Monday, March 27, 2006

A Disappointing Closing Ceremony

Due to the excitements of the Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony just over a week ago Melburnians were expecting another incredible night at the Closing Ceremony.

Thousands flocked to the Yarra River to grab a spot on the banks to get a front seat view of the Ceremony, we did too! Worried that there might not be any spot left we got there really early at 4.30 in the afternoon! We found a good spot by the Yarra and set up camp, claiming our territory! Yippie!

It was a rather long wait, my friends and us took turn guarding our camp while the others go wondered about at the festival which was still going on. By 8 o'clock when it was dark and the Ceremony started inside the MCG we were greeted by the very well known lightshow with the fountain fish on the water. The only thing was they took away all the big screens from the banks of the river so we couldn't watch the ceremony that was going on inside the MCG! There were big screens at other places like the Alexandra Gardens and Federation Square but we wanted to have a front row seat view of the fireworks later. We decided to stay put and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited...it was such a long night! Why or why did they take away the big screens! What a major disappointment! The fireworks won't be starting until 10.00 pm!

We did get to see a bit of fireworks coming from the MCG every now and then but that was just parts of the show from the Ceremony inside the MCG which we didn't even get to watch! They told us to watch it at the other venues but then we would lose our spot on the river bank and if I wanted to watch it on the big screen which was like watching TV, I might as well watch it on TV in the comfort of my home! Damn the organiser! Why take off the screens on the banks!

Finally after 10.00 pm when the Ceremony inside the MCG finished we finally got to see the fireworks. It was as expected, there were coming from the MCG, from the fish on the river and from the building in the background. It was a magnificent display of fireworks! Only after 5 1/2 hours!

These are just some of the fireworks photos I took using my Sony Cybershot DSCP-10 using nightshot mode but only a couple came out good because you're supposed to use a tripod for these shots that requires longer exposure, handheld is never steady.


Well do I think it was worth the wait for a few minutes of fireworks? Probably not, the thing that ruined the night was the missing screens. We were left with nothing to do before the fireworks but wait and wait..what a disappointing night but the fireworks was good though. Watch the short video clip of the fireworks below.


16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Aiyoyo! Looks like we had a better deal watching the live telecast from Malaysia.
Anyway, I still appreciate ur photos & the video.
Thanks, mate. :)

FooDcrazEE said...

true - better than us mate...

H.C. Tan said...

the fireworks are beautiful =)

Robin Wong said...

5 hours ++ wait.. ouch....

Anonymous said...

Worth the wait, nice fireworks :)

Did you say Sony Cybershot DSC P10? Exactly the same camera I have :)

Wuching said...

amelia: disappointing night..:(

foodcrazee: how can be better than u watching it on tv more comfy!

hooiching: yes they are really nice..:)

robin: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

jacky: i wouldn't have waited that long if i knew...ur a sony cybershot dsc p10 person too! ur my brother in arms now!

Anonymous said...

Awww too bad but the fireworks shot you took were great and beautiful. ;)

Thank god my Astro behaved nicely and I got to watch the closing ceremony on TV. Not that spectacular though except the fireworks scene.

Jeremy C said...

sui...very the sui... you shld be a freelance photographer - very talented!

Anonymous said...

I watched it on tv too! The highlight of course was Dame Edna! QV said since QE2 not around, Australia's own QUEEN made the appearance and stole the show!

Wuching said...

che-cheh: lucky u! get to watch it in tv unlike me! :(

jeremy: see..i do know how to take nice pictures, i'm not just a pretty face after all! :)

STP: my wife was wondering why they didn'y show dame edna in the opening ceremony but this time too much of that old bag!

Anonymous said...

What old bag! She's good lah! I like the lyrics of her song..."Brisbane's too hot, Perth's too far away, Canberra... and give Sydney a miss!" Now Melbourne's is all-Australia's enemy!! BTW, were all those dancing away Queens like Edna? Goah! SO many in Melbourne kah?

NickTay said...

the fireworks were good!:)

Wuching said...

STP: ok possom! good that u like edna like the rest of melburnians!

nicktay: where have u been? welcome back, glad u like the fireworks, i'm a sucker for fireworks myself!

5xmom.com said...

Lucky you, get to phaktor with the loupoh by the river for 5 hours. Under the moonlight, starlight, fireworks....nice mah. Anyway, thank you for giving us the live telecast.

Jeremy C said...

BTW, pretty boy, YOU'VE BEEN TAGGED!! LOL

Wuching said...

5xmom: paktor? with thousands of ppl?

jeremy: what tagged? u said in ur meme ur not tagging anyone so there!