chinese new year

2011 fireworks and firecrackers review

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fireworks firecrackers review

I’ve always made it a point to get some fireworks every year during Chinese New Year to properly get into the festive spirit. I have a lot of photos of the variety available this year at the store but I took it using my iPhone, which was stolen during CNY so I’m left with the ones taken using the digicam I used to film this year’s pyrotechnics. T_T

fireworks review

No matter – even though my budget for firecrackers and fireworks this year is significantly reduced, I still managed to get some gems.

25 shot cake configuration (RM 100)

5 effect

This 25 shot cake contains 5 different types “effects” in a cake configuration. You’ll notice that this is taller than the other one – the reason for the height merely indicates how high it will go. Taller cake configurations shoots the conflagration higher up in the sky while more compact ones goes lower.

cake fuse

It also has a larger diameter, which allows for bigger fireworks. However, the optimal viewing angle has to be taken into account – you’ll need to be further away to fully appreciate this without craning your necks. The shorter ones can be let off at a lesser distance and it still goes high enough so you can admire the bursts of color and sound.

Here’s the video of this firework in action. It’s rather disappointing since the next one (which is half the price) produces a better effect. I’ll give this a pass next year.

49 shot cake configuration (RM 50)

7 effect

This beautifully made firework cake produces 7 different type of effects with an amazing ending. Kudos to the manufacturer for this impressive display.

This is the video of this cake – there’s a nice variety among the shots and the climax is beautiful. I’ll say this is the best value for money this year.

This comes highly recommended and I’ll be getting more of this next year. 🙂

2” display shell (RM 15)

display shell box

This is a consumer grade firework that shoots out 2 inch shells instead of the usual 1.5 inch ones. I was very surprised at the price since a similar looking 1.5” display shell was going for RM 30.

2 inch shells

It contains 6 individual shells which you put into a disposable cardboard launcher (included) before lighting the fuse.

This is what it looks like – you can see that I accidentally burnt my fingers on the fuse in the video. Heh!

display shells

I finally realized why this box of “fireworks” is so cheap. It’s not fireworks at all – the 1.5” display shells launches with a burst of color while this just produces a sound.

It’s basically just a glorified firecracker but for the price and the sonic effect, I can’t complain.

display launcher

The only downside to the cylindrical design is that sometimes the entire shell does not eject, leaving the cylinder still inside the launcher. This can be a Bad Thing (TM) if you don’t realize it coz if you put another one in, it’ll stack up and run the risk of blowing up on the ground.

I’ll still buy this for the bargain basement price but be sure to check the launcher after you let one off to see that the shell has been fully ejected.

cracker

I also got some double report firecrackers this year – click on the link to view what that looks like.

Anyway, I got this idea to play Jackass Badminton during Chinese New Year – this requires two people with two rackets. One person lights the firecracker and serves, and you both hit the burning firecracker with your badminton rackets until it explodes. I didn’t get to play it but Willie managed to find some original Thunder Kings when this idea was conceived.

Thunder King / Crazy Bang

crazy bang cracker

This is what the original Thunder Kings are like – it’s a huge ass firecracker with much more flash powder and explosive potential than other similar high grade firecrackers (e.g. chai lei, da di lei gong etc).

crazy bang

Interestingly, this time it’s labeled Crazy Bang and it is ALSO called da di lei kong (literally “gigantic earth thunder”) in Chinese. It comes in a pack of 5. There is no fuse visible – you’ll have to break the paper at the top to pull the fuse out.

Check out the video of this baby.

crazy bang fuse

Despite the similarity in name to Da Di Crackers, this is much more powerful than the red ones. It’s exactly the same as Thunder King with the base removed.

crazy bang effect

Intense. I remember people using this during my schooldays with a delayed fuse (usually a mosquito coil) in the toilets to break the cistern. Pity the fool who is taking a dump when one of this goes off. smirk

spent fireworks

It’s been a good Chinese New Year!

