke) and most people/cars were there already. By the time we end the shoot, it's already 2pm. It's definitely no mean feat trying to coordinate so many cars and it's made worse by the bad haze and humidity. But everyone was really patient and things were made more bearable by the cheerful bantering. There's so much good vibes around!

Definitely a memorable day.

DID YOU KNOW?
  • That there is a time capsule containing newspapers, specimen coins and bank notes buried beneath the foundation stone of the west entrance steps laid by Dr Goh Keng Swee in 1970.
  • That the 1st game to be held at the stadium was an international hockey match between Singapore & Australia in June 1973.
  • That the last time of the Singapore-Malaysia Cup (Singapore & Perlis) was held at the stadium in 1975.
  • That the first National Day Parade to be held at the stadium was in 1976. (Year I was born!)
  • That in 1986, the late Pope John Paul II preached to a full stadium.
  • That the stadium hosted the 17th SEA Games in 1993.


Forgot to bring my trusty camera to the Karaoke last night and had to make do with my handphone (but quality is awful cos of the dark). We've got a huge room with a projector! It's almost like a personal concert. Raymond in the limelight here. Got a hiliarious video of the guys but decided to let them off the hook and not embarrass them here :p They are so fun and spontaneous!

Gave up after taking a just few pics with the handphone
FJC Stadium photo shoot

An arduous project
Check out our ride - 3rd from the left


Going in for a close-up
We were walking up the steps of the stadium to get a better view when we noticed them walking up too and asked them to pose for a shot.

Then they unabashedly rallied for more people to join them - Ken rushed to join in as well

And out of the blue I see everyone running from different corners of the carpark to gather here (their action is sure very fast) and I suddenly have many cameras thrust at me to take photos for all of them. -_-"'
Yet another group photo

Now's our turn


Now let's play 'where's Esther?'


A bird's eye view


And the final result of today's hardwork ........

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Ta Da!!!!!

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Simply breathtaking

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