Or 'May you prosper'. The standard wish for Chinese New Year.
We were super lucky, four of the five days of the long weekend were sunny and warmish. Perfect weather for a hike! So on Sunday Wilko and I, two English guys he met at a drinks thing and a Finnish colleague of mine took the number 9 bus to Cape Collinson Road to hike Dragon's Back. It's a fairly easy one, with the most amazing views. Next was a Thai lunch in Shek O beach. I just can't stop talking about the food in this city. So good. I could eat the papaya salad we had there every day. We stuffed ourselves completely before bussing it back to the city. A perfect day.
On a Hong Kong Facebook group I saw a photo of the Chi Lin Nunnery in Kowloon. I looked it up and read many comments about how peaceful and tranquil it was. A great place to visit on the first day of Chinese New Year. And it was peaceful and tranquil. A magical place with beautiful gardens. And not overly busy. So off we went to a nearby temple, looking for more tranquility. We were enjoying this! Well until we actually got there that is.... Hundreds of people were queuing to get in, a process shown on a large screen next to the entrance of the temple. It turned out it was one of the most popular temples for locals to pray on day of Chinese New Year. Will need to come back another time....
Tuesday was going to be the last sunny day of the five day break. Another hike was called for. I remembered Lamma Island from a previous visit to Hong Kong. Quaint villages, good stroll/hike, nice beaches. And it didn't disappoint. 30-40 minutes by ferry from Central and you're in a different world. Fisherman's villages, forest and a hippyish atmosphere. Plus good Indian food, a perfect lunch. Back on the Island, it was a quick (Nepali) dinner with two of our hiking companions, before watching the CNY fireworks. Think I'm spoiled. The fireworks were good but not as good as the ones we had in August during Sail. It's probably more spectacular from the Kowloon side but there's probably also a million more people competing for good spots.
The best part of Chinese New Year was today at work. My secretary had told me there'd be a Lion dance, and I'd promised to be there. I hadn't realised there was also a suckling pig (next to a week chicken) for the entire office. So imagine tens of consultants all standing around a suckling pig, a partner performing a ceremony (that I didn't quite get) with his two cuter-than-cute daughters, followed by a proper Lion dance around the office. While the lions were dancing, catering staff cut up the pig (and a wee chicken) and everyone helped themselves to the juicy meat. At the same time, a whole bunch of more junior staff queued in front of the partners' office to be given Lai See. Lai See is the local custom of giving red packets with money in it. A funny sight to see one Chinese and three western partners lined up giving all these colleagues their red envelopes. As I am new and haven't worked with any of them yet, I only gave Lai See (with two hands, very important!) to my secretary, after having consulted another colleague on what a good amount would be. And after having queued at the bank for crisp notes as used notes are a no. Bloody complicated, but I wanted to get it right! Now I just need to remember all this for next year, by which time we also need to include doormen, hairdressers, managers of restaurants we often go to, and so on.
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