A relative analysis
Caught the 4th July fireworks last night. It took place at one of the man-made lakes in the area - one right in the middle of town called Silver Lake.
The sun sets fairly late here - about 9 plus pm - because its summer so it happened only at 10 pm local time.
Nice huh? Sunset on Silver lake
It was fairly surreal... the locals come in early, about two or three hours ahead and "chope" their spot. They bring out these foldable lawn chairs and blankets and sit down and just hang out.
There are people selling neon sticks; pop, you name it... On the far side of the lake there's a concert stand set up, but as gene says, our ge tais during Hungry Ghost month are bigger and better organised. Hahahhaha.
But lots and lots of people though. And for the last few weeks, we've been seeing tents at the major shops like Walmart/Target etc etc, selling fireworks, but these are rudimentary ones that spin on the ground. The locals kinda roll their eyes and scoff at them, so what happens is that they drive across the state lines to Iowa and Wisconsin and buy these huge-ass ones that go up and blow up - they are quite large ones, like the ones you see at the River Hong Bao festivals.
And through the night, people are letting off their own fireworks. These big ones that go up in the sky are, by the way, technically illegal here in Minnesota, but the police kinda shut one eye on the 3rd and 4th of July. Do not try on the 5th though.
The main show was even more surreal.
The resident geese were honking hysterically at the sound, there was a non stop commentary-babble in Pakistani from the family who stopped to watch the fireworks just behind us. And its a very different pace of firework show compared to what we experience at home.
Singapore, perhaps reflective of its pace of life, expends fireworks fast. Bam, bam, bam bam - machine-gun fast, there's hardly a break in the blasts. And we send a hell lot up so quickly its over within a few minutes. It's spectacular but it leaves you wanting more...
Here; again, maybe its the pace of life. Its like blast - everyone watches and goes "oohhh" and "ahhh", maybe even clap appreciatively at a particularly nice one - the blast fades. Pause. Then another one is set off.
It means that it lasts very long - 30 minutes - and sometimes it can be too much of a good thing. My legs were killing me from all that kneeling and squatting. But it was nice anyway.
Gene did not bring tripod from home... so warning, pics can be a bit shaky.
Getting out however was murder. When everyone owns a car, it simply means that it gets very crowded trying to get out of the area. Stuck in jam for 40 minutes.
The sun sets fairly late here - about 9 plus pm - because its summer so it happened only at 10 pm local time.
Nice huh? Sunset on Silver lake
It was fairly surreal... the locals come in early, about two or three hours ahead and "chope" their spot. They bring out these foldable lawn chairs and blankets and sit down and just hang out.
There are people selling neon sticks; pop, you name it... On the far side of the lake there's a concert stand set up, but as gene says, our ge tais during Hungry Ghost month are bigger and better organised. Hahahhaha.
But lots and lots of people though. And for the last few weeks, we've been seeing tents at the major shops like Walmart/Target etc etc, selling fireworks, but these are rudimentary ones that spin on the ground. The locals kinda roll their eyes and scoff at them, so what happens is that they drive across the state lines to Iowa and Wisconsin and buy these huge-ass ones that go up and blow up - they are quite large ones, like the ones you see at the River Hong Bao festivals.
And through the night, people are letting off their own fireworks. These big ones that go up in the sky are, by the way, technically illegal here in Minnesota, but the police kinda shut one eye on the 3rd and 4th of July. Do not try on the 5th though.
The main show was even more surreal.
The resident geese were honking hysterically at the sound, there was a non stop commentary-babble in Pakistani from the family who stopped to watch the fireworks just behind us. And its a very different pace of firework show compared to what we experience at home.
Singapore, perhaps reflective of its pace of life, expends fireworks fast. Bam, bam, bam bam - machine-gun fast, there's hardly a break in the blasts. And we send a hell lot up so quickly its over within a few minutes. It's spectacular but it leaves you wanting more...
Here; again, maybe its the pace of life. Its like blast - everyone watches and goes "oohhh" and "ahhh", maybe even clap appreciatively at a particularly nice one - the blast fades. Pause. Then another one is set off.
It means that it lasts very long - 30 minutes - and sometimes it can be too much of a good thing. My legs were killing me from all that kneeling and squatting. But it was nice anyway.
Gene did not bring tripod from home... so warning, pics can be a bit shaky.
Getting out however was murder. When everyone owns a car, it simply means that it gets very crowded trying to get out of the area. Stuck in jam for 40 minutes.
