Event: Celebrating Chinese New Year 2012 at SM Mall of Asia

We trooped to SM Mall of Asia last night, January 22, to celebrate this year's Chinese New Year. My holidays were rather dark and gloomy and I had been wanting to uplift my spirits and be happy again. So I thought that maybe watching a live Lion and Dragon dance, and see some fireworks in action would allow me to savor the last hurrah of the season.

Prior to going there, I checked the mall's lifestyle website for the schedule of activities. The Lion and Dragon dance was scheduled at 5 p.m. and the pyromusical display (not the competition) at 7 p.m. 

We left the house at 4 p.m. and got there at 6 p.m. so we weren't able to catch the dance. Traffic was already building up near the entrance of the mall and parking areas were filling up, too. We parked in the basement parking of the SMX Convention Center, which was a big mistake because it's far from where all the activities are.

After disembarking from the car, we headed straight to the bay area and checked out the booths that they have there while waiting for the fireworks display to start. There weren't a lot really, just a few stalls selling lucky charms and Chinese delicacies like tikoy and hopia, a photo exbihit, and some booths where you can register to enter a raffle draw.

Another mistake was we should've had our dinner instead of strolling around the area, because as we would learn later after the fireworks display, finding a place to eat for a group of 10, when it seemed everyone else was thinking of the same thing, was a challenge. Nearby restaurants were full with long queues of waiting customers. I know there's a lot of restaurants in SM Mall of Asia but we didn't want to stray too far from where we parked and we're a little pressed for time because my Dad still had to go to work at 10 p.m. Plus, we're all just tired from walking. So at 8:30 p.m., we decided to leave and eat somewhere else -- specifically, somewhere near my Dad's workplace.

So it is worth getting hungry and getting blisters for? Well, the fireworks show was great and a good enough reason to go there. But we strained our necks watching it because we're directly below the aerial display (and yet another mistake). 

And shooting from the ground looking up with shaky hands and an aching neck will hardly give you nice pictures. (Actually, it was my husband who took pictures, I just enjoyed the show.)

But yes, it was worth it.