Corpus Christi Festival

I'm really slow in organizing and choosing photos...
Anyway, during my visit to Spain, my father and I went for an outing to take photos of the Corpus Christi, a catholic festival, when many streets are decorated for the night procession.

Que lenta soy organizando y eligiendo fotos...
En cualquier caso, cuando estuve en España en junio, mi padre y yo salimos a hacer fotos del Corpus, ya que muchas calles estan decoradas para la procesion de por la noche.
 
In this neighborhood, they made a great mosaic with painted wood-shavings.
En este barrio hicieron un bonito mosaico con virutas de madera pintada.

Balconies get decorated with shawls, like this beautiful traditional-style house.
Tambien se decoran los balcones, como los de esta bonita casa manchega. 
 

 

Some nuns were also decorating the street in front of their convent. 

Las monjas tanbien estaban decorando la calle de su convento.

And some other pictures focused more in details I found interesting during our walk.
Unas cuantas fotos mas de algunos detalles que me llamaron la atencion.

day 252

Tangerines everywhere to celebrate the CNY. They are consider a symbol of fortune, and people decorate their houses with their trees and give each other 2 mandarinas to wish them abundance good fortune.

Hay mandarinas por todos lados para celebrar el Año Nuevo Chino. Las mandarinas son un simbolo de riqueza y la gente decora sus casas con arboles de mandarinas, y se regalan un par de ellas para desearse abundancia y fortuna.

day 250

I went for a walk to the River Hongbao after a class. I like the lights and its reflection on the water.

Fui a dar un paseo al River Hongbao despues de una clase. Me gustan las luces y los reflejos en el agua.

day 248

One more horse, hehe!! At least from another perspective :) And I didn't go at night yet, but still have 3 more weeks of CNY decorations.

Otro caballo, jeje!! Al menos desde otra perspectiva :) Aun tengo que ir de noche, pero todavia quedan 3 semanas de decoracion de año nuevo.

day 246

God of fortune. Apparently it give numbers several times a day, and I guess there is some kind of lottery or price later. I didn't get to see that part. 

For some reason the blog did something to the picture, because the black part should be totally black, and here it looks like weird....

Dios de la fortuna. Por lo visto da numeros varias veces al dia, y me imagino que luego habra algun sorteo, pero yo no he llegado a ver nada de eso.

Por alguna razon, al poner la foto en el blog le pasa algo raro, porque la parte negra deberia ser totalmente negra, y aqui parece que tiene algo....

day 245

新年快乐!
 
Welcome to the year of the horse! I finally went to the River Hongbao at night, the event held at a floating platform at Marina Bay to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

Bienvenido al año del caballo! Por fin he ido por la noche al River Hongbao, una especie de feria en una plataforma flotante en Marina Bay para celebrar el Año Nuevo Lunar.

day 242

A sea of coins cover the main street of Chinatown during the Lunar New Year celebrations.

Un mar de monedas cubre la calle principal de Chinatown durante la celebracion del Año Nuevo Lunar.

day 241

I like those pinwheels :)

Me gustan los molinillos :)

day 240

Chinatown was so crowded when we went on Sunday before CNY! The Festive Street Bazaar was probably one of the reasons. It was full of traditional new year's groceries; and apparently, different colors of pumpkin seeds is one of them.

Chinatown estaba lleno de gente el Domingo antes del Año Nuevo Chino. Supongo que el Bazar que habia por las calles, con diferentes alimentos tipicos del año nuevo, era una de las razones. Y por lo que vimos, las pipas de calabaza de diferentes colores es uno de ellos.

day 238

Last picture of the Hindu festival, I promise!

Ultima foto del festival hindu, prometido!

day 237

I was so impressed with the Thaipusam Festival that I can help posting more photos of it. This man look like be in a trance, while smoking and dancing in front of a couple of men wearing the burdens.

Sigo tan impresionada por el festival hindu que no puedo evitar poner fotos de ese dia. Este hombre parecia estar como en trance, mientras fumaba y bailaba delante de algunos de los hombres que iban en penitencia.

day 235

While people got ready to were the burden, there were relatives and friends preparing offerings.

Mientras la gente se preparaba para salir en la procesion, amigos y familiares hacian ofrendas.

day 232

Getting ready.
I might not agree with their believes, but it impress me what people are willing to do for their faith. Why is pain necessary? I've seen similar things (but not as much as this Hindu festival) in my country during Easter, and never got to understand it.

Terminando de prepararse.
Puede que no este de acuerdo con sus creencias, pero aun asi me impacta lo que la gente esta dispuesta a hacer por fe. Por que es necesario el dolor? Ha visto cosas parecidas (aunque no tanto como este festival hindu) en España durante Semana Santa, y nunca he sido capaz de entenderlo.

day 231

I had seen some pictures before, but when I got there and saw it alive it was breathtaking.  This is Thaipusam, an important holiday for the Tamil-speaking Hindu community in Singapore. I think it is the most impressive celebration I have ever attended.
I spent 3 hours at the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple, where they were getting ready for their journey, and had the chance to see the whole process of preparation.
Everybody was really nice, allowing us (there was a lot of people taking pictures) to approach the worshipers to take good photos.
There were also many people playing music, and friends and relatives talk and sang in order to support and encourage them during the piercing process. Of course, it takes years of practice until they can wear the big kavadi-burdens, and none kind of anesthetic is applied, although they get their body ready for it.  
A week later (as always I have some delay in posting...) I am still "in shock".

Ya habia visto fotos antes de ir, pero cuando lo vi en directo fue mucho mas impresionante. Es Thaipusam, una importante fiesta religiosa de los Hindues Tamil-hablantes en Singapur. Creo que es una de las celebraciones mas impresionantes que he visto.
Estuve 3 horas en el templo Sri Srinivasa Perumal, donde se preparan para la procesion, y pude ver todo el proceso que requiere la preparacion.
Todos fueron muy agradables, y nos dejaban que nos acercaramos a ellos para hacer mejores fotos.
Habia tambien musicos, y familiares y amigos cantaban y hablaban a los devotos para apoyarles y animarles. Por supuesto, lleva años poder ponerse las estructuras mas grandes, y no usan ningun tipo de anestesia, aunque si preparan su cuerpo para la ocasion
Una semana despues del festival (como siempre voy con retraso...) estoy todavia en "shock"

day 135

A woman praying during a religious practice at Memorial Stupa in Thimpu. There were a lot of people walking around the Stupa (clockwise), while many others sit around, like this woman, praying with their owns praying wheels and prayer beads.

day 125

I had to go to the Nikon service to get my camera clean, and I started walking and ended in Chinatown. Something I like of Singapore is the mix of cultures. This is a Hindu temple with some Mid-Autumn decoration (since it is in Chinatown). Pretty close in the same street there is also a mosque and, of course, a Buddhist temple.

day 112

6 years, time flies! To celebrate it, we went for a photography outing :)
This is at Chinatown. They are now celebrating the Mid-autumn Festival, and it is decorated with a lot of lights.

It had to be this song today:
Imagine- John Lennon

day 92

The festival of lights lasted 2 weekends, and we went again on Saturday. Fulvio took this photo during a Bhaksar's Art Academy performance, at Plaza Singapura.

day 84

It was the festival of lights this weekend, and the entrance to some museums was free. I found this quote at the Singapore art Museum.

day 43

We went to the library@esplanade for some movies, and guess what, there was a NDP rehearsal! It was Navy's turn

Hemos ido a coger unas peliculas de la biblioteca en la Esplanade, y hoy tambien habia ensayo del NDP.