CELEBRATING CHINESE NEW YEAR

It is wonderful to be in Hong Kong during the Chinese New Year holiday. Waking up to sounds of birds chirping and occasional airplane flying above was amazing. Typically we wake up to the sounds of buildings going up around us. Construction work here goes on 24/7 and only stops on public holidays. The quiet city was very welcoming.

After coming back from Phuket, we were able to spend the last public holiday day relaxing in our apartment. That evening we had dinner with family and played mahjong. Mahjong is a great way to practice saying and reading Chinese numbers.

Our delicious meal with family

Last weekend, M and I visited the New Territories with family to continue the Chinese New Year celebrations, which go on for 15 days. Our first stop was to visit Uncle Ho, who was good friends with M's grandparents. He and his wife live in government subsidized housing near the Kwai Hing MTR station. While their apartment is only 350 square feet, they make really good use of the space.

Uncle Ho's dried tangerine peels. Each container features tangerine peels from a different year.

After our visit, Uncle Ho and his wife took us to their local dim sum restaurant. This is where M and I had to wash our own dishes before using them. It was a very unique experience to say the least! There we enjoyed some of our favorite dim sum items like turnip cake, rice noodle rolls and dumplings.

After lunch, we said good-bye to Uncle Ho and his wife and headed with M's aunts and uncles to the Yuen Yuen Institute to say our Chinese New Year blessings. On the way to the Yuen Yuen Institute, we got a kick of all the laundry hanging on the public fences to dry. We especially enjoyed the men's boxers!

The Yuen Yuen Institute is a collection of temples, pavilions, monasteries and prayer halls dedicated to Confucian, Buddhist and Taoist beliefs.

While we enjoyed the stunning temples and gardens, our main purpose of this trip was to give thanks for the past year and pray for good luck in the new year. This involved lots of prayers and incense burning.

We spent time thinking of our family and friends, sending lots of good blessings their way. We sent extra blessings to our family members whose zodiac symbol does not interact well with the Dragon. And we prayed to Tai Shui, the deity governing the Year of the Dragon.

After we finished our blessings, we spent some more time walking the grounds and enjoying the beautiful temples.

On a related note, a baby boom is expected this year in China. Dragon babies are believed to be blessed with luck and strength. I hear it's nearly impossible to reserve a hospital bed for delivery in Hong Kong. Our cousin mentioned knowing someone who has to deliver her baby in Canada due to lack of available hospital beds in Hong Kong.

Happy year of the dragon and many blessings to all the dragon babies out there!