I can’t wait for the next one. 🙂

Our advance Chap Goh Meh dinner

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chap goh meh

Chap Goh Meh marks the last day of Chinese New Year and traditionally sees the whole family sitting down for dinner. Unfortunately, none of our family members are in one place this year so my grandma did an early one with all of my favorite dishes.

good fish

I’ve always loved fish cooked with soy sauce. I can’t remember the name of this fish but it’s kinda like empurau in texture.

century egg

Century eggs are one of my favorite condiments…however, I only tend to eat it in Sibu for some reason. I love the rich egg yolk and it’s an instant appetizer for me. 🙂

chai bo

This is hands down my favorite vegetable. It’s called chai bo and cooked with a bit of sugar so the taste is slightly sweet. It’s one of the rare foods that hits the umami G-spot and I can eat a spoonful with every bite. I love this and I could never find it anywhere else except at my grandma’s. It’s her specialty. <3 pork leg chicken feet

Pork leg with chicken feet. This unique combination turned up at the table during the Chinese New Year reunion dinner with fatt choy (black moss) and I was instantly hooked! I love the texture of pork leg – the chunky meat and exquisitely sinful layer of fat is divine. The pairing with chicken feet is quite ingenious – it’s the brainchild of one of my aunties. It takes hours to cook so everything comes out tender and juicy.

chap goh meh dinner

I ate so much I nearly burst but I’m so hungry right now it makes me want to repeat this gastronomic feat again. Home cooked meals with your family is the best – I only get to experience this once a year.

Happy Chap Goh Meh everyone! 🙂

Chong Tien Pow – Rushing Skywards Cracker

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chung tien pow

I used to have a bit of a phobia with these crackers – it’s a double report affair, with the initial primer launching the entire cracker skywards before exploding with a loud bang. I’ve never thought of the initial blast as an explosion, it’s the second one that’s the real banger.

cracker

Once when I was a kid (with little fingers which would have been mutilated by more powerful firecrackers) one of these crackers collapsed when I lit it. I was in one hell of a dilemma – these things are supposed to shoot towards the sky (thus the name) – but it actually goes the direction it’s pointed to unless it’s firmly on its base.

light

Anyway, the fuse was going and I got my panties all in a twist thinking of whether to risk handling the toppled cracker and put it upright, or let it be. If I had let it be it would have gone into my house and maybe shattered a window or two so in the end I did a bit of a compromise and kicked it into the drain.

history

Now, this puts a totally new spin (no pun intended) on things – the second and more powerful blast will go where the cracker is oriented so it’s a bit like Roulette. Luckily both explosions happened in the drain but that scared me more than a little. As I grew older we took to lighting the cracker and throwing it into the sky and dodging the second blast as it came down, it was the sort of stupid fun we got up to during Chinese New Year and neighbors hated us. Heh!

I still do stupid things sometimes like lighting firecrackers indoors.

I grabbed a pack when I went fireworks shopping during CNY eve to see if it’s still like what I remembered from my childhood.

The funniest thing is near the end of the video when I got startled by the cracker while my mom was a cool as a cucumber, still steady with the digicam. Haha!

Anyway, I haven’t played with these for a long time and the problem with it is that the initial report (which launches the cracker into the sky) is a propellant of sorts…and it’s HIGHLY (no pun intended) variable. Made in China, yo!

chalk

It usually goes up to 12 feet or more but this one barely made 7 feet (judging from the lamp post) and had a diagonal flight path so I was apprehensive and recoiled at the report. I still find it hilarious. smirk

The weird thing is, as a kid you remember these crackers as being one of the loudest things on earth but as you grow older the sound seems…diminished. The sonic effect isn’t what I remembered from my youth.

fuse

…or maybe I’m just going deaf from blasting music from headphones.

More on firecrackers and fireworks when I do my annual Chap Goh Meh roundup. 🙂

Please do not try this at home!

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stealth

I’m quite fond of pranks of the practical nature and once I get an idea into my head, it’s nigh impossible to push it out. I’ll just keep thinking about it until I do it.

left for dead

Anyway, while my parents were out, I got a friend to take a photo of me lying prone on the ground. This by itself is nothing to write home about but what I’m about to do is – mischief. 😉

cctv

I sat at the home CCTV monitoring screens until my dad and mom drove up the street and rushed out and projected this image right in the middle of the road:

prank

ZOMG I could literally hear the ABS kick in as my dad braked HARD to avoid hitting what he thought was a person lying dead in the middle of the road. smirk

I got a good earful from my parents about practical jokes taken too far but it just shows how amazingly vivid and realistic the projection is.

dad car

I repeat – Do not try this at home or at all! No homo sapiens or vehicles were harmed during the prank but it’s still a stupid (but funny) thing to do.

