It happened on Monday 1/26/2009. It was my day off and I had no clean underwear (now you know I’m not afraid to go commando) or socks or undershirts for work so I hit up the laundromat on Mills Ave. and Colonial. Bastards jacked the price up for washing an extra quarter! Can’t wait to move into my new house so I don’t have to waste time and money on this shit anymore. As always, I bring my cam everywhere with me. I was chillin’ in my car listening to some tunes while my clothes were in the soak and I saw a crowd of people on the corner across the street. Actually, when I was on my way to the laundromat, I saw the same crowd of people but now they made their way down a few stores. I didn’t think much of it at the time cuz I wasn’t gonna stop in the middle of the road to rubberneck and snap a few pics.

So I pretty much dismissed it. But the crowd was getting bigger, cops were involved in traffic control and safety, and I heard the firecrackers popping off in the distance. Now I was curious. I had a decent amount of time to go peep what was going on and get back to my clothes before the spin cycle finished so I grabbed my cam and started walking. Whatever it was, it was going on in Orlando’s Chinatown area; about 3 or 4 blocks worth of chink stores and restaurants on East Colonial. It was only an intersection away from where I was but it was rush hour and there were lots of other curious people joining the fray clogging up the street corners. Unlike them, I have no fear and don’t watch things from a distance. I wasn’t about to become a black and red smudge on the road by these idiot Orlando drivers so I was careful in that aspect. But I managed to make my way up close and personal to the action.

At first, I had absolutely no clue what the fuck was going on and I didn’t wanna ask cuz I knew the info would make itself known and it did. I saw the backs of the shirts of the people doing the demos and then I saw the big sign. I said “Wah Lum King” in the vid cuz that’s all I could see with my own eyes even if the cam showed otherwise. Now I know it was the local Wah Lum Kung Fu dojo wishing various businesses along the strip a happy new year Chinese style.

I could’ve gone into the stores and did some taping but I didn’t wanna get too guerilla with it and cause an uproar with them, especially since cops were there. And they could probably kick my ass too; Bruce Lee steelo! Wasn’t worth the hassle. So I just stayed outside and got what I could from that vantage point. I got all the action on the outside and tried to zoom into the store to catch what was going on in there but the window glare didn’t help. Plus there was lots of heads, lots of people passing in front of the cam (so I moved closer to the barrier), the doorway was narrow, and the ‘dragon dance’ inside wasn’t much diff from what they did when they came back outside. The interactions with the people inside (if any) is what I would’ve wanted to capture but you can’t win ‘em all.

The dancing/demonstration was kinda lame, truth be told. The live music was acceptable although it was lacking performance for the crowd watching outside of the business. The uniforms were bargain basement. The way some of the helpers looked, you can tell they probably weren’t students of the game. I could be wrong though. Not like I’m gonna walk up to one of the older ladies there and say “Hey, wanna fight?” End up gettin’ my ass handed to me by grandma in front of everyone, hell no! I have to assume this wasn’t any kind of martial arts demo and was strictly that dojo doing a traditional New Year’s greeting for the chink community that gives a damn. But the fact that they had that giant yellow banner with their name, number, and website on it, one would think that they were also trying to attract business. A martial arts demo during the live music on the outside before the dancers (or performers or whatever you wanna call ‘em) came back out would’ve helped in that aspect.

I’d say the firecrackers were the best part. They want you to back up for safety but that don’t help worth a shit. They should advise you to cover your ears more so than that cuz that shit was loud as fuck! I was practically right next to the fucking thing when they lit it up and I wasn’t expecting my ears to damn near explode. I couldn’t cover them either since I was taping. Didn’t hurt afterwards but the video just doesn’t do the loudness any justice. You had to be there. Shit like that is what makes people think there’s some gangbangers having a turf war outside their door. And what a mess they left behind. Long as my taxpayer dollars ain’t paying to clean it up, no probs here. The whole shindig was a nice little surprise. Something different from the usual laundry trip which I look forward to not ever having to do again in the very near future.

They hit up more places but my focus was on getting my clothes done so I could go home and enjoy the rest of the day. I’d say the highlight was seeing this absolutely gorgeous Asian lady and her kid, both in traditional clothing, crossing the street. This lady was a 10! It’s not everyday that I see someone that looks like that. This is the type of chick you see in mags and commercials and shit, or clean jap porn (if such a thing exists), not in real life. It was a rarity for sure. Too bad she had that kid with her. I was already commando so that’d be one less item of clothing that needed removing. Provided I had the most remote chance in hell with her…