Waltzing Dinosaurs in Singapore

It might have been because I had succumbed to an afternoon nap, and was feeling kind of dreamy. But the combinations of sights and sounds this evening really made me smile. You see, I only went out for a stamp, but then I wandered inside the mall to buy some sorbet for my other half. And then I heard them, low moans and groans ... animals with constipation, I thought.

The main mall music was something from the charts – and it clashed with the groans as badly as chilli sauce on meringue – but I had to stop and peer down into the basement.

You see, it’s school holidays here and United Square being the mall that entertains and educates kids (as well as clothing and feeding them), there are all sorts of surprises. This one really did surprise me. I wasn’t going to cry, like one toddler, or point and gurgle, like another, but I did have to lean over the balcony and gawp. And that’s when the music changed.

            The Last Waltz – we all know the song by Engelbert Humperdinck. Love it or loath it, it’s as stubborn as a ... whatever stubborn thing you can think of. Even now, twenty minutes on, it’s playing in my head – including the line that goes tra la la la la la la la la. That takes some writing!

            So what’s she on about? What was going on? Well, dinosaurs, of course. The moans and groans came from life-size models with moving heads and limbs, smoke and lights, arranged around the basement like a zoo. Very realistic. At least to me and the surrounding toddlers. Not especially scary – the bright lights and the music put paid to that. But fascinating. As I said, maybe I was in a dreamy mood, no need to rush home to cook, as the other half’s flight has been delayed. And I would have stayed longer, gazing at the nodding triceratops and the flying pterodactyls, and humming along to Humperdinck, only thankfully I remembered the sorbet ... and the sorry state it would be in if I stayed too long.

And then finally the short walk home which was all the shorter thanks to that song and the thought of Mr E waltzing with one of those friendly extinct folk.

            Thank you dinosaurs, thank you Mr E, you’ve made my evening.

            Tra la la la la la la la la la!