Archive for August 30th, 2007

Note: small warning for you if you live in Fiji. This is a plenty pictures post. Your net may choke on it. Be paitent. If you live anywhere else that has anything faster then 256k then you’re fine. Infact, this post will load so fast you won’t see this warning.

Well, the Hibiscus Carnival has come and gone. What did I learn from this annual event?

a) The amount of rubbish that magically accumulates on the ground turned mosh pit is the stuff of legends…

b) Getting muddy and dirty from said mosh pit is not so much legendary as more annoying…

c) Watch people watch their money slowly make its way from their wallet to the short guy behind the gambling table

d) Marvel at the amount of bbq stands…and no sandwich stalls ><

e) Go on the rides, enjoy the scenery, then throw up said bbq lunch…

But of course, what do you expect from what could be said to be the biggest carnival of the year, if only the single worth-while event for Suva besides coup-related looting and late night brawls?

School kids were slightly unhappy with a festival that was abit messed up due to the strike a few weeks ago which pushed the festival forward. Thus the kids had to go back to school on a wednesday…with the Hibiscus still going on.

The organisers’ cruelty will not go unpunished.

Of course, since I’m not in school, I couldn’t give two fucks (sorry guys, but you have to move on you know XD ).

So, you’re probably wondering, was this year’s event worth the visit/hassle?

There was only one reason beyond all reason to attend this hibiscus.

You see, the Hibiscus Festival is all about love for your fellow man. And that includes naming rides after famous people who have changed the world and deserve to have a little rocket named after them.

The Hibiscus also has an army training simulator that trains small kids right from the start on the proper techniques of shooting a gun from a plane. Like cowboys. Only cooler.

And they wonder how all the kids grow up so messed in the head.

Moving on, there was a big tent at the corner of the ground that houses stalls which sell quintessential market garbage. While they had the usual $5 clothes selection stalls that seem to be cropping up at any and every excuse for a market, one of the stalls caught my eye.

Thats the Comsol (Fiji) Ltd stall.

…minus their awesome dvd ‘collection’. Once bitten twice shy if I might say…

Ironically, just a few stalls away were these brave bastards who were prepared to take on the wrath of the ‘Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda’. I’m guessing there’s a shotgun behind the stall somewhere.

And maybe a button underneath the table that once pressed automatically burns all the dvds in a flash of light and smoke. No evidence, no crime right?

Mind you, $5 a dvd is an utter and complete rip-off. Pity Comsol was content to just sit there and sell no-name electronics.

Signs of economic prosperity and everyone in general making money/business was all around with stalls crowding the tent, and people struggling to buy into the mad cash craze that was hitting the crowd…

Look at that. It sure is happening.

Around the grounds there were alot of great places for you to actively participate and lose your money, chief amongst them the “Gambling Area”.

Apparently the Hibiscus Committee gets a cut of the money earned from the gambling stores and uses it to fund their secret operations of world domination via Hibiscus Queens trained as skilled assassins.

But i digress.

The most popular gambling game is the Table of Death…well to be honest I don’t know what it really is called. Sensationalize ftw .

As it stands it’s pretty simple, and therein lies the addiction element.

All you have to do place money of any amount on any one of the squares. The table owner has a set of dice, each of them having the sides of the dice labeled with one section of the table.

Table owner then jiggles the dice in his cup and smacks it onto the table. If you’ve put money on say the ‘K’ section, and your section shows up on one of the dice, then all the money from the surrounding sections goes to you. If not, then too bad.

Because the game is quick and relatively painless, the money put in is usually as low as 20c. The chances of winning a round is not that bad, though people have been known to be lucky.

These gambling tables are pretty popular, and they never fail to draw a crowd.

I try to stay away from the games though. I’m not comfortable with crying in public.

There was another table that had a huge number of people gathered around it. However, the game was lost on me due to the overwhelming number of numbers and diagrams.

Brownie points for those of you who know the above game.

Other fun activities included dart throwing, rolling a ping pong ball down a certain row to win stuff, and this. ‘Extreme Pani’.

Again, the premises is simple. Purchase up to 3 tennis balls and try to hit all the cans onto the floor. If you manage to get all cans down on the first try, thats $100 right there.

Who could resist a chance at winning $100?!

I could.

He couldn’t.

Annoyingly, a crowd magically appears everytime someone has a go at the game, and so the player feels this intense pressure to perform.

It doesn’t help.

That pretty much was Hibiscus for me. Fortunately, I wasn’t able to attend the Float Display on Saturday, since I pretty much hate anything that’s to do with big trucks and loads of paper deco with a pretty lady balancing on top of all that crap.

Though I don’t mind the free candy they throw into the crowd…

Well, that’s another dilemma for next year

For another viewpoint on the Hibiscus Festival, be sure to check out Blog in Fiji’s post.

Question: How was your Hibiscus Experience this year?

PS: Oh, and before I forget, gratz to the Hibiscus Winner. I’m going to pay close attention to the paper’s eulogy section in the upcoming weeks.