Sunday, January 29, 2006

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

GONG HAY FAT CHOI!!!

CHUC MUNG NAM MOI!!!

SAEHAE BOK MANI PADUSEYO!!!

that's "happy new year" in cantonese, vietnamese and korean (thanks miss ruckus!).

woke up feeling EXCITED today, like a kid. i LOVE new year's. got to trafalgar square early for the new year parade; there were lots of stalls selling kitchy chinese items, so of course i had to buy one - a little paper mache dragon head lined with fake red fur and painted in bright colours.

my mom will be proud of me when i tell her the following:
a) i wore a new top today (you're suppose to wear something new for the new year);
b) my "lucky charm" this year is the monkey, so i was wearing my monkey socks;
c) the first day of the new year is traditionally a veggie day (i don't know if that's a buddhist thing or a cultural thing) and I DID IT! i ate veggie. believe me it was HARD, when you're having dim sum, drooling over the siu mai but eating choy instead. i am proud of myself.

the parade itself was alright, a bit disorganised but fun nonetheless. they had a town crier start the proceedings, which i thought was "quite british". the worst part was the truck with the two karaoke singers belting out new year's tunes down the parade route, eek! they had the "god of fortune" walking down the side of the route handing out candy and he gave one to me! i also got knocked in the head by one of the dragons dancing by, so i consider both those instances to be signs of good luck! yeah!

now i'm back at the flat and about to start studying. poo! i wish i had more time to check out the festivities and to gorge myself on sweets.

actually, it's time to call the parentals!

HAPPY NEW YEAR ONCE AGAIN! may this year be filled with love, health and happiness for EVERYONE!

CET :o)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy Chinese New Year to you CET!!! May the new year bring you good health and happiness. Love you lots, Canuckian ;o)

Anonymous said...

i didn't do anything special.. just went to my parents' place for a quick dinner yesterday, then rushed back home to grab my record bag for my dj gig. then today. nothing again but going to grandparents' place later, then taiko practice. so not that exciting. i think next year, i might go out and check out some of the festivities.

the year i was living in the UK, i remember heading to chinatown to check out the dragon dance and then at leicester square, there was a stage with some performances, and i got into an argument with some annoying woman and her family who was squishing into me, despite the fact there was tons of room for her to not be pressed against me. i told her to move back or i shoved her or something, and then her husband butted in. what fucking jerks. i remember saying something like "i could feel your breathing!" (or was it heartbeat or something?) cuz she was so close to me. then people around me were like "stop fighting!" haha.

Canuckian's Evil Twin said...

yeah, i hate pushy people like that, poo...

people at the parade were pretty well-behaved, though it was pretty packed in leicester square afterwards...there might've been some jostling then.

hope your dj gig went well!

CET
p.s. canuckian, i hope you had a nice potluck dinner!