Welcoming the Year of the Tiger

We welcomed the year of the tiger on Sunday. I got up nice and early to cook ourselves the same breakfast that I cooked on Christmas day – Bacon, fried eggs, grilled tomatoes and toast. After our showers, we put on our outfits that I had pre-selected and then headed off to Chinatown. We didn’t take the traditional ‘herbal’ baths because I still have no idea on how to prepare them and we only wore one new clothing each. M had a new T-Shirt and I had a new pair of cropped pants. I will post more about our clothing situation soon.

Our favourite destination to watch the celebration is at a multi-level car park. I prefer the first floor but there were two families already there standing at my favourite corner. So we went up another level and then up another level to the third floor. Although no one was there at the time, we returned to join a father and 3 kids on the second floor because I thought we could take better pictures from there. The only problem was that the floor was a little flooded. Below are a few photos taken of the event. Oh, by the way, I now know what it is like to be a guy who feels a bit inadequate. LOL. The guys who turned up equipped with all sorts of SLRs and big lenses made me feel very small. LOL

As with the previous years, once the VIPs were seated, the lions lined up to give them a warm greeting. The skinny CYSM dragon joined in as well.

Two VIPs marked the new lions to awaken their spirits.

The two are wide awake and ready to play. They are so cute!

This year the HGYS kids really did a wonderful job with the drums. I saw them performing the drums 6 times over three days. You should see the little guy with the little dragon boat drum. His confidence was clearly soaring by Sunday evening.

M and I used to laugh at these boys because they used to be so shy and were all over the place when they were younger. Look at them now. They are improving every year especially the one that has virtually turned into a muscle boy overnight!

The CYSM dragon dance team did a better job at Chinatown than at Crown Casino. They were a bit goofy over at Crown and I think the reason was because the stage was just simply too small for all of them to move around freely.

Oh look! The Big Head Buddha is getting up from his sleep. When I was very little, grown ups used to tell me not to be afraid of this character because he is only a little drunk. LOL. Because I am a little face-blind, I love looking at the faces of the people behind The Big Head Buddha in this picture. I have tried to study their facial expressions to figure out what they were feeling at the time. LOL. I have always wondered if people really want to celebrate Chinese New Year in Chinatown.

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The two new lions came to survey the new obstacle course while this other one rested on a rock.

Just when I was distracted by another lion dance across the road, this little fiery lion emerged from the box with a puff of smoke! Luckily M had the camera.

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This was one gutsy lion. He stumbled a little at first (which I still suspect to be part of the show) and then completed the crossing with some fancy footwork.

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As the red one worked, the other lions were working hard too to entertain everyone.

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Hooray! Everyone is up, but nooooo, did one lion fall over?

Never mind the fire crackers. This is the fun bit for lions big and small. Flash a big cheesy smile and get a big fat red packet from the generous VIP in return. Anyone would want a job like that!

Then a copycat who was not even smiling came to try his luck and he was offered two! Wait, wait, it looked like he was going to get more! Look at John So’s action. He was the gentleman seated next to the guy with a white t-shirt and red cap. It looked like he was reaching into his pocket, a common action repeatedly carried out by all grown ups during the 15 day long celebrations, to get a red packet. LOL.

The lions lined up again for the finale and this part of the event was over for another year. “Sob, sob”