Chingay Parade

T'was the time of the year again to block up some roads and to jam up the other roads. It's the Chingay Parade! There's one held in Johor Bahru every year, but this was the first time I actually watched it upclose. I was rather fascinated, not to mention the little one. All he babbled after that was "Gong gong gong gong gong gong gong gong apunehkonah?" Before I flood in the pictures, here's a littel trivia about the Chingay festival.

Chingay is held as part of the Chinese New Year festivities, and the name coined in Penang, which means "decorated miniature stage" or float. Today, the such parades have evolved into massive multicultural and sometimes international event, something which the parade in JB has NOT evolved into... yet. Now, you may not know about the little untold history about the Chingay in JB. Thanks to my mom who is a tour guide (they get many untold histories/stories about everything and anything). One of the Sultan of Johor's great great grandmother was a Chinese from Hong Kong, and she wanted the Chingay parade to be held in Johor Bahru every year. When she died, the tradition went on, but there was this particular year when the state officials decided to do away with it. It rained non-stop for 3-4 days. Maybe her spirit got angry... So then, the back-by-popular-demand Chingay Parade was back. Moral of the story is, don't anger the Chinese gods and deities and spirits.

What we saw:
A LOT of dragons.






Lion dance.



The Drum 'Chariot'

A God (?) who smokes and drink and be merry! He also gives away red packet that symbolizes fortune and prosperity. So naturally everybody wants to be near him.

Seriously, I don't know who these characters are but they definitely look like the Chinese opera troupe.