Chinese New Year - The Snake!

It's time to move from the year of the Dragon to the year of the Snake!

 

And it was done in style at Casa Slimmon!

  

I arrived in a red and gold ensemble (lucky colours) and was greeted by Helen in a black and gold sparkly dress with a very lovely red scarf around her neck.

 

 

I was a little concerned about my white bag (white signifies death) but it's my opinion that the fact that it's in the shape of a panda counter-balances any ill omen! 

 

And it was the only bag large enough to carry a bottle of wine and Chinese New Year gifts in!

 

 

Firstly I'll just share a couple of photos of oriental things around and about in the house...

 

(unfortunately my handbag isn't big enough to try and sneak this large picture off the wall and home with me!)

 

 

 

Then, to the sounds of oriental music, I walked into the kitchen and found this amazing set up... 

 

We each had place settings according to our Chinese zodiac

 

Bill 'Monkey' Slimmon

and

Helen 'Horse' Slimmon

 

Heidi 'Dragon' Orange

 

 

Each red envelope contained a token

 

 

The menu was presented on a lovely table decoration.

 

 

 

And the food itself (after the delicious Mandarin Martinis) was superb, it was without a doubt the best chinese food I've ever tasted - in fact just the thought of it now is making my mouth water!

 

 

 Helen entertained during the meal with readings for us each, predicting what the coming year has in store for us (sounds like health could be an issue for us all if we're not careful but in general it sounded like a good year in store for all!).

 

We followed the meal with fortune cookies and I was presented with this (I confess that I ate them for breakfast the next morning!)...

 

 

...and then we went on to telling a few China related stories....

 

Bill told us about lopping the tops of monkeys heads off and eating the brains while they were still alive - to which Helen's response was "I'm so glad that wasn't in my good food magazine this month."

Bill also told us about the origins of the name Kowloon - it stems from the nine dragons, a term which refers to eight mountains; Kowloon Peak, Tung Shan, Tate's Cairn, Temple Hill, Unicorn Ridge, Lion Rock, Beacon Hill, Crow's Nest and and a Chinese emperor, Emperor Bing (Song Dynasty) as the 9th dragon.

I told a story about how Pandas got their colour markings - I've looked up the proper version(s) because my version wasn't excactly my most coherent moment!

One Tibetan legend focuses on how the Giant Pandas got their unique color markings.

Long, long ago, the Giant Pandas lived in the high mountains of Tibet. Their fur was completely snow white. They were friends with young shepherdesses, who watched their flock in the mountains around their village.
One day a mother and her cub were playing with the shepherdesses and their flock when a strong and hungry leopard attacked the cub. The shepherdesses tried to save the cub but were unsuccessful and the leopard killed them.
All the Giant Pandas in the area were very sad and held a memorial service for the shepherdesses and to remember their sacrifice for the cub. The local custom in the mountains was to cover your arms with ashes to honor the deceased.
The Giant Pandas wept. They wiped their eyes with their paws, covered their ears to block the sounds of crying and hugged each for comfort. The ashes blackened their fur. The Giant Pandas did not wash the black off their fur as a constant reminder of the girls.

---

A Second Variation
When the Giant Pandas came to the funeral, they wore black armbands as a sign of respect. They were so sad during the funeral service that they began to cry. As they cried, they wiped their eyes with the black armbands. As the black armbands became wet with tears, the dye began to run. When they wiped away their tears, large black marks were left on their eyes and ears. As they hugged each another, the black dye stained their fur.

A Third Variation
One other variation of the story has the Giant Pandas turning the girls into a mountain with four peaks to ensure they always would be remembered. This is the Four Girls Mountain Range located in the Sichuan province overlooking the Wolong Panda Reserve.

...before the evening descended into this!!

Smoking Dragon!

(this was the only dragon smoking)

 

And this

(it's probably best not to ask!)

 

 

I think I'll take my dragon into the office with me, you never know when it might come in handy!

And finally, we couldn't celebrate the year of the snake without this classic Northern Soul hit!