Are You Celebrating Chinese New Year?

I am celebrating! I think your date is off by 3 days. It’s on February 1. It coincides with the New Moon in Aquarius.

It’s a big deal here. We have a large Chinese population.

I don’t follow astrology and I have no interest in the Chinese New Year. The most I know about it is that it follows shortly after our New Year here in the US. I never remember which day waiting until I see something online reminding me of the upcoming event. To those of you who do celebrate, Happy New Year

No.

My wife is Chinese. She’s going to make “jai” (Buddhist Delight). It a lot of work to make but my wife says she enjoys making it. Has a variety of vegetarian foods.
Also she won’t let me sweep the floor on Chinese New Year because it sweeps out good luck.
Also arguing or saying anything bad on Chinese New Year is bad luck. But we never argue and we’ve been married for 32 years and I have never raised my voice to her in anger. That’s double good luck. HA!

It’s the year of the Tiger and that’s my year! Oh yeah!

I celebrated it in China in 2018 where it is huge, like Christmas and New Year combined but I won’t be taking part this year.

I’ll prob go find some Chinese desserts to eat.

I will get dinner from Uncle Yu’s, the neighborhood Chinese food restaurant, and have some Honey Walnut Prawn Salad and maybe some Pan Fried Baby Lobster. My daughter is not home, otherwise i would get a red envelop ena put some money in it.

Some call it the Year of the Tiger, I call it the The Year of the Cat

^^ Al Stewart, an old favo(u)rite of mine.

@zenvelo That’s a good idea. I’ll celebrate with a Chinese take away.

We used to celebrate at the local Catholic church but I’m not it’s happening with Covid ongoing. I may check online, good idea.

I’m so glad I’m not the only one. I’m still counting the day :)

Noodle soup for lunch !

Hey, is it ok that I will come back here when the time come and update to you what I do?

@Mimishu1995 Yes please!

No, but my Chinese former DIL and my grandsons do.

I think it’s a great excuse for me to make some Chinese food for my husband. I do that anyway. Maybe I’ll buy it from take-out and leave an extra big tip.

You have me wondering if the Asian club here is doing any performances. They do spectacular dance performances. I’ve always thought we should have some sort of public celebration like we do for St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, and so many other festivals and parades where I live. I think people would love to see the Chinese dancers perform and hear traditional and popular Chinese music, and the food of course.

I’ve been in NYC during the new year a couple of times by coincidence. My sister lives in Chinatown so we saw people in the streets celebrating.

New Year’s Eve is over. I didn’t realize there was firework. I thought they stopped doing firework due to Covid. I was a bit sad that I couldn’t watch it, but then again my parents sleep in early so I could risk waking them up anyway. I watched the firework through the grainy webcam of my friend while we were chatting. She was standing on her balcony and she could only video what she saw. Nevertheless, I enjoyed our time together. I even called other friends who were still awake to join the chat.

I’m so sleepy. I need to sleep to get ready for tomorrow’s plan.

Update: my wife (Taiwanese) insisted on making seafood soup since it will have fish. Fish is supposed to portend to a prosperous year.

Yesterday we didn’t really do anything. We went to the family’s grave to pay respect to the ancestors. It is a cultural tradition that family pays a visit to the grave in New Year. The only difference this year is that we didn’t go with our extended family due to Covid. The road to the grave was steep and bumpy, and we had to walk all the way. I didn’t particularly like it because I prefer to get to know my ancestors through learning about their history. This tradition just feels like it is forced on me and I am forced to go pay respect to people that I don’t personally have any connection with.

We did our thing quickly because we didn’t have to waste time talking to our relatives. My dad attempted to go to the pagoda on the mountain. But when we got there we saw a long line of cars and we realized we were stuck in a traffic jam. We decided that it wasn’t worth it so we headed back home. We arrived home at noon and had lunch. I was exhausted.

Yesterday was much better than the day before. We went to the Ancient town of Hoi An. The town is kind of similar to those reenactment villages in the US, without the people in ancient costumes. It was formerly a big trading center established by the French, but then the French move away. People now recognize the town for its tourism potential, so they try to keep the architecture the same way as it was back in the 19th century. I have been there many times before, but this time I got the most out of the town so far.

We were parking our car when the parking lot owner pointed my dad to a mini-bus. The bus driver happened to be a tour guide as well, and he drove us around the place before dropping us to the center of the town. He told us facts about the town on the way. The thing that caught my interest was that there was a mini version of the town in the place, and every night they had play performances that dated back to the 18th century. I really wished I could see it, but we didn’t stay there all day.

When we were dropped off the bus, we walked around. The place we were standing was meant to be traveled on foot anyway. I was grateful for the bus because it would have taken us a long time to get there, and that was what happened the last times I went there. So now with more time in our hand, we were free to explore the town. My family was the most interested in the street food. In fact, we planned beforehand to eat while walking around. And besides, there wasn’t much the town could offer us anyway, we were too used to it. The food didn’t disappoint. We mostly ate grilled food, but they were really delicious. We even bought some back home. I was aware of those food markets before, but this was the first time I got to try any of the food.

We went home at noon again. This time we weren’t exhausted. I guess we were used to the schedule. We ate the food we just bought. I was amazed how much I could eat, given that I already ate a lot while I was there. I’m more satisfied than the day before.

FYI: Facebook has some nice Chinese New Year backgrounds.

This question inspired me to celebrate. I usually don’t, but the dreariness of this cold and rainy time, plus many of my friends testing positive for Covid, made me feel like joining in.

We got food from a local Chinese restaurant (I now love peanut sauce!) and made fried bananas for dessert. I set the table with lots of red plates, made some tea, and played music that the internet suggested for Lunar New Year. Then we watched a silly movie set in Singapore. A stuffed crocodile that we have played the role of Nian, the beast that eats people. I put on a red sweater to scare him away, but my husband doesn’t own anything red – so he was nibbled at mercilessly all night long.

It felt good to be connected to those celebrating in Asia in that way. I remember the positive energy from living in Korea, though I never got to experience a local celebration.

Yesterday, we celebrated Groundhog Day (and the first day of Celtic Spring). This we did by eating what a groundhog would eat: squash, lettuce, carrots, [pop]corn, apples, raspberries, cherries, cashews, pistachios, [boiled] eggs, alfalfa, beans [well, bean-shaped candy], and sunflower seeds. We watched the appropriate movie. And for a special holiday prank, I have made copies of yesterday’s calender leaf and glued them behind, so that it will be February 2nd several times. Yes…I may have too much time on my hands.

Today is National Optimists’ Day, and we are celebrating that, as well. I wonder how long we can keep up the festivities.

^^ Hmm – National Optimists’ Day: I’m happy to report that I am in a non-productive slump!