(This is a backdated post for 7th June 2010)

A shot of the Cowboy Town

Although our 7th Wedding Anniversary (ROM) was the day before, we had planned to celebrate it this evening instead since the carnival at the Cowboy Town should fittingly bring out our celebratory mood and become a memorable finale for our trip.

Catherine had brought along a beautiful blouse for the occasion but decided against wearing it at the last minute since it didn’t seem suitable for our walk at Cowboy Town. She decided to go for casual wear instead. This proved to be a right move later on, especially when the weather was still wet with drizzles outside.

Holding an umbrella each, Catherine and I walked to the Cowboy Town with Darius in my arms. No transport would be provided as the place is a 5-minute walk from our resort. The rain however did not help make our journey there an easy one.

When we finally reached the entrance (map), some young guys and girls were dancing to the beat of a live band. They helped bring out some celebratory mood before the carnival but we did pity them, having to dance in the rain.

After exchanging our tickets for the wrist bands (entrance is free so those were for the carnival), we went past the entrance and were stopped by some staff for photo taking. Seeing that there was a nice backdrop and some props provided for us (cowboy hats, pistol and a macaw), we had our family photo taken and were told we could collect them at a fee later on after the carnival. We wouldn’t mind paying for it since it would be a good memento for our trip.

We headed to Huang Di Chinese Restaurant for our set dinner and were pleased with their dishes, which consisted of lemon chicken, bean curds, vegetables and a bowl of soup. Although our meal coupon stated that it was for 2 pax, the staff took the initiative to serve another bowl of rice for Darius too.

Simple but nice Chinese dishes

After our dinner, the skies had already darkened as the night arrived. The rain had also stopped. Since the carnival would only be starting at 8.30pm, we still had some time to spare before then. We checked out the various kiddy rides and stalls but didn’t try any of them as either they were unsuitable or not really functional (especially when the rides were still wet from the rain). Anyway, Darius seemed happier walking around the place and checking out the stairs/steps he came across. ^^|

Bad weather for the rides

We noticed a father and son who boarded a plane ride but while the ride was in progress, rain drops began to come down from the skies again but they were stucked on the ride and weren’t able to seek shelter. The staff managing the ride didn’t seem to have the initiative to end the ride early either. What bad luck for them!

Opening our umbrellas, we headed further in and came across the Shopping Village, a sheltered area with several shops selling food and souvenirs. It was also where the 4D Theatre was situated.

The time was now 8.10pm. Since the carnival was scheduled to only start at 8.30pm while shows at the 4D Theatre begin at 15-minute intervals, we were hoping to catch a quick show at 8.15pm. When we approached the ticket counter outside the theatre to get in with our tickets, we were told that we had to change for the actual theatre ticket at the main entrance outside the Cowboy Town!

Despite how ridiculous and inconvenient their method was, I quickly headed to the main entrance to ask for an exchange of the theatre tickets. When the staff knew I wanted the 8.15pm slot, she said I wouldn’t be able to make it back to the theatre in time. Well, I had to agree on that.

She then asked me for an alternative timing for the show but I couldn’t give her any definite timing since we would be headed for the carnival soon and wouldn’t know if we would still want to catch the show after it ended at 10pm. Since they would only issue tickets for specific timings, I decided that we would just give the show a miss.

Heading back to the Shopping Village, the movie-goers for the 8.15pm show had already gone in while the visitors heading for the carnival started to move into the carnival area through some ticket gantries. We followed in soon after with our umbrellas above us as rain was still trickling down from above.

Rows of concrete seatings laid on both sides of the carnival area and we settled ourselves on the further side since there were lesser crowd and we might be able to get some shelter using the buildings there. There was only a small area with proper shelter (VIP area?) which was already full occupied and the rest of the visitors (including us) had to open our umbrellas to watch the carnival. This made it difficult for visitors at the back to see the carnival clearly due to the opened umbrellas at the front rows blocking the views.

The carnival began soon after, with a group of performers dressed as red indians conducting some performances using fire. One of the performers was a fire breather and conjured some amazing fire balls with his breath, and many were done very close to the spectators. It was the first time we had watched fire breathing performances Live and they were amazing.

Fiery performances!

A huge fireball blazing through the air

The actual carnival followed thereafter where animals (most were from the Animal World), floats and masquerades paraded past the carnival area. Well, it’s quite interesting at the start but the novelty didn’t really last long and we got a little bored halfway through.

One of the parading 'floats'

One of us was holding Darius in our arms while the other took photos and videos of the carnival. We switched roles whenever one of us was tired carrying him. We also made sure our stroller and bag are well sheltered by securing one of our umbrellas covering them.

At around 9.45pm, we were told that the fireworks would be starting soon and we were to look towards our right to wait for it. When the countdown ended, a row of fireworks strung below a stationary structure was started off and we became disappointed, thinking that there was all to their so-called spectacular fireworks display.

Just at that moment though, the real fireworks display began as they were shot up to the skies, brightening and beautifying the night sky with their colourful sparks while rumbling the place with their blasting noises! This was the first fireworks display Darius had witnessed and he certainly had his eyes mesmerised by the astonishing displays of pyrotechnics, though the loud noises did scare him on several occasions. It had been a long time since Catherine and I watched such displays live too so it was a memorable night for us too. Well, so much for our anniversary celebration! ^^|

I managed to video the entire 2-minute fireworks display and here’s part of the pyrotechnics that night:

When the fireworks display came to an end, we were satisfied with what we had seen and were quite impressed with the amount of pyrotechnics they had used, since the carnival was a nightly event. Substantial amount of money would have to be poured into the fireworks every night so just imagine how terrible if they were lacking in visitors.

As we made our way out through the Shopping Village, we noticed a crowd forming in front of a counter to pick up the photos that were taken of them earlier. Despite having the serial number of our photo written on a wrist band Catherine was given, we had difficulty locating ours and only managed to find it at another location later on. We were pleased with the outcome of the photo and promptly bought it at RM18. This would certainly be a good memento for our trip that night.

Looking at the watch, it was already past 10pm and we walked back to our resort, glad that the rain had finally stopped.

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