Fil-Chi Buffet and Twilight Parade

Had lunch buffet at Auburn RSL with a group of Fil-Chi friends. After a few introductions and some chitchat, everyone seems to know everyone else through some common friend. Talk about six degrees of separation.

We (WHQ, her mom and sister and I) went to Chinatown late in the afternoon to watch the Chinese New Year Twilight Parade in Chinatown. The parade starts at Town Hall and makes its way to Chinatown, followed by fireworks at Cockle Bay at Darling Harbour. We got to Chinatown about an hour early, and the crowds are already taking up their places along the streets. With every passing minute, WHQ's sister is get more and more antsy. Doesn't help that the crowd is getting bigger, and they're slipping into any free space that they can find. After about an hour and a half of waiting, the parade started trickling in - the illuminated animal floats, the lion and dragon dances, the hundreds of martial artists, musicians, and dancers from Hunan province, etc.

The parade eventually finished around 9:30pm. By then, we all just want to go home and give our legs a rest. The fireworks at Cockle Bay can wait till the next Chinese New Year.