January Project: Flash Serenade!

Today, Bella, I and a group of our readers and friends embarked on an epic journey. One that would take us through parks, harbours, food courts, trains and, most of all, lots and lots of fun. =)

For our January Project, we decided to organise a "flash serenade" to bring a smile to the people of Sydney. What is a "flash serenade" you might ask?

Well, it includes walking up to a stranger, asking for their name, music starting to pump from no-where and surrounding the person whilst dancing and shimmy-ing to "Hey Mickey". OH! And we can't forget the spirit fingers, an integral part of "flash serenading" haha! =D

Some of the SMILE-LIGHTS from today include:

=) "Strategically" planting ourselves around the park so the dance would seem more spontaneous. This ended up with us all crouching behind a building hahaha.

=) Our first serenadee, a nice young man, who started dancing along with us - shimmying and shaking and spirit fingers and all!

=) When one of our serenadees started running away and we had to dance and run at the same time to keep up. Persistence paid off! We got a smile from him in the end haha. =)

=) When we serenaded these two tall, strong guys and, half-way through, one of them picked up Roy, threw him over his shoulder and carried him away. Safe to say, Roy did not find this funny but the rest of us sure did. =P

=) Serenading a lady who was feeding her baby in a pram. Mid-way into the song she turned the pram around to face us and we seriously thought she was going to run us over in a bid to escape. It turned out she was just turning the pram so her baby could watch us - much to our relief and happiness haha!

=) An elderly couple who clapped and cheered whilst we danced and, when we passed them later in Darling Harbour, proudly wore the Happiness Equals Bracket badge that we gave to serenadees.

=) When Bella thought a bird pooped on her hair and we started exclaiming "It's so white and goopy and gross!" and "It's absorbing into your hair, Bella!" She frantically went to the toilet and began soaping her hair and washing it out in the sink, looking a little ridiculous with her wet, crazy hair haha. I'm sorry to tell you this, Bella, but there was no bird poop to start with. =P

=) Our first Homo public-transportus serenadee! He was listening to his iPod stony-facedly in the carriage before we tapped him on the shoulder and gave him the serenade of his life. His name was Raymond and we asked him if he suspected our antics. He had.

Apparently, huddling-in-the-corner-with-speakers looks quite suspicious.

=) Following Raymond out of the train station to serenade his friend, Howard, Happiness Equals Bracket style! Howard looked kinda embarrassed but he seemed to enjoy the "You Are Beautiful" badge which we gave him at the end.

Wherever you are out there, Howard, always remember... You. Are. Beautiful!

=) Our last serenade of the day, Costa. We put all our energy into it and even people along the train carriage started watching, laughing and smiling. =) When we went to the next carriage, a guy there even applauded our performance! =))

So, thank you everyone who participated!

A big, big thank you to all our friends who danced and made today so fun - Alex, Helen, Kelly, Ling, Neil, Paul, Raymond and Roy - and to Bella for the awesome choreography!

And we can't forget our beautiful serenadees. If you're reading this, I hope you enjoyed our dance and that we brought a smile to your face. Thank you for taking the time to watch us and for confirming just how nice and wonderful Sydney-siders are! =))

Stay in tune for the videos from today and for future opportunities to bring smiles to people!

And always, ALWAYS remember, Happiness Equals Bracket. =)