Dance of the Grand Opening

As I was leaving the apartment today, I saw my first lion dance!




I really heard it first, as the sounds of brass and drums in Singapore usually mean that there's a Chinese ceremony/parade/celebration nearby. A new restaurant, Gourmet-Cellar, opened across the street from us and was celebrating their grand opening. For as modern as Singapore is, the Chinese can be very superstitious and the lion dance and musicians are thought to scare away the evil spirits and bring good luck.

The guys wearing the hazmat-like suits should all be martial artists, as the dance is supposed to be an extension of Chinese martial arts.