Chinatown

So a week ago I told the boys they could play hoockie today and we'd go down to Chinatown before the Chinese New Year (CNY) to pick up decorations.

So what if it snowed inches last night and the city is closed down, damn it, we can take the subway. We needed to get out, its snowing but not terribly cold, they didn't want to sled and I was close to killing the hubby. So yes, to Chinatown we went.

There was NO ONE on the street. most of the tacky tourist shops were closed. It was WEIRD.
But the boys love dumplings, so we went to the Dumpling House. Not usually our stop as it is straight up from city hall and usual has a line. Well, now I know why, the dumplings were unbelievably good! We ate three orders, and order of pancakes and the requisite order of noodles. The staff was plentiful, the diners few, so my boys enjoyed the attention. When they brought the food I told the boys to say 'thank you' in Chinese say 'Shi shi'. To which the little man responded; I only say 'ne how' (which is hello).

We went to a couple different shops to get our gear; wall hangings, Chinese lanterns, stuff for our hall, their room, my desk, around the house. The shop loved having the boys and kept explaining everything was for CNY. I was really trying to make sure we bought the right signs, you know, 'love, happiness, health, money', but they told me 'all good'. Which in turn told me their teenage son who speaks English decided to sleep in or go sledding.

We made our annual pilgrimage to the Buddhist Temple. I like to go before the new year. We got there just as a 'service' was starting. chanting, bell ringing, gongs, etc. pretty engrossing even if we didn't understand what they were saying. we lit incense, donated a few bucks, and said a nice thought to Buddha which the Big Boy said "he looks like a girl".

The snow is now thick! I'm not sure we'll have school tomorrow, but at least we end the day right with Buddha.