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Friday night was band practice, Saturday -day- was band practice, then Saturday night we got to have a little bit of fun and play some poker with my Mualim, I won $55.00 in the cash game, my first cash poker winnings- thinking about just splurging on myself with the money and getting a massive huge lengthy pedicure- but with my toe it might be best to just drop the funds into my armor bank account.
Sunday we got to do something completely different. DrumNinja studies Hung-Ga and his Martial Arts school does the whole Lion and Dragon Dancing thing. Nope, I knew nothing about this either until I met him- I wont bore you with what might be the wrong details, but I will say that the Chinese (Lunar) New Year celebrations last for a full cycle of the moon and I believe they concluded yesterday. Stick Jock and I with a variety of friends got to watch the kick off at a Toy Assoc. then we followed the banners and watched the lions and dragons “bless” the various stores and children they found on their walks. I got to watch rival Lions respect each other in the streets, watch the Lions “stack” so they stand very tall and eat cabbage and oranges. (One on a long pole with the guy in the costume clinging to it- the other a Sifu climbed onto another Sifu’s shoulders and danced around- both were highly impressive to watch. We were also lucky enough to see the Members of DrumNinja’s school display their martial skills with both weapons and bare hands- again highly impressive.
Thanks to PriestesM, I got to shoot off a bazooka confetti shooter and We bought a Lion puppet from an ancient Chinaman who wouldn’t let us select the color- he handed me one that was Black and Red saying “This one for you”. I had been reaching for an white one as they are a symbol of the established schools like Master Yee’s (who DrumNinja belongs to)- Figures, Black and Red always seem to follow me. I got to see Master Yee and he wished us all a “Happy New Year- his face wreathed in smiles as confetti blew in the wind. My heart leapt up and I haven’t felt this free of pressure in months. I told DrumNinja this morning via text that we had all been purged by the long walk, and Blessed by the Lions and Dragons- this is the first day of the rest of our lives. What we make from it is ours. I plan to be as positive as possible here in the year of the Ox. But I am Irish and we believe in such things.
So we did a long walk, which was fine- it was the waiting around that killed my back. We ate “ethnic” Chinese food- and it was not nasty. We got home late and went straight to bed for work today: here are some pictures of our adventure- we are planning to visit the Philadelphia Lion Dances next year for the New Year kick off. I have a distinct impression that New Years for me is now always going to be Bayberry Candles, Dinner with my Husband on our Anniversary and Following the Lions and Dragons through China Town.
2 Lions dancing in the street
A Lion Drummer- I LOVE the sound of these drums! Drum Ninja does this for his School- how cool is that?
The Dragons frolic down the street after blessing the police station.
A Lion Stacked on a pole with the other Lion dances on the ground and the Dragons chase thier pearls around him- Master Yee holds a Cabbage on a line that the person standing on the pole (and only holding on with his legs) must manage to catch and shred. He litter the watchers with Cabbage pieces for good luck.
Thats Drum Ninja standing there with the Schools Banner in the Yellow Hoodie!
A Lion Stack at a cross street with the Dragon chasing his pearl of wisdom around him!