Upping the ante
February 21, 2010 9:40 am Weird PenangIf you are new to English idioms, upping the ante means that you are increasing your “bet” and the value of something especially when there are risk involved (http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/up+the+ante.html). The idiom is taken from poker game.
Have you heard of the 24 chinese drums? A team of 24 people will beat 24 chinese drums, those used in lion dance, to create a loud beat. The trick is that all 24 people need to have some semblance of syncronization.
Now up that 4 times, make it 88 drums. 88 is a good number according to chinese and 88 drums takes up a lot of space. 88 drums will be what they played in the Georgetown Chinese New year celebrations yesterday. I missed the show, but I would assume it is awesome.
Look at the amount of drums.. you will know why.