You might be wondering how managed to lug a projector with such speed and grace to catch them just before they pulled in and the answer is…I didn’t.

nikon s1100pj

I used the Nikon Coolpix S1100pj to do it. This compact digital camera has an awesome built-in projection feature that allows incredibly clear photos to be projected onto any surface.

There are a lot of applications I can think of for this:

inducement

Projecting an image of your favorite dish when you only have leftover rice to eat. This is psychologically like the story of the poor man who ate his bowl of rice while savoring the aromas from his rich neighbors’ cooking from outside the kitchen. You know how the story goes – the rich man (being an ass) demanded compensation and the wise judge agreed that gold coins should be paid in reparation…except the rich man only got to hear the clinking of the coins. LOL! Justice at it’s best!

airline

You can also use it to project images of food on the flight back from a long vacation after you used up all your money and can’t afford to buy an in-flight meal but I suspect this would make your hunger worse.

nikon s1100pj projection

What the Nikon Coolpix S1100pj really excels in is showing vacation photos to friends and family. There is a retractable kickstand which you can use to tilt the camera and an IR remote to flick through the photos but I like manually going through the images with the touchscreen – it’s just personal preference.

I just returned from another vacation in Europe so I was showing off the photos of my travels to my parents (to make up for the prank I pulled). They’re heading to Europe later this year too so I thought I’ll give them the heads up on where to go when they’re there.

There are other things I liked about the Nikon Coolpix S1100pj:

The HD movie recording feature

tilt

The tilt sensor that knows when you’re holding it horizontally or vertically and adjust the menu orientation automatically

The 14.1 MP sensor and the option to shoot in traditional (4:3) or widescreen (16:9) aspect ratios.

projection

However, the best thing about the Nikon Coolpix S1100pj is still the built-in projection feature. I’ve shown this to numerous friends and they were all amazed by the bright and vivid projected images. You don’t have to crowd around to sneak a glimpse at the LCD screen anymore – that’s so 2008 – just project it for everyone to see.

You can project it on almost any surface – even on the ground! 🙂

lainey

I’ll be the coolest kid on the block with this!

Gambling during Chinese New Year

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in between poker

Yup, it’s a tradition along with fireworks and heavy drinking – the third component of celebrations would be gambling with blackjack el arab! I don’t have photos of the family session coz I lost my iPhone but I have several other ones after that:

In-Between

in between

This is a poker derivative where you get dealt two cards and you draw from the deck to see if you can get a card with a denomination in the middle (thus the name “in between”). You can opt to wager as much as you want up to the limit of the pot. There is no distinction between spades or diamonds and a card of similar value would result in a penalty of double pay. also you can enjoy situs poker online here.Before playing one must check that the casinos and gambling sites,you are prefering should be on the most popular platform of gambling i.e https://bestsitesuk.casino/not-on-gamstop/.

in between pot

You contribute a predetermined amount into the pot when you first start and roll until it’s empty. The pot was over RM 600+ at one point. You can opt for the entire pot if you have a good hand but if you draw a similar card, you’ll have to pay double – RM 1,800. This tends to make everyone cautious unless you’re attempting to win back your losses. I won about RM 200+ from this (after minimal fluctuating movement in my loss-profit – the most I was up was by RM 300 before paying RM 200) and reimbursed Jeanie for her RM 100 loss.

Poker Terpercaya is also one of the popular online poker platform to play poker, for those who love to play poker online anytime or to consume their time by playing poker. It Provides You to play numbers of games as much as you want.

Four Color

four color

I have completely no idea how to play this – it’s like Chinese chess on Mahjong tiles and you have to make a set of matching components which totals 11 points (minimum) to win. This is my first time playing it and I was using Jeanie’s money to play – it’s a game between her two sisters and brother.

emperor tiles

It took me a while to figure out how to win and how to calculate points but the rule of thumb is that if you get the “highest denomination” (think of it as an Ace of Spades) – a tile with the “Emperor” calligraphy on it – it’s calculated as 1 point AND RM 1 at the same time.

tiles

I managed to win about RM 20 in a single game due to an abundance of Emperor tiles and it’s quite an interesting game – but I’m still not very good in arranging sets. It’s a bit complicated to explain the rules coz I’m not sure of it myself. 😡

cny visiting

Anyway, Chinese New Year is not over yet – I’m heading over to my grandma’s tomorrow (technically later tonight) for dinner and there are some developments on the personal front which I guess I’ll share when I’m not so sleepy. 😉

Happy CNY everyone!

