Today is the last day of Lunar New Year, the 14th day of the new year, and the Lantern Festival. Here's how we celebrated.

We got the prized tickets for River Hongbao 2021 at Garden's by the Bay. The Gardens were decorated with large lantern installations and we attended just over a week ago.

Most of Singapore's Lunar New Year activities were cancelled this year due to Covid, but this strictly controlled one allowed to proceed. Tickets were released day by day in the few weeks before the event. It was originally only to run a week, but a few more days were added at the end.

I missed getting tickets on the first 2 days, but was able to get 6 tickets (enough for our whole household) for the Tuesday night. The fact that it was a work night and kids were back in school probably helped. I could only book 4 tickets at once so I had to do 2 separate transactions to register for the free tickets.

The tickets were for a 2 hour window in the Gardens. You had to check in within a 1 hour time slot or you lost your spot. We checked in with about 10 minutes to spare. We had been eating Satay near by so we knew we were okay for time, but we still felt a little rushed. After getting our temperature taken and bags checked we were let loose to wander through and see the Lanterns. When our bags were checked, they didn't seize MsE's hot prata wrapped in brown paper, but they told us strictly no eating inside the event.

We had picked an early time, in the hopes  of our kids in bed before too late. The timing meant we got pictures in both the day light with the lanterns and also got to see them glowing in the dark towards the end of our evening.

All tickets were sold out, but we noticed right away that the crowd level was low. It was easy to social distance. The only place that felt a bit crowded was the line for the entrance, which moved very quickly. We were in within a few minutes. Then it felt a little bit crowded at the first lantern set, where everyone gathered to get their first photo.

The first lantern from where we entered was called "Happy Family" and it was sponsored by the restaurant "Haidilao Hot Pot". It showed the traditional Reunion Dinner. For this meal the whole family gathers on New Years Eve together and eats auspicious foods to enter into the new year on their best foot. It's considered the most important meal of the year.

MsE immediately pointed out that the grown ups were holding red packets to give to the kids. You give and receive these packages of money with both hands as you could see in the display too. It was in a spectacular setting with the metal Super Trees behing and above, and the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in the background looking like a giant cruise ship in the sky.  

We checked out the map showing all the lanterns. MsC kept count so that we didn't miss any. There was a stage, so we decided to come back to it for the first showing and see as many lanterns as we could first.

Lantern 4 was "God of Fortune." We noticed the Ox, for Year of the Ox and the gold coins on this lanterns were actually Singaporean $1 coins, not the typical Chinese gold coins with the center circle missing that you usually see. We figured a family photo here couldn't hurt our prosperity this year.  

MsE's favorite was "Melody of Spring" with the grand piano and harp. The crowd literally said a collective "awe" as she ran up with her hand on her hip to pose for her photo there. I'm pretty sure she's in some other people's photos too.  

I found this huge screen with rotating messaging which was put up just for the event interesting. It has safety messaging like keep a safe distance from other groups, but also had messaging about how the Vaccine roll out was proceeding.

The pink car was called "Purple Fantasy". I don't understand where purple came into it, so I assume I'm missing some cultural concept here. My favorite was "Charming Lady." She opened and closed her eyes slowly and looked around in different directions. The rest of the lantern was completely still. It had quite the effect. The girls all marvelled over this one. They thought she was a mermaid. MsI couldn't take her eyes off her. Look at the difference between day and night. I think both were stunning. The next set of lanterns was called "Blooming Peacocks."

Another screen farther into the gardens seemed only to play Chinese music.

Lion Dances are cancelled in Singapore this year, but we did get to learn about the great variations of this tradition throughout South East Asia. The girls walked through the exhibit of lion dance costumes deciding whether the dragaons were from the North or South.

Each Lunar animal was also depicted as smaller lanterns, so we each found our Lunar Animal.

We didn't last long at the show. We assumed it was a live show. It wasn't; it was a prerecorded video. Each seat was socially distanced and we had been directed to individual seats all over the place. The girls didn't like sitting alone. We had to leave after a few minutes, although they did try. We were disappointed, because the live show we watched in the Gardens before Covid was one of the girls favorite memories of Singapore. Leaving which meant walking to the very front and walking out right in front of the stage in front of everyone. By then it was starting to get dark.

I loved watching the sky turn pink and the city lights come on. Night falls fast on the Equator. Suddenly we noticed that the lanterns now seemed boldly lit.

"Colourful World" had a plethora of tulips, paintbrushes, the white Singapore Merlion and a painting in the background which reminded me of Van Gogh with the swirling sky that leapt out of the frame.

As we crossed the bridge to leave, we saw the open river was almost blocked by a line of lanterns all bunched together in the water. There were people waiting in line to release a lanterns in the shape of a glass-like lotus blossom with an LED for light as a wish. There was releasing platform in the from of a slide which is why all of the blooms were in the same line and not distributed around the water. The very last lantern we saw was called "Spring Blooms". It was the only lantern set on the river. I loved the way the light reflected in the water.