Take 5

Lunar new year

So we're in the thick of Chinese New Year celebrations here. Walk by the roadsides, and ever so often you'll notice lorries with colourful flags fluttering in the breeze and youths in flourescent yellow pants drumming away on the truck bed.

As a kid, I looked forward to the lunar celebrations - A chance to collect red packets from relatives and make laterns out of red packets for school decorations, getting my fingers stained with the cheap red dye that printers used for the ang pows in the process. Not forgetting gambling with mum and sis for small time stakes (of 1 cents!) and getting stuffed with ba kwa and grandma's peppery pig's intestines soup.

As I grew into my teens, things changed. A new feeling emerged. Tedium at visiting relatives who ask the usual perfuntory questions. Fatigue with visitations to multiple houses. No more gambling since we've grown up, no more cheap red packet laterns. Instead, it became just another holiday, a chance for fun with the buddies. Why get so caught up in festivities anyway? Its so darn noisy, let's just have it low key.

But I was wrong, and growing into my adulthood, I've begun to appreciate these many things that made up Chinese new year - from the probing aunties to sweet tangerines and lion dances; and neighbourhood block parties where uncles belt out new year tunes and speakers with busted tweeters. Somehow, there's nothing that really gets you into the mood like a good din of celebrations.

As I'm typing this, there's a party going on at the poolside now with the requisite lion and children's party games, complete with the old mix tape of Chinese new year music.

Think I'll go sneak a peek and soak in the atmosphere.

posted by leo @ 5:24 PM