TULIPMANIA 2015

Tulipmania is back again, for the third consecutive year.  I thought it was just not that long ago that I wrote about Tulipmania 2014.  So, time really flies!!

Tulipmania 2015 is on for a longer duration this time, from 20 March to 10 May, in the Flower Dome of Gardens by the Bay.  In the past, it lasted about 3 weeks to a month.

This year’s Tulipmania uses the theme of magical fairy tales featuring Snow Queen, Cinderella, Rapunzel etc.

New batch of tulips in this section – most of them have not bloomed yet at the time of my visit on 2 April afternoon

Flower Field with a huge gingerbread house of Hansel and Gretel, surrounded by a variety of tulips and a tall Rapunzel’s tower on the right.

Due to the large gingerbread house structure and also other fairy tales designs and plants, the overall display did not impress me this time as it seems a little bit messy, and has somehow diluted the focus on tulips.  Though it is said that there are over 40 varieties of tulips on display this year, the quantities seem to have lessened as compared to previous years, and the flowers seem a little loosely planted too.

In my opinion, this tower with the long “hair” of Rapunzel could be more appealing if it were decorated with colourful array of tulips in vertical planting!  But of course, this is just a thought since I am not a floral designer.

The Cinderella’s carriage seemed very popular

There were also Little Mermaid (not so little, actually) and The Ugly Duckling (the swan, actually) surrounded by blue (called Blue Pearl) and purple (called Purple Sensation) hyacinths.  I suppose these hyacinths were to symbolise pond/water but too bad, they did not bring out the effect.  There was just too much green.

The Windmill with a variety of tulips and hyacinths

If I had to pick a display that I like most, The Snow Queen would be my choice.

The “Snow Queen” section is planted with many white hyacinths (White Pearl), white and cream tulips.  White tulips represent purity and forgiveness while cream tulips signify love forever.   Too bad, most of them were either over-bloomed or already fading at the time of my visit.

Many tulips in other segments were also over-bloomed or fading. I think the timing of my visit was not very right as it had already been about two weeks since the event started.  Tulip flowers have a relatively short life span of just a few days to a week, as I understand.

Fading Bright Parrots

Although I was a little disappointed with the overall display/design and also the condition of the flowers, I always find the vivid, colourful tulips a delight to look at.  They simply attract me.  This is partly the reason why I have been going to this annual event since 2013.

By paying a bit of attention to the brochure, and the small signboards on display, the event can be educational too.

Do you know that tulips are the third most popular flowers after roses and chrysanthemums?  And do you know that tulips are believed to have originated from Central Asia and brought to Turkey by nomadic tribes?  Interesting, isn’t it?  I always thought that they originated from Europe, if not Netherlands.

Now, my dream is to go to the Netherlands to see the tulip fields.  I imagine that would be fantastic!

DONALD DUCK AND THE GOOD OLD DAYS

Earlier today, I read that Donald Duck, an animal cartoon character created by Walt Disney Productions, turns 80 years old today!

Wow, I didn’t realise that Donald Duck has been around for that long!  It is definitely one of the many cartoon characters that DS and I were very fond of in our childhood!

Hi Donald Duck, are you saying “I may be old but I am still strong as a bull” ?

A Promo Video of Donald Duck’s Jubilee Birthday 30 years ago!

See what I have got here –  stickers of Donald Duck and many other cartoon characters!

A complete set of 20 pieces, all have been very well kept although many have turned yellowish.  These stickers (collected free from Caltex petrol kiosks) are DS’ precious collection.  I used to have a set too but I pasted them on books after a while.

Are you familiar with these characters?  Can you guess how old these stickers are?

Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Baby Mickey, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck and Huey

Louie, Dewey, Ludwig von Drake, Uncle Scrooge, Bambi & Flower

Thumper, Tramp, Lady, Scamp, Pinocchio and Alice.

Pongo and Cinderella

Another set –  Snow White and 7 Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Three Little Pigs and Popeye!

Believe it or not, these stickers are more than 40 years old now!!

I was completely amazed that DS has kept them for this long!  They really bring back lots of fond memories of my childhood where collecting such stickers was one simple joy then.  There was no IT or internet, neither was there the luxury of toys during those days but my cousins, siblings and I were not short of activities and fun.  Most of our activities were achieved without spending money!

• We played hopscotch in school, home’s car porch or even outside the house

• We played marbles outside my parents’ home
• We flied kites in the big field in front of my parents’ home.  Our kites were made from old newspapers, bamboo sticks and home-made glue (using corn flour which my late granny used for cooking!)
• We played paper football, also made from gluing together old newspapers
• We played “five stones” which we hand-sewed using left-over cloths or old, unwanted clothes and filled with green beans or dry sands

• We had rope skipping games and our rope was made from lots of colourful rubber bands that we collected
• We caught beetles and  tadpoles in the drains
• The boys played catapults made using tree branches and rubber band and they also had spider-fighting games using real spiders that they caught and kept in a match box, and many more.

We had some creativity then, hadn’t we?  And we were already able to recycle and reuse old and unwanted materials then!

Such was our pressure-free, fun-filled and happy childhood which are already lost in our society today!  Nowadays, children have a lot more better toys and computer games but their lives are full of pressures and high expectations from their parents.  I would think that times should get better and better as the world progresses.  Apparently it isn’t the case.  All the advancements in the world do not seem to make people happier.