While others might decry the smarminess of the bright, brash and bold Chinese New Year, I practically revel in it. After all it only comes once in a year - and without all that fiery pizzazz, it certainly wouldn't be the new year that we know and love!
Certainly a hectic trip this year as I only had slightly more than five days to fit three cities into the packed itinerary. Think Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Malacca. There were times I felt as if we - including my brother and his family - were all on a frenetic tour speeding from one must-see destination to the next with Waze as our guide. But it was worth it as this New Year definitely was cheerier than the last.
And we have the kids to thank for that.
Yes, the tiny tykes from the years before - all the promising progeny of my various cousins - have grown up enough to appreciate the fun and merriment that comes with the Chinese New Year. All the people, all that colour, all that noise - come to think about it, the festival must be tailor-made for kids! Rather than the anxious toddlers of before who would squeal at the raucous sound of firecrackers, this year the surprisingly intrepid kids are organizing fireworks displays right behind our family home.
It is as scary as it sounds.
Reminded me of the times we used to do the same as guileless children. Now we're the responsible adults watching over the frenzied rugrats tossing sparklers this way and that.
And trying to keep them from burning down the hapless neighbour's wooden house.
Although we had some unexpected help from my niece from Hong Kong.
Niece : This is very bad, almost illegal I'm sure! We should play in the park instead! We could start a fire!
Cousin : There are no parks here.
Niece : The fireworks could fly into a high-rise building!
Cousin : There are no high-rise buildings here. It's okay. It's not that dangerous.
Paul : Is she always like that?
Cousin : Yeah she wants to be a policewoman.
Paul : Figures.
BTW my shockingly law-abiding niece is barely even five. And she translated her admonitions into Mandarin and Cantonese in case none of us understood what she meant.
Certainly a hectic trip this year as I only had slightly more than five days to fit three cities into the packed itinerary. Think Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Malacca. There were times I felt as if we - including my brother and his family - were all on a frenetic tour speeding from one must-see destination to the next with Waze as our guide. But it was worth it as this New Year definitely was cheerier than the last.
And we have the kids to thank for that.
Yes, the tiny tykes from the years before - all the promising progeny of my various cousins - have grown up enough to appreciate the fun and merriment that comes with the Chinese New Year. All the people, all that colour, all that noise - come to think about it, the festival must be tailor-made for kids! Rather than the anxious toddlers of before who would squeal at the raucous sound of firecrackers, this year the surprisingly intrepid kids are organizing fireworks displays right behind our family home.
It is as scary as it sounds.
Reminded me of the times we used to do the same as guileless children. Now we're the responsible adults watching over the frenzied rugrats tossing sparklers this way and that.
And trying to keep them from burning down the hapless neighbour's wooden house.
 |
| Certainly wouldn't mind lighting his cracker |
Although we had some unexpected help from my niece from Hong Kong.
Niece : This is very bad, almost illegal I'm sure! We should play in the park instead! We could start a fire!
Cousin : There are no parks here.
Niece : The fireworks could fly into a high-rise building!
Cousin : There are no high-rise buildings here. It's okay. It's not that dangerous.
Paul : Is she always like that?
Cousin : Yeah she wants to be a policewoman.
Paul : Figures.
BTW my shockingly law-abiding niece is barely even five. And she translated her admonitions into Mandarin and Cantonese in case none of us understood what she meant.
2 comments:
For those of us in Australia, Christmas and New Year brings much of the same as Chinese New Year/Seollal/Lunar New Year, where we spend time with family (and hopefully good friends along the way). Yes, sometimes it can be a problem juggling everyone and everything, hopefully along the way we can enjoy the time
Definitely having fun! But after all those hectic days, I definitely need some rest as well.
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