It seems that New Years celebrations go for the whole two weeks. Each of the last several nights have seen fireworks displays etc.
Funny story (all right, not that funny, but cool nevertheless).
We had been given tickets to what we were told was a banquet - good food, plenty of drinks etc, that was to start at 7:00. However, due to some misinterpretations, the tickets were actually for a free drink to have with dinner which is between 5:00 and 7:00. We rocked up to the dining room at 7:00, all dressed up, and there was nobody there but the cooks, servers and cleaners. So we got our meals (dregs) and sat down to eat, all despondant, thinking that we had missed out on the party (we did have our one drink each though!). Then the cooks came and offered us the leftovers (still dregs, but it was not all bad, and a nice gesture on their part). so we invited them over to sit with us. Now, the language barrier means that communication is basically reduced to slapstick and fart jokes, but we made do. Then the cooks brought out a bottle of spirit, opened it up, and threw the lid away (just to make sure of a good night!). They proceded to pour it out into bowls, about 100ml in each bowl, and distributed them amongst themselves, but including John and Aragorn, who from our group were the most conversational. Bottoms up. Then they brought out another bottle, and made us all try some. Bottoms up. It was strong stuff (at 46% alcohol), and about 3 shots worth at a time meant it wasn't long before things started to get really interesting. We bought a case of beer that went in a flash, and they came up with another bottle to give us as a gift, but we decided to share it with them. Bottoms up. Another case of beer, and the party was in full swing. Aragorn went home to fetch his pipes, and we gave them a bit of a show. Some of the Chinese had a go, and a couple of them even managed to sound the chanter (not an easy thing to do, as a matter of fact), I danced a Fling, and a good time was had by all.
Oh, and I've finally found out how to change the settings so I can read the menu item for my weblog site. It turns out that all I need to do was hit the "Change language" button. Unfortunately it was written in Chinese, so I didn't know about it!
Peace
Owen.
1 comment:
46% alcohol is quite powerful, well perhaps it is for your church picnic Chinese outings.
I've a bottle of 80% vodka from Estonia that makes you sound like a viking warrior just by pronouncing the name.
Sounds like all is going well over there - how is it that the park opens, then closes in a few weeks only to open again?
I finished up with Utopia Limited on Saturday and much was the rejoicing the the whisky over the performances.
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