Chinese New Year Eve in Sibu

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cny fireworks

It is a source of our pride that the residents of Sibu put out the best display of citizen sponsored fireworks during Chinese New Year annually. Despite the ban on the sale and use of firecrackers and fireworks most people still let loose every year – spending incredible amounts of hard earned money on pyrotechnics.

Unlike most other places, we can get firecrackers and fireworks by just strolling into certain shops, where they are displayed in all their glory. It’s nowhere close to the good ol’ pre-ban days where there’s a booth selling firecrackers outside supermarkets every meter or so but I take solace that despite the ban we still manage to put out an impressive barrage every year.

Most of my neighbors were out in force, and the most popular item this year is pre-loaded “ground cakes” which makes a sustained burst of colors and sound easier than one shot shell launchers.


CNY Eve in Sibu!

This is what Sibu looks like at the stroke of midnight on Chinese New Year Eve – it’s awesome and the smoke from all the firecrackers and fireworks quickly overwhelm the street, making visibility poor and seeping into your houses until everything smells like sulfur.

roman candle

It’s all good though and the best part of CNY for me! Happy Chinese New Year 2011! 🙂

The CNY karaoke session

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It so happens that it has become a bit of a tradition for us to gather at Pan Box, book a room and a case of beer and sing (in a completely off tune manner) karaoke. It’s more about having fun than anything and several songs are bound to make the play list:

Hotel California
Friends (it’s a Chinese song – the one in the video)
Isabella (a Malay song from a movie)

eddie

Truly 1Malaysia. Heh! My bro Eddie and a bunch of us usual suspects turns up and I usually need assistance to walk to the car by the time it’s over. This is the inaugural photo with my bro.

jeanie

This year, we’re joined by J who I’ve been hanging out a lot with. It’s really funny coz years ago she told me I’m a total asshole (not in these words exactly), but now we’re really good friends. 🙂

reunion firecrackers

Anyway, the neighbours have been letting off the pre-reunion dinner firecrackers for the past 3 hours (damn, they start early over here) and I couldn’t take a nap but it’s all good coz I’m heading over to my grandma’s for the reunion dinner now!

Happy CNY everyone! 🙂

Prosperous Mee Sua

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Okay, it’s listverse time! What do you need to do before Chinese New Year kicks down your door and sprays you in the face with FOX 5.3 million SHU OC pepper spray?

sibu haircut

Well, the obvious thing is to (as my grandma would put it) GET A FUCKING HAIRCUT. I’m totally down with that, I totally understand that an untamed mane is a liability when all and sunder gathers around during CNY eve a.k.a. The Reunion Dinner (TM).

I still haven’t figured out what to tell them when they bug me about not being hitched when I’m 30 but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. smirk

jeanie movie

Anyway, I’ve been hanging out with Jeanie the past couple of days and last night we ate this super sized portion of Prosperous Mee Sua (longevity noodles) for RM 18.50++.

It’s pretty good – there are lots of goods in the middle – squid, prawns, mushrooms etc etc but what makes this dish from Tanahmas special is the way it’s served. Mee sua in Sibu is usually soggy and drowned in chicken broth – this version is a crispy and soaked in gravy and it’s very tasty!

mee sua sibu

The portion is a bit too large though coz my stomach has shrunk during my hibernation (not eating for 24 hours) so it took us quite an effort to even make a dent in the dish.

I told Jeanie that according to custom, you’re not supposed to break the strands of mee sua lest the Powers That Be/God/Sol Invictus/(insert deity) frowns upon you and casually strikes off a few years from your lifespan in His righteous anger (at least according to my paternal grandma).

jeanie mee sua

I reckon we sacrificed 20 years (cumulative) of our lifespans coz we couldn’t finish the generous portion but still it was a good dish and I loved the goodies in the middle.

