Visit to the River Ang Bao 2015 (春到河畔)

20 Raffles Avenue, The Float at Marina Bay, Singapore 039805

Website: http://www.riverhongbao.sg

Opening hours: 2.00pm - 11.00pm

Admission Fee:  FOC

I have not been to the River Ang Bao (also spelt as "River Angpow" or "River Angpao") for a few years, so during this long 5-days Chinese New Year break, decided to drop by for some festive atmosphere as well as to buy my favorite BingTang HuLu (also know as "Tang Hulu"), a Chinese snack made of candied fruit. I love the one sold at River Ang Bao funfair because they are made of hawthorn fruit.

The event for this year opened from 17 February 2015 to the last day of February (the 28th), celebrating the year of the Goat.  Upon reaching, we passed by the funfair section where there were many rides and games for the kids, such as Uncle Ringo and bumper cars etc.

Inching further in, there was the Main Entrance Arch as well as the gracefully-decorated Entrance Walkway, transporting us back to ancient China with the drapes and blossoms.

There were also the Twelve Zodiac, one animal representing each zodiac, with scripts depicting the fate / fortune of a certain zodiac this year. And the Wishing Well, where people were busy tossing their coins in alongside their desires.

The Giant Mural Wall, Giant Pine Tree and Lion Dance Cheers transformed the entire Floating Platform into another world entirely - all dazzling neon lights brightly lit for the festive season. It was rather rich in Xinjiang flavor due to this year's collaboration with them.

A giant Peacock and Sheeps Pasture made up the section "Let's Celebrate Together", making it a gorgeous backdrop for phototaking.

Next to the abovementioned pasture is the iconic God of Fortune, standing tall and statuesque against the dark skies. At designated time slots he would "toss" gold flakes for us to catch, for good luck, wealth, fortune etc blessings.

The Food Street is to the Fortune God's right - boosting of an entire stretch of food in various cuisines - Singapore street food such as oyster omelet and laksa, Taiwanese street food such as fried chicken cutlet and oyster mee sua, Taiwanese ice-cream, Malay's ramly burgers, Japanese's Takopachi balls, Korean's twister potato, grilled prawns, drinks stalls etc, and my favorite candied fruit snacks stall, of course. We wished we had thought to come here for dinner instead.

We did get the BinTang Hulu (candied fruit snack) at SGD$5.00 a stick, as well as the Takopachi (SGD$3.00 for 6 balls) - the latter was not nice as the flour coating was thick, tasteless and we could not taste the fillings within. I also tried the Grilled Prawns (SGD$3.00), Twister Potato (SGD$5.00) and Tutus Kuehs (cakes made of coconut or peanut) at SGD$4.00 for 5.

There were also some performances. We managed to catch the Tightrope Walking act by Guinness World Record Holders Adili Wuxor and Abulaiti-Maijun, both from the Acrobatic troupe of Xinjiang, China. It was heart-stopping to watch, but they did it so effortlessly, even exacting a dance during part of the act itself.

We were picked to do a short survey and at the end of it, they gave us a nice smile as well as this pack of red packets. Overall, it was quite impressive this year, and we were both glad that we came to visit despite having to park at Suntec City and walk over.