Yes, so begins the Chinese New Year. As the custom goes, we’re all a year older when the clock strikes midnight. Just thought you’d like to know.

Anyway, we ended up going to one of the festivals held around these parts. It was about ten thirty in the evening, and the three of us, (MD, DD and me) were having a quiet night at home reading the newspaper. The house was deadly silent, and every now and then the noise of revellers and the crackling of fireworks would carry through our open window. Of course I wasn’t actually going to suggest that we go, coz if I did they’d refuse for sure. So we’re sitting there, quietly turning the pages of our respective newspapers when suddenly DD gives in and puts down his reading, “Does anyone want to go see what it’s all about, then?” Bingo.

I decide to go out in one of my new dresses, despite MD’s protestations and urging me to put a sweater on or something. No way I replied, I mean what’s the point of going out at night to something packed with people if you don’t look good? Never mind that I’d forgotten about my heinously unshaven legs until I’d gone out of the house … but hey, that’s what shonky street lights are for!

As we approach there is the deafening roar of Britney Spears blaring out of an oversized loudspeaker. And on the stage there were these people hip hop dancing. In terms of originality and inventiveness the girls at school could do better, but what was really disturbing was to see the guys doing all the hip-gyrating movements that are clearly really made for the girls. It’s just wrong! Kind of like the dancing-purple-hippo that’s been popping up everywhere wrong. But not quite.

There’s all these food stalls loaded with smoking hot Asian food, a few Buddhist worship areas, and the car park that had been transformed into an amusement park for the night. You know, I love going to amusement parks in the dark. The lights are so much brighter, the colours so intense, and it is just so much more exciting than it would be in the daylight. I decided to go on the Ferris wheel gone wrong where it goes so fast the people in their cages are tipped upside down. It may not be the scariest ride, but it was enough to elicit screams of terror echoing through the night. Not mine, of course!

My parents insisted on gathering around the stage to watch some old fogies singing and playing traditional New Year’s songs, and dancing the traditional dances. That basically took up most of the night. So I’m standing there, freezing my little tushie off (on second thoughts, NOT so little tushie – yup, time for me to get back into the ol’ exercise regime) while trying not to shiver, as this would provide MD with her much desired ‘told you so’. There’s a stiff wind out, stripping me with any remaining warmth I had in my legs and I can feel the goose bumps spreading like a rash over my exposed skin. Whatever happened to balmy summer nights, I say! So add that to the fact that I was being sporadically walloped in the head with a helium balloon in the clutches of the little old lady standing next to me, need I say I was very eager to get out of there …

So I guess I had fun, I guess it could be loosely classified as a “learning experience” – but it was a nice way to start the new year of the monkey.

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