Ghostbusters Red Carpet in Singapore at Marina Bay Sands !

Thanks to InCinemas.sg and Sony Pictures, I had a chance to be a part of the Ghostbusters Red Carpet event which happened on 12th June at Marina Bay Sands! Not only did I get a chance to be real close to the red carpet as Melissa McCarthy and director Paul Feig made their way, but I also had the opportunity to be a part of a record breaking attempt which will go into the Guinness Book of World Records! Not too shabby for a Sunday ;)

Here's the full vlog of what went down that day.
(More videos on my YouTube at youtube.com/prakhere)

Incoming shots from my Snapchat! (add me at moarpixels) :)

Registration for the event started at 4pm, but there were already people queueing up from as early as 12pm! I reached around 2pm and made my way to the Roselle-Simpor Ballroom on level 4 of the Sands Expo and Convention Centre. This was how the queue looked like when I finally got there.

After waiting in line for what seemed like a really, really long time, the registration booths finally opened and the queue got moving! The Guinness World Record attempt was for the largest gathering of people dressed as ghosts. At the registration table, I was tagged with a sticker band around my wrist and given a ghost costume to wear for the record attempt (and which was mine to keep after the event was over!).

 

After registering, all participants were ushered into the ballroom to have dinner and chill. Dinner was buffet-style and the food was good! I was too busy eating to stop and take photos, but after all that standing and waiting in-line for 2 plus hours, I definitely needed a good dose of re-energizing. With dinner out of the way, it was time to suit up into our ghost costumes!

I was wondering if there was something special on Snapchat for this event, and lo and behold, 

this neat little geo-filter with the "Who You Gonna Call?" tagline complete with dripping green slime popped up and made it all the more rad!

This was the ghost mask all the participants had to wear.

After everyone had dressed up, an adjudicator from the Guinness Book of World Records briefed us on the rules we needed to follow to ensure that our record attempt would be valid. Basically, all of us had to stand together as a group within a cordoned off area near the back of the ballroom in full ghost gear (and carrying a big no-entry sign just like the ghost in the Ghostbusters logo) with our masks on for 5 minutes. That was it! 

It was super tempting to take out my phone and film what went down for those 5 minutes, but I decided to save my phone's battery for the red carpet event instead which would happen later that evening. During those 5 minutes, the organisers played the Ghostbusters theme song and people who knew the lyrics enthusiastically chimed in. There were a bunch of photographers right in front of us (we were all behind a barrier) who were clicking away taking photos and gesturing to us to pose for them. Those 5 minutes went by in a flash  and the record attempt was done! However, we had to wait until the red carpet event for an official announcement to be made confirming whether we had successfully set the record or not.

Here's a photo from Mashable showing how all of us looked like while we were in formation :)

That's a whole lot of ghosts!

IMAGE: DAVE MANGELS/GETTY IMAGES FOR SONY

While everyone was getting ready to head out to the red carpet, people started taking photos with two particular individuals who were in full Ghostbusters gear with their proton packs and wands. I had spotted one of them earlier that day (the guy on the right in the photo below) and he was already in full gear even before I got to reach the queue at 2pm! Much respect to you dude! Awesome costume!

It was about 7.30 pm or 8 pm before all of us were asked to line up and make our way to the plaza for the red carpet event. Can you imagine if you were just minding your own business when you turn a corner, and see a steady stream of people dressed as ghosts waving and walking by one after another? Seeing the bewilderment on the faces of some people as they fumbled between wondering what was going on and whether to reach for their phones to take photos was just hilarious! There was already a large growing crowd of onlookers gathered along the route we were walking by to the plaza, and I randomly stopped and gave a kid a high-five while in full costume with the mask! 

 

This was our holding area on the red carpet at the plaza after we reached, where we were free to occupy any spot along the barrier. This was my spot! The people on the opposite side behind the barriers were the various representatives from the local and foreign media press groups who were covering the event.  Someone promptly came by giving green light-sticks to all us ghosts to use for later! The Muttons (Justin Ang and Vernon A) along with Gerald and Joakim from 987FM handled hosting duties for the evening, keeping the banter and excitement up until Melissa McCarthy and Paul Feig finally arrived!

 

It was a pretty exciting experience overall. Good crowd, good vibes and a whole lot of jostling over one another to take selfies and groupfies with the celebrities on the red carpet. The night ended with the official announcement being made that a new Guinness Book of World Records was indeed set (yay!) and with more photo takings and autograph signings.

Amidst the chaos that ensued while everyone rushed to get the attention of the stars (and me taking a brief tumble to the floor after slipping on the partially wet floor), I did manage to get Paul Feig's signature on a little fan that the organisers had passed to everyone to help cool off!

And what event would be complete without some goodies? 

All participants got an exclusive Ghostbusters gift pack consisting of the following:

1. Ghostbusters drawstring bag

2. Ghostbusters cap

3. Ghostbusters glow-in-the-dark decal

4. Ghostbusters travel cup

 

5. Ghostbusters glow-in-the-dark T-Shirt

Oh, and a little letter from 

Walt Disney Studios Sony Pictures Releasing (Singapore) Pte Ltd to top it all off :)

It's awesome to see more and more red carpet events happening right here in Singapore. If there's even more on the way, I'm definitely signing up to be a part of the festivities! Although next time, I'm totally bringing along a powerbank. Trying to conserve what little battery life your phone has to balance between Snapchatting and YouTube vlogging is tricky business!! :)

Treasures of the World from the British Museum (in Singapore!)

I had the chance to visit an exhibition at the National Museum called "Treasures of the World from The British Museum" a few months ago and it was pretty cool! There were lots of interesting artefacts and relics on display from around the world, from small trinkets which fit in the palm of your hand to really large human sized sculptures and even larger framed paintings. I took a bunch of photos on my phone and I now finally have the time to put them all up here. The exhibition runs until 29 May, and it is definitely worth checking out if you have an afternoon to spare.

One of the walls at the exhibit has this handy location map up on display, so ideally you start moving through the exhibition by starting at the entrance to the "Africa" area and moving from left to right and finally ending at "The Modern World" section.

The sponsors and supporters who helped to make this happen :)

The main area of the exhibition with all the various entrances leading to the different zones for you to explore!

      

    

Really dig these patterns and details! Even though these were made back in the old days, the level of craftsmanship involved is just mind-boggling!

    

    

    

    

    

    

Ah yes, this was in January, and I've finally had some time to post all of this up only now after holding these photos hostage on my phone for so long. This release feels good :) 

Speaking of release, I've taken up vlogging (sorta) with my phone on YouTube so there's that. Somehow this act of recording stuff I see and hear feels like a form of therapy in some way. While I may not have the time to get my thoughts down on paper or in this virtual space with a keyboard, I can always count on taking a video with my phone since it's practically on me 24/7 these days. That way, I can get these captured moments out before perhaps revisiting them later on to reflect in a blog. Or with a Tweet.