We headed on over to my mom's again, this time to bring in the new year as a family, along with good friends. As usual, it was a night of good times. We spent the night talkin' story, sharing laughs and munchin' down on some serious grub. As far as food goes, there was turkey, noodles, potato salad, char siu (sweet pork), chicken, sushi, shrimp cocktail, mashed potatoes, and ya, I think I got 'em all. The ladies washed it all down with wine, my brother, the men, with beers, and the kiddies, my sister in law and me (being the non-alcoholic self that I am, haha), with some cokes and bottled water, haha.
After all of that, there was still dessert. Yups, there was custard pie, strawberry shortcake, yellow cake with chocolate frosting, and the two and a half gallons of icecream that I bought, which was an epic failure cuz it was all melted. Haha, oh well, happens to the best of us.
Throughout the evening, my niece and my friends' son popped fireworks, and I stood there as the fire marshal making sure that my mom's crib wouldn't burn down to the ground. The stuff they popped were legal fireworks, but where my mom lives, there was a whoooooole bunch of peopz blowin' up the "illegals" or "aerials", the kind you see at Disneyland.
The eve of 2010 marked the ending of popping fireworks in Hawaii. From now on, popping fireworks is illegal. That whole new law is irritating to me, much due to the fact that the ban was brought up by "concerned community members" which I theorize are transplants who move to Hawaii and have a hard time adjusting to local culture. That strikes a huge nerve for me. Ya in the past fireworks has torched homes, caused burns and what not. (But hey, that's what you get when you play with fire right?) Those were the very reasons that came to the table when the bill for the ban was first introduced, but the more bigger issue was because of the smoke and the noise. You gotta be friggen kiddin' me.
The celebration of New Year's in Hawaii began with the Chinese, with the intention of warding off bad spirits and bringing in good energy. Since then, it has become local culture in Hawaii, where families and friends come together, share food, pop fireworks and bring in the new year with your loved ones. To me, THAT'S what's more important than the smoke and the noise that the "transplants" are grumbling about. Can I get a witness in hea? Haha.
But more concerning to me, is now there's law in Hawaii that puts a ban on people from practicing their culture. So the Chinese (and others) are banned from popping fireworks. What next? A ban on pounding mochi? A ban on fishing in our ocean? Food for thought...
But back to positivity, I really did have an awesome time with my family and friends. I must say, 2010 did have its bumpy roads, but it was overpowered by the many good times I had. I'm super stoked that I've met people from across the globe in the urban collecting world, many of whom read my blog. It's only been about three months and the blog has gotten over 1600 hits so far, that's pretty sick. I'm super humble by that and much thanks to all of you out there, my fellow buddies. I'm looking forward to 2011 for more positive memories.
Much aloha
No comments:
Post a Comment