2010 Countdown Fireworks from Central Promontory

Credit: Streetdirectory.com

I love our 2009 location for viewing the countdown fireworks display but not the Great Squeeze along Esplanade Bridge. Therefore an alternate route had to be found.


I told Ah Tiong, we should have our New Year Eve dinner in Chinatown. Of course Ah Tiong being Ah Tiong - our gahman's blue-eyed New Immigrants - misunderstood my plan. They thought I was referring to their Chinatown in our Chinatown (they have another one in Geylang). But nope, I told them, I wanted dinner in a less crowded place. Separated from their Chinatown the heart of Chinatown by a hill, the stretch around Amoy Street and Telok Ayer Street would be ideal. After the hearty dinner, we would troop down Cross Street to our destination at the waterfront, therefore avoiding the crowd along Esplanade Bridge. Lau Pa Sat, the nearer option, never crossed my mind. It has became too touristy in my opinion; besides this Festival Market is nothing more than an over-glamoured hawker centre.

So on New Year Eve, we had our dinner at Amoy Street. My Ah Tiong companions, none of them southerners, probably have no affinity with the street name, much less the place. After dinner and later dessert at Far East Square, we trooped down Church Street.

The crowds were walking in all directions. I was lost in the labyrinth of tunnels and we landed up on the other side of Finlayson Green. As we inched towards the waterfront on the wrong side of Collyer Quay, I realized the Change Alley Linkbridge was still under perpetual construction and there is no way to cross the road because of the divider fence. Thanks to our Garden City, the folks camping along The Arcade to Tung Centre can admire the trees instead of the fireworks.

Precious seconds ticked by. I made the decision to ke-belakang-pusing. We needed to find a better vantage point to usher in the New Year. Across the road from One Marina Boulevard, I noticed the police were blocking access to Collyer Quay and directing the human traffic towards Marina Boulevard instead. We had no choice but to cross the underpass again and joined the people flow.

As midnight approached, we reached The Sail@Marina Bay. The traffic also reached a dead end. There, behind the Central Promontory, free from trees, we ushered in 2010 with the spectacular fireworks display.