Fun with indoor firecrackers or "How I Nearly Burned Down the House"

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How not to light a firecracker 101

firecracker this is stupid

I was alone at home last night and decided to add some Chap Goh Meh cheer to the place. I had a couple of Chai Lei firecrackers [sixthseal.com] around (it’s a loud firecracker) and I have let them off in the enclosed space that I call home before without adverse consequences. However, this time I had to man the camera AND light the firecracker at the same time, and unfortunately God, in His infinite wisdom only gave Man two hands.

firecracker on fire

Download: Firecracker box burning [sixthseal.com]

I lost my lighter and had to use a match to light the firecracker and me in my infinite wisdom, decided it was a good idea to light it straight from the box which contains the rest of the Chai Lei firecrackers. I lit the firecracker, prepared to aim the digicam at it, and then I noticed that the shrink wrap on the firecracker box was burning (!!!).

I tried to blow out the flames (again, me and my infinite wisdom) and it just accelerated the burn rate AND the lit firecracker was still in my hand. I had a brain fart and threw the firecracker away before overturning the burning box into a towel and hoped for the best.

firecracker bad thing

My hands were shaking from the nearly adverted catastrophe. It would not have been pretty for the box of Chai Lei firecrackers to go off all at once indoors.

It would be decidedly a Bad Thing (TM).

firecracker singe fuse

Download: Firecracker fuse singed [sixthseal.com]

I did another take and bad luck seems to come in twos (or is that threes) coz I dropped the (still lit) match into the box, before it bounced out, making it come into contact with an unlit fuse and singeing it. I did not realize it and only noticed it after the fact. The tip of the Chai Lei firecracker fuse nearly caught on fire and would have set off a chain reaction which would probably burn the place down (since I didn’t even know it happened).

The worst thing is, my fire extinguisher hasn’t even been inspected since I moved in and I live on the top floor and the any fire-related incidents would probably leave…er, collateral damage.

Yeah, I know, I’m the epitome of a responsible citizen. 😉

firecracker perfect

Download: Indoor Chai Lei firecracker [sixthseal.com]

firecracker dont try this at home

This is a perfect take. It’s fun to light Chai Lei firecrackers indoors for a change. It’s also fun to throw several into an electric kettle indoors and see if the metal/plastic would hold the blast or send sharp shards all over the enclosed space.

You just might win the Darwin award. 😉

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CNY firecrackers and fireworks roundup – a sixthseal.com Chap Goh Meh special

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chap goh meh 06

Chap Goh Meh marks the end of the Lunar New Year. Chinese New Year is celebrated for 15 days and Chap Goh Meh literally means (the) 15th night. Firecrackers and fireworks are usually let off liberally to mark the end of Chinese New Year. There is a wide variety of firecrackers and fireworks available in Malaysia and the large self-contained box type is the most popular ones.

cny06

Download: Chinese New Year 2006 [sixthseal.com]

I’m a big fan of firecrackers and fireworks (and everything else that goes “boom”) and it seems that the trend in 2006 shifts markedly to industrial grade fireworks. The market in Sibu and Kuching is flooded with display shells – the catch-all term for the 3″, 5″ and 8″ shell that shoots up before exploding in fascinating pyrotechnics.

Shellshock

shellshock

This is an example of a “consumer grade” display shell fireworks. Shellshock comes in a box containing 12 pieces of “double break shells”. It’s made in China, that’s where firecrackers and fireworks in Malaysia is sourced (read: smuggled) from.

shellshock open

The Shellshock box opens up to reveal a foot long tube launcher embedded into the package with 6 shells lining each side of the box. The shells are inserted one at a time into the launch tube with the flat end (base) making contact with the bottom of the launcher tube.

shellshock shells

The 1.5″ shells is shaped like a gourd and there is a long conventional green fuse bound intricately around the shell and held in place by a colored string on the top indicating the color of the display shell when it is…well, displayed.

shellshock double

Here is a closer look at this consumer grade firework. There are double spheres in the shells – this is a double report, double flare display shell. The shells have a flat base and a visible fuse starter. This firecracker requires the launcher tube to launch the shells into the air and the long fuse is to accommodate for the launcher length.

shellshock launcher

The Shellshock ones come in a disposable cardboard and plastic launcher.

