A deceivingly light drizzle went on for the greater part of the whole day. Light though it was, being made to stand in it for a few hours made us soaked to the skin. After which we were plunged into the cold air conditioned VIP grandstands at the F1 pits.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood as we mustered at the form-up point, in full view of one side of the spectator stands. There were a lot of people, but you wouldn't have known it if you were blind; the clapping and the cheering was as feeble as a dying kitten. It only got louder at three parts; when Sezairi apparently made his first appearance singing a medley of past NDP songs, when the rehearsal president arrived and took stand (after which a howl of laughter rang out in the Padang on seeing his excellency's substitute) and when the F-15SGs roared by. And by Ford, did they roar like nobody's business. Those afterburners cause noise pollution like BP causes oil spills.

The next weekend will be the start of the three NE shows, then the preview, and finally D-Day itself. We apparently only get one full day off for our efforts from our 16 fully burnt Saturdays :/

Here are some pictures I culled from NDPeeps.

Nothing less than a picture perfect march curvature.

This is how the uparmoured Leopard salutes the President.

That's me, unfocused, in the foreground. I wonder if my camera can take such contrasting focuses at such close spaces of separation.

Amazing photo, I'd say, possibly taken from a room in the Swissotel. There are a lot of open balconies every Saturday. This, including aunties, uncles, ang-mohs and teenaged girls armed with anything from phones, compacts, DSLRs and DSLRs with mega lenses and tripods, flanking us on the sidewalks, stopping for a picture to pose with the marching background. Best and most widely viewed route march you could ever ask for as an NSF.

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