Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Kung Hei, Kung Hei

So yeah, tomorrow is the Chinese New Year.

It's that time of the year when a mass evacuation happens in Hong Kong. Taking advantage of the long holiday, many people - expatriates especially - leave the hustles and bustles of busy Hong Kong life at least for a while.

Many shops close for a day or two. On the eve of CNY, panic buying sometimes ensues and banks are mobbed for last minute transactions.

Lan Kwai Fong - the bar hub of HK - is of course open to cater to party animals.

Then there are the migrant workers. CNY means more days off for our kababayans. Many also receive the fabled red packet or lycee.

CNY and the period preceding the holidays is also usually the time when domestic workers in Hong Kong do more work than usual. Cleaning the house until it sparkles, work in parties employers organize, take care of kids while visiting grandparents - and a whole lot of other tasks covered by the vague term domestic work.

There is also the annual fireworks display. I've only seen it once even if I always spend CNY here. After the 2000 CNY, I guess I was just not up to elbowing people to get a better spot and saying "waaaaahhhh" every after spectacular display of lights anymore.

Pending my mood and who will be the company, I may try to watch the fireworks display this year. At the minimum, for the sake of the holiday spirits.

As all CNY goes, it'll be quite busy for us whose line of work deals with migrant workers. If I don't get a chance to say this to friends and fellow bloggers during the holidays, let me say it now:

Kung Hei Fat Choy!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy CNY! Dito rin, panic buying ang mga tao. Masikip ang supermarkets at kalye. Lahat nagmamadali para sa mga reunions.

I hope you watched the fireworks and have invited si "crush" :-)

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

Kung Hei Fat Choi too.

Though medyo 1/64 (or is that 1/128)chinese ang aming family eh medyo hindi na rin kami involved sa festivities ng chinese new year. Aside from the usual tikoys and eat-outs, CNY is just like any other day of the year...

Greetings of prosperity from Manila jericho! :-) Hope you'll have a wonderful year in HK!

wanderingcommuter said...

ngayon ko lang narealize kung ano ang CNY after ko basahin ang post. inisip ko pa CNY- Kung Hei Fat Choi, KHFC kaya yun...chinese new year pala!hahaha...gusto ko'ng pumunta at magdrama sa discovery bay at ocean park at bumili ng maraming wong kar wai films na pirata sa HK

CNY-KHFC!!!

jericho said...

@gibo: malamang manood ako. with or without the "crush".

@ruff: so you are like a highly-diluted chinese? hehe. Thanks for the greetings!

@wandering: go go go. libre mo ako sa ocean park! hehe

wanderingcommuter said...

hindi pa nga ako nakakapunta ng HK. takot ako baka di na ako makabalik. bobo ako sa directions eh. hahaha.

Turismoboi said...

kung hei fat choi

Anonymous said...

maki belated Kung hei fat choi na rin. u have one intesting blog here jeric, nice find for me! :) and congrats nga pala dat u've reached a whole month already on ur Kape't yosi blog! cheers

Anonymous said...

lam ba u na ignoramusity ako sa phrase na yan? naku ever, thanks sa blogging! kundi aanga anga pa rin ako! hahaha

jericho said...

@wandering: masaya naman ang maligaw paminsan-minsan.. hehe

@turismoboi: same to you!

@josh: thanks. dapat pala nagbukas ako ng champagne.. hehe

@reynz: noong bata ako, meron sa amin na "pyesta ng Instik". yun pala ang CNY.. hehe