We were not that early for our weekly Saturday walk for groceries. One of our labmates/dormmates happened to be a Pinoy – Chinese and celebrates the Chinese new year. We decided to support him and celebrate with him on this special occasion.
We were able to follow some Chinese superstitions in celebrating Chinese New Year. We followed the only odd number of main dishes, we had seven ( pancit, garlic buttered shrimp, adobong kangkong, fish sweet and sour, stir fry veggies, dumplings, and lumpiang shanghai). Pancit is for longer life while shrimp is for happiness, liveliness, and good fortune. The fish was challenging, although it is for good luck, the bone should remain intact and should not be flipped during the whole eating session. Our Chinese friend prepared “an offer” as he described a tray of 3 pieces of 3 circle fruits like apples, and oranges, except strawberries (more than 3 pcs.), and a red envelope (Ang Pao) with fresh one thousand peso bill from the bank placed on a container with grains of rice. Fruits can be eaten only after the Chinese New Year, the rice should not be cooked and the money should not be spent for the entire year. No one was wearing black or white shirts at the celebration.
We ended the night by sharing our Chinese zodiac and reading some predictions available online for this year’s year of the water rabbit. We learned about compatibilities, characteristics, and things to look out for this year, 2023.
Happy Chinese New Year | Wàn shì rú yì (May everything go as you wish) to everyone!
