10 May 2011

Chinese Theme Dinner - What Else?


What do you do when your special friends are having a sleepover at your house before they head off for seven months to the depths of China?

Why you have a Chinese Theme Dinner in their honour, of course!

Some (like my hubby) may say, look they're going to be eating Chinese food for the rest of the year, why not give them Kiwi Kai, like fish'n'chips or a BBQ?

Because where's the dressingup-decorating-gluegunning-dancing-chopstickeating fun in that??


A theme dinner is a great way to keep costume-mad girlies occupied for an afternoon.


These soon-to-be-separated friends-for-life had great fun creating Cheong Sams from old bits of fabric, glue gunning flowers and jewels on old shoes and choreographing a "chinese dance" to entertain us all before our feast.


They had a blast - and were very entertaining too...


I don't know how truly Chinese it was....? But aren't they the sweetest?


We decorated using a few specially-bought items from our favourite $2 shop... and the girls wrote out Chinese-sounding names for each person, which we placed on the plates along with bamboo chopsticks.

Names like Ling Wan and Kiy Lan, Shi Shi and Chong Su. We have no idea if they were real names but it was fun seeing what the girls came up with. We ran out of time to look up real Chinese names on the internet but if you want to give it a go you can find some here...


You could also practise using these phrases (found here):
Hello. 你好。 Nǐ hǎo.
What is your name? 你叫什么名字? Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?
My name is ______ . 我叫 _____ 。 Wǒ jiào ______ .
Nice to meet you. 很高兴认识你。 Hěn gāoxìng rènshì nǐ.
Please. 请。 Qǐng.
Thank you. 谢谢。 Xièxiè.
You're welcome. 不客气。 Bú kèqi.


At our Chinese dinner we cheated and got Chinese Takeaways - but they were the Real Deal from Canton Cafe in Kingsland - delicious authentic Chinese food, even the kids loved it. Mmmmm. Spiced duck. Roast pork. Drool. How do you know if a Chinese restaurant is good? It's always full of Chinese people. Clue: Canton is indeed always packed.

Everyone had to have a go eating their Chinese food with Chinese chopsticks. We gave the kids spoons as a back-up but I am proud to say that the grownups manged to eat using only their chopsticks. Gail and Mr B will be fine if they can't find any forks in Chengdu.


The Chinese fairies chose the best chopstick eaters and sprinkled them with Chinese fairy dust... or something like that.

If we'd thought of it we could have had fun finishing off with some fortune cookies. But we didn't. You could though! Here's a cool step-by-step guide on how to make your own fortune cookies. Wish I'd thought of it.


It was lovely getting to spend the evening with our dear friends before we waved them off on their adventure.


They are gone now, already in Hong Kong, shopping, Disney World-ing... and probably eating lots of Chinese food. When they come back at the end of the year we'll welcome them home with Fish'n'Chips and a Pav.
Looking forward to it. Missing them already.



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10 comments:

Leonie said...

awesome send off Simone!!
Loving all the little 'chinese' touches!

jacksta said...

lovely ♥

Anonymous said...

so fun
brought a little salty discharge to my eyes really
you're a great friend Simoney
you really know how to make a friend feel loved

ps the girls are adorable!!!

love and light

Cheryl said...

Hen Hao Wan! So lovely to read, so lovely to see the pictures... your friends will carry the love from this party with them the whole time they are gone...

PaisleyJade said...

Such a great idea Simone - love it! Glad that they are safely in Hong Kong.

Elizabeth said...

Awesome send-off... your creativity is amazing!

Sammy said...

Hey Simoney, haven't heard back from you about Sat. I have stalked you via text and email....(dundundunn)..to no avail. Anyway, please let me know xx

Anonymous said...

What an awesome send off. :) You are a fantastic friend Simoney! PS Mrs Readalot will be pleased to know I ordered Water For Elephants from the library today :D

Renee said...

What a beautiful send off for what is obviously a wonderful family of friends - I love the photos and such a neat idea having a chinese themed party! I love it! I've been so inspired by your blog that I'm passing on the love and I've nominated you on mine for a Kreative Blogger Award http://butterflykissesfairywishes.blogspot.com/2011/05/who-loves-ya-baby.html!

Neetz said...

Love the sendoff...you lovely lovely friend...

1. Wish you lived in Whangarei
2. Wish you were my lovely "real life" friend
3. any time you want to re-locate further north, just yell out, :) heehee.

xx

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