Happy Lunar New Year

Today, January 26, 2009, is the Chinese Lunar New Year and it is the year of the ox. Most families celebrate on the new year eve with a family dinner or gathering. This year we had our feast at home instead of going out. It would've been very busy at the restaurants. Chinese supermarkets were also busy on this day with decorations and new year candies on display. My favorite items are the sticky rice snacks and the lucky cat ornaments.

Not to forget about "laisee", which means red envelopes in Cantonese. Red color symbolizes good luck and wealth. It is usually given to the younger children by the married couples to the non-married couples. You'll also often hear "Gung Hei Fat Choi". This actually translates to "Wishing wealth and success" instead of "Happy New Year". A lot of non-Chinese speaking people get mistakened. The actual translation for "Happy New Year" is "Sun Lin Fai Lok".