Happy Chinese New Year!

Chinese New Year started this past Thursday.  This year is the Year of the Ram.  Hmm... I wonder what the horoscope says about our life, money, and adventures for the year.  Guess we'll just have to find out one day at a time :-)
There were some Chinese New Year celebrations at a mall in Abu Dhabi this past Wednesday so we decided to check it out.  But first, to kill some time and get the best seat in the house for the show - some yummy chocolate covered strawberries:

The boys love their chocolate!

Our friends from out-of-town were still with us, so we were all anxiously waiting for something to happen:

Finally... some balancing tricks!

Impressive!

Then, some martial arts, although I was surprised by the fans. Most of the time the fans would be used by the women. The fans did make a pretty neat sound when it was quickly opened and closed:

Then some plate spinning. I thought I saw the sticks poking through those plates though. Cheat!

We decided to see what was outside after the show.  The lanterns were pretty:

The boys got their tattoos and balloons shaped like swords:

Graham having fun!

Of course, what else would they do with swords but fight!

I though the lion dance would have been outside but it was back inside the mall. And somehow I was expecting the big drums but I guess that might have been too loud for a fancy mall.  At least the boys were not afraid of the lions like they have been before:

Back outside, the stage lights finally came on and I thought there was going to be some Chinese Opera. Wrong! It was some very loud music and just some dancing on stage.

Needless to say, I was quite disappointed. Sure makes me miss home this time of the year!

At least the skyline of Abu Dhabi was pretty:

And the boys were excited about the laser show.  Thankfully this was a little bit better than the one we saw during the Kite Festival last month in Dubai:

Overall, it wasn't as exciting as I thought it would have been but at least the boys enjoyed it and our friends were able to experience some of the Chinese culture. They definitely needed to work on the timing of the food set up but thankfully Graham was happy with his hot dog and Charlie was very happy with his pop-corn.

We'll definitely have to search for something more for next Chinese New Year!  Speaking of search, still need to find some "ang pow" or red packets for the boys!  Thankfully the CNY lasts for 15 days!