the parade ran through route 66

i have never been to any chinese new year events other than in okinawa people still celebrate lunar new year so you visit some relatives and drink tea and munch on snacks. unfortunately kids don't get money a second time so it wasn't exciting as calendar new year for me. this year twiddle thumbs and i decided to go to the chinese new year parade. i wanted to take the metro there but as the day grew on we had a late start and didn't have time for the metro. we drove and there wasn't anywhere close to park. i didn't want to miss the parade so we drove close and got suckered into paying $20 for parking. of course we weren't the only ones but as we were walking away from the car i was wondering if the parking attendants even owned the lot or had the right to charge. we parking in the lot of an empty building that looked like it was for sale. there were a pile of shirts on the ground that all the attendants were wearing. we could've put one on and started pocketing some money ourselves. but no, not this time. i wanna see the damn parade 'cos i don't know why... just to say i've seen a chinese new year parade! and 'cos i've never been to chinatown in LA. hard to believe perhaps but it's true. i never needed to go to chinatown given that the suburbs i grew up in probably have more chinese people and businesses than chinatown in downtown los angeles these days.

marching band from tijuana

we had to fight our way through a stream of people and found a spot on the sidewalk behind a group of children sitting down so we had a decent view though the parade had already started. so what's in a chinese new year parade? well, there were chinese people of course and chinese things and the usual parade stuff like the mayor, a fire truck, some floats, marching bands, and even mickey mouse. but since it's LA there were non-chinese marching too. i guess it's expected to see every marching band show up 'cos they have nothing else to do but i didn't expect to see a group from mexico. there was even a blackenese group. i don't know how else to put it. if you've seen the "rush hour" movies, well, there were some black people in chinese outfits doing martial arts or just beating cymbals. in fact, when we first starting watching the parade, i thought it was kinda pathetic because we didn't even see any chinese people in the parade. several groups went by and no chinese. did we miss it? is this the end of the parade? like the music a club plays to signal to everyone it's time to go home? no that wasn't it at all. it was just an odd coincidence i suppose that there were several non-chinese specific groups walking in a row and that's when we happened to grab a spot and start watching the parade. another group that took part, that received so many loud cheers from the crowd that i was surprised at was the gay asian and pacific islander group. and it's not like the crowd then starting reading their signs and stopped cheering. no, they kept going. the gay marchers were very energetic though and i think there was a feedback loop going on 'cos some marching groups were so bored and sad and they didn't get cheers (yes, i'm talking about you you lazy jc penney float!). the fedex float was popular with the kids 'cos they were throwing candy into the crowd but my vote can't be bought. ^_^

dumb dumb getting arrested at the parade

of course the best things are ones that you don't plan on. the best moment at the parade was watching a couple guys get arrested in front of us. these two guys were walking their bikes in the street and this bicycle cop was telling them that they're in the parade route and to get up on the sidewalk. the guys said that the sidewalk was too crowded (true) and that they wanted to walk down to the corner. this didn't start in front of us so i have no idea what was said prior or if they had passed a good spot to get up on the sidewalk. i could tells these guys just wanted to fuck with the cop so i started taking pictures of what was going on. some people on the sidewalk started to make room for the guys to come up but they kept going back and forth with the cop. the cop was blocking their way so they couldn't go around him, so that would go on the sidewalk. well one guy thought he'd be a smartass and go around the cop. that's what pissed off the cop and so he started to handcuff him. only he didn't really have handcuffs and was using one of those plastic twisty tie things that they use when they make mass arrests in crowds. the other guy started talking to the cop and touching the arm of the guy getting arrested. i'm not sure if they were friends or what he was saying exactly but since he wasn't getting up on the sidewalk, he got arrested to. the bicycle cop radioed for his buddies and very quickly a swarm of bicycle cops showed up and they carried the guys and their bikes away.

kalavinka the revolutionary

at the end of the parade we met up with twiddle thumbs's parents 'cos they were there too (this is the family that apparently never misses a parade). we asked where they parked and their answer was a slap in the face. they parked a block away on olvera street for $6. fuck! i haven't been to olvera street in 20 years so i didn't know how close it was to chinatown nor how cheap the parking is. we wandered around and browsed at the things for sale. i realized i could've bought everything for my cousins in japan right here in LA and they'd never know. so much shit with "mexico" on it. i also realized i buy things for the wife and kids but never really for my cousin 'cos i'm not sure what to get him. i decided to get him a traditional type mexican shirt but they were too expensive. i'm going to have to look for one at a swap meet. we ate a small dinner at a tiny place just 'cos they advertised that they have vegan stuff. well i don't remember the name and i wouldn't recommend the place. as we left the lady asked us how it was and i lied "good" and walked out.