shellshock insert

The display shell type fireworks (regardless of grade) should always be used in conjunction with a launcher tube to guide the shell upwards. I’m sure everyone has tried not using a launcher tube at least once in their lives (at least I did, with a 3″ shell) and the results are not pretty.

shellshock fire
The Shellshock launcher tube does the job well enough…

It’s pretty dangerous since the shell just explodes on the ground, sending out burning debris over a wide area. Notice how large the dispersal area is when it’s airborne? That’s the coverage you can expect when it goes off on the ground. Most residential areas cannot accommodate for this kind explosive power.

shellshock topple
…though it topples after each launch…and the cardboard burns.

The one time I did it resulted in a cracked glass door (with an industrial grade shell), flaming explosions all over the front of the house and shocked family and neighbors. Oh, and I set the lawn of the neighbor on fire too. In my defense, it was dry grass. :p I never did dare to repeat that stunt again, since I didn’t want to pay for damages to vehicles, property and possibly human life. 😉

Industrial grade fireworks

shellshock meet big bro

Meet big brother. 😉 This is a custom made launcher tube for 3″ industrial grade display shells.

industrial launcher

The display shells (3 inch, 5 inch, and the expensive 8 inch ones) are sold in boxes with instructions on the dimensions of the launcher and the instructions are passed on to a local blacksmith (metal smith) to be custom made.

industrial launcher dimensions

It’s usually made of solid metal alloy so it can be reused without the force of the initial primer explosion from the shells (which is quite substantial) wearing out the launcher tube. The base of the launcher tube is very important – perhaps the most crucial part of the component – it must be heavy enough to hold the structure or wide enough to allow other weighing material (bricks etc.) to weigh it down.

industrial with shells

This is the launcher tube displayed with 3″ display shells. These things are ordered in bulk and come with a sticker specifying the exact pyrotechnics to expect from the particular shell (see below).

display shell boxes

It’s sold in boxes made of heavy paper stapled together to form a “box” of sorts and each box contains a mixed bag of pyrotechnics goodness, with different “grades” of shells e.g. Grade A would be a shell which goes “Purple with sparkling to red ball” (three stages with large initial purple explosion bloom, followed by sparkling edges and a single slowly descending red ball) while Grade B would be a shell that goes “Green to silver” (one explosion, color change at fringe of explosion).

display shell box open

This is a close look at the grenade like display shells. It’s wrapped with heavy reinforcing paper and these fireworks are considered industrial grade as it’s the same ones that the government lets off during official celebrations. Heck, some of them are even “diverted” from official celebrations. 😉

red green crackling

The grenade like display shells are individually wrapped and come with a label in two languages of what to expect from that particular display shell. This Grade A shell goes “Red to Green to Crackling”.

blue to silver

This Grade B shell goes “Blue to silver” (two phase change) while a Grade C shell would be a single phase explosion e.g. “Red & Blue wave”.

3 inch shell

I have relatively large palms and this is a size comparison of what a 3″ display shell looks like. It’s remarkably similar to a grenade, except you have to use a launcher tube instead of igniting it on the ground (which would cause a lot of Bad Things (TM) to happen).

industrial launcher insert

The industrial grade shells are inserted into the correctly sized launcher tube with the base of the shell level against the base of the launcher, and with the fuse sticking up and out of the launcher tube.

display shell

Download: Industrial grade fireworks [sixthseal.com]

I probably should mention that the industrial grade fireworks do not have a long fuse delay, despite its looks. The fuse lights slowly at the top and then *zaps* goes straight down the remaining length of the “fuse” and its pyrotechnica!

The blast is pretty substantial and it’s fun to be close to the launcher when it goes off. It’s a mini shellshock effect, right at your doorstep. 😉

Consumer grade fireworks, these are not.

chinese firecrackers

Lest we forget our roots, these are the traditional Chinese firecrackers.

horse brand firecrackers

I love the 50,000 Horse Brand firecrackers.

horse brand expand

It’s fast and furious, burning through 50k of individual sticks of firecrackers in the span of a few seconds.

50k firecrackers

Download: Fast and furious firecrackers [sixthseal.com]

It got all over me in the video, though I thoroughly enjoyed it. Classic!

Happy Chap Goh Meh everyone!

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