GUNG HAY FAT CHOY!!!

Happy new year to all!  It is now the year of the Rabbit.  Chinese new year is one of my favorite holidays!  Its somewhat unique to me in that although I have a lot of family, I don't have too many Chinese friends.  It becomes almost a personal holiday for me cause I often celebrate w/a few non-Chinese friends.  Usual, more traditional, celebrations may include a parade, lots of fireworks, one of those dragon dances, and eating.  We Chinese like to eat...a lot.  If we can eat some 'da been lo' (hot pot) then were in the money!

Da Been Lo is kind of like fondue, but done with boiling water.  Everything comes raw/uncooked (beef, chicken, pork, squid, fish balls,lettuce, noodles, more food that I'm sure I can't remember right now) and is cooked in the boiling water in an electric pot that you put in the middle of the table.  Everyone gets 2 sets of chopsticks, one for raw and one for cooked, a plate, and a small bowl with sauce.  My mom makes a hoisin, peanut mixed sauce...tasty.

The best part of the new year is getting the little red envelopes.  Red, the chinese color for prosperity, and inside you of course get $.  Its a beautiful thing.  Usually I take that $ and spend it right away at the bar.  I've had a few legendary, raucous nights on the new year w/the $ from the red envelopes.  I've also been known to occasionally only speak cantonese, what few words and phrases I know.  So, for all of you that now know that its Chinese New Year's, have a drink or 6, eat some Chinese food, and hopefully you'll get a red envelope.

Sun Tai Geen Hong!  Sun Leen Fai Lok!