1st June!! Oh my gosh...
Actually I WAS studying throughout the afternoon and throughout the whole of yesterday (no joke!). Before I get to sleep, I think I'd better post more pictures up. Besides, there's going to be a change in scenery in 24 days' time!! Bach (I mean back!) to Singapore in 24 days' time!! And the first 2 weeks will be jam-packed with bringing friends around!
This was one of the weekends where I decided to take a tram down to the city centre for random shots (I think this was around 15 May) and I discovered that there was a Buddhist festival at the square. But first - St Paul's Cathedral pics.
There was some school service going on when I first stepped into the main hall. And wow, the music they sang was sooooo gorgeous! The girls sitting right at the back weren't really paying attention though :P and they were pretty restless...
Service ended pretty promptly (I guess I went when the service was about to end) and yeah, the whole group of girls started leaving, with some of their teachers - in academic gowns! Must have been a real formal event.
And yeah it was - apparently it was an annual school service (something that's really important in the school calendar, according to one of the ladies in the cathedral)
The massive doors leading to the main street. We didn't get to walk through these doors - we walked through glass doors beside it, but when the school left the cathedral, they had to open up these doors, plus the glass doors...
So...with the school crowd gone and since the service was over, we had time to explore around the main hall. During the service, we obviously had to stand behind everyone else and not use flash photography (well I definitely don't use flash photography unless needed but someone behind me was desperately snapping away and his flash kept going off...)
I guess St. Paul's interior is pretty similar to St Patrick's Cathedral's interior, the only differences are that St Paul's has colourful stained glass along the sides and is an Anglican church, while St Patrick's has orange stained glass along the sides and is a Catholic church.
Altar. With golden-painted walls and an impressive stained glass masterpiece.
Pipe organ in St Paul's.
And the tiles lining the aisles - vibrant and elaborate.
The magnificent stained-glass door. It was a later addition to the original cathedral. And I think this is definitely an awesome masterpiece!
View of the main entrance from outside, with the stained glass doors.
And one final shot of the cathedral with a sculpture in the foreground.
Would definitely like to go to St Paul's Cathedral again, but maybe this can wait till after exams :P
Moving on to the Buddhist festival...
So here are some mini-sculptures around the entrance of the square, where displays and placards were set up.
There were also street performances. I missed the first one (apparently some can-can dance), but shortly after there was a Bollywood dance item. Love the enthusiasm and cheerfulness of the dancers! They seemed to be bursting with energy all the time, and were genuinely enjoying the performance.
Later on they tried to get the audience to dance along with them. Well - pretty successful coz the kids were more than happy to do it :)
And while the Bollywood dancers were trying to get more enthusiasm from the audience, I was already at the prayer area. They even had instructions on what to do...
Before entering the prayer area though, people typically prayed to the giant Buddha right at the back and placing their joss sticks into this urn. Some even bought flowers for prayers...
Actually this is part of the instructions: to pour water over the Buddha's shoulders after making a wish. I did this in Singapore during one of my Chinatown visits. Might go back to the same temple again and take even more pictures.
And there were so many people from all over. Including children.
One last shot of the row of mini-Buddhas before I left.
And here's the giant Buddha that people were praying to, before washing the mini-Buddhas.
There were a number of people selling flowers (for $10 each!) for prayers.
Here's one of them on her water break. People were willing to purchase the flowers though.
And along the river - there were stalls selling vegetarian food, plus a tent specially for crafts. Lots of hand-made bracelets, keychains, lanterns etc.
And origami of course. :)
People could also learn how to make dragons and bracelets from colourful threads - which reminded me of my elementary school days, where I bought colourful threads for 50 cents per packet and made friendship bracelets. I still have some of these bracelets though, and right now I'm trying to look for the threads to make even more. :)
The ladies who taught the customers were really friendly and encouraging.
And that's the Buddhist Festival and St. Paul's cathedral covered! I might post more Aggie pics - I've got so many pictures of her, including silly ones...