Chinese New Year at the Chedi

The Chedi had a Chinese New Year extravaganza. It turned out that a woman from the AWA and her husband were also staying at the Chedi and their cottage was right next to ours! They invited us to eat Chinese New Year Dinner with them, and we did. It was a pretty fun night, hearing about their lives as expats and all of the travels that they have been on. After talking the them, I am dying to go to the wine country in New Zealand! It sounds gorgeous!


The Blancos 

The entertainment provided by the hotel was comical, at best. There was a cabaret show but Thai transvestites lip syncing very poorly to Western songs. That seemed to go on forever and was very random. The highlight was when one of the tranvestites came over and seductively stroked Matt's chest during a romantic song. Then there was a traditional Chinese Lion Dance, which was pretty cool! I would like to see that in China one day.


The Lion Dance 

After the Lion Dance, we released Chiang Mai Lanterns. It was very beautiful to watch. Chiang Mai Lanterns are fabric parachutes with a gas-soaked rag attached underneath them. You light the rag, and the balloon fills with air and floats upward. They get very high! I just wonder what happens to them when they come down...I made the mistake of commenting that when I looked up at them I felt like I was at the bottom of the ocean, and the lanterns were phosphorescent plankton or jelly fish. After I said it, I realized that is the sort of thing that you think in your head but don't actually say out loud. Haha! Oh well...it adds to my charm, right?


Matt Releasing Chiang Mai Lantern