Getting Ready for the New Year

This Thursday marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Rat. With the CNY coming I have been getting my hair cut, house cleaning and decorating, and shopping to get ready because once the new year is here there are many traditions or beliefs that people believe will influence whether you have good luck or bad luck for the new year.

Good luck
• To Open windows and/or doors is believed to bring in the good luck of the new year.

• To Switch on the lights during the night is believed to scare away ghosts and bad spirits that may chase away the luck and good fortune of the new year.

• Sweets are eaten to ensure a "sweet" year.

• It is important to have the house completely clean from top to bottom before New Year's Day for good luck in the coming year - and cleaning the house after New Year's Day is bad luck.

• It is believed that what happens on the first day of the new year reflects the rest of the year to come. Some will often gamble at the beginning of the year, hoping to get luck and prosperity.

Bad luck
• To buy a pair of shoes is considered bad luck to some Chinese. The word "shoes" sounds like the word for "rough" in Cantonese, or "evil" in Mandarin.

• To Buy a pair of pants is considered bad luck. The word "pants"(kù) sounds like the word for "bitter"(kŭ) in Cantonese. Although it is positive in Cantonese, as the word 'pants'(fu) sounds like the the word for "wealth".

• To cut your hair is considered bad luck. The word "hair" sounds like the word for "prosperity". Thus "cutting hair" could be perceived as "cutting away your prosperity" in Cantonese.

• To washing your hair is believed to be washing away one's own luck (although modern hygienic concerns take precedence over this tradition)

• To sweep the floor is usually forbidden on the first day, as it will sweep away the good fortune and luck for the new year.

• To talk about death is inappropriate for the first few days of Chinese New Year, as it is considered unfavorable as well.

• Avoid clothes in black and white, as black is a symbol of bad luck, and white is a traditional funeral colour.

Hung Hom Funeral Area

Hung Hom has a cluster of funeral parlors and also many shops where you can find what you need for a funerals; caskets, flowers, paper items for burning and other things. This casket shop has several styles to pick from.

This flower shop is pretty big and is what we consider more of a traditional shop with a door, windows, a nice slogan and guarantee..

Most flower shops are open front shops and usually have just a few styles of arrangements on display.

Paper Burning

Traditionally, Chinese mostly confine their burning to incense and paper money in honor of the deceased. Burning paper money - or other paper replicas of earthly possessions - is not new.







At funerals, people bring paper reproductions of jewelry, clothes, cameras, cars, cell phones and other assorted items, luxury or otherwise, to burn so that their loved ones will have all the creature comforts when they ascend to the afterlife.

Houses and boats seem to be a common thing to burn - and they are a light wood frame covered in colorful tissue papers. The interiors are decorated and fully furnished.







If your items are small you can bring them with you, otherwise you can have them delivered.

Mountain Pix from Plane

The picture above is of the Rocky Mountains from one of my flights over. Usually because of the time of the day or cloudy weather conditions I rarely get a chance to see anything from the plane window. In this flight I got a chance to snap a few pix of the Rockies between Denver and San Francisco.

This picture is interesting as how the edge of the mountains are in a perfect line.

Jet Lag

I love to travel and to fly but I hate the jet lag it causes.
Jet lag, or desynchronosis, is a temporary condition that some people experience following air travel across several time zones in a short period of time. This causes the traveler's internal clock to be out of sync with the external environment. People experiencing jet lag have a difficult time maintaining their internal, routine sleep-wake pattern in their new location, because external stimuli, like sunshine and local timetables, dictate a different pattern.

I have jet lag and it will take two full weeks to kick it completely. It is now the middle of the night and I am wide awake. I have found that rather than toss and turn I have a better chance to go back to sleep if I get up and do something for an hour or so. I would would start going back through my trip pix and add more posts about my trip to Hong Kong.

Long Travel Days

Today was very long day - the day that won't end. My flight from HK departed on time at 11:40 am and arrived in Chicago at 11:30 am the same day. With the flight being 14 hours and the 14 hour time difference my flight looked like it landed before it even took off. All together from hotel to my home the travel day was about 27 hours long

I made two new friends on the flight from HK to Chicago, Ali and his mother. Our flight arrived a few minutes early in Chicago but then because of bad weather and windy conditions many flights out of Chicago were delayed or cancelled. My next flight was delayed and Ali's was cancelled. I helped them get booked on a later flight.

Ali and his mom are Vietnamese and he spoke very little English and his mom even less so they appreciated the help. I know exactly how they feel as foreigners in a different country and not being able to speak the language.

Colorful Market

The dragonfruit is just one of the colorful and interesting things you can find at the local markets.

How about a pig knuckle?

...or a whole goose, or some sausages?

...or beautifully displayed vegetables.

Family BBQ

Last night I went out to Shueng Shui again for a family BBQ. Miranda was hosting the BBQ in honor of her long time friend, Ada. Ada's sister and her family was there in addition to Miranda's mom and dad.

We had d all kinds of meat for the BBQ - beef, pork, shrimp, lobster, hamburger, hot dogs - and even some smelly fish.



Ada's nephew became the chef and we made him a chef's hat from foil.

What would a BBQ be without sauce so I brought three different sauces from Kansas City - and after taste testing we all agreed that all were good and everything tasted great!

New Trend for Picture Taking

The new pose for the young kids now is to put two fingers by your head and lean over. This is instead of the standard peace sign or "V" for victory.

Homantin

Yesterday morning I walked to Homantin where there are many pet shops and vet clinics and stopped in at the Mega Pet Store on Peace Avenue. This shop has a boarding service and Teddy would stay there when I traveled away from HK.

When at the shop one of the workers let me hold one of these kittens but no pictures. So I quickly took this shot when he wasn't looking.

Here is an interesting service.

Wordings on Signs

All across Asia you will see some different wordings in English that aren't just right. There may be a word misspelled, words out of the common order or a words that mean the same thing exchanged. This one has me guessing.

Happy Birthday, Ada!

Today is Ada's birthday so last night Miranda hosted a birthday party for Ada and their families (I think I am considered family, too). Ada's Sister and her family were there along with Miranda's mom and dad.

Ada likes hamsters so she got many things with hamsters or mouse designs. With the CNY being the year of the mouse it was easy to shop for her. Here Ada and her niece are showing off some of her gifts.

Ada and her nephew were wearing party hats made from foil - only because the foil was convenient (nothing to do with Tom Cruise).

Picture Taking

People here love to take pictures of each other, especially in front of a nice background, ie harbour, cyn decorations, etc



I was waiting to meet friends and saw two gals taking pictures of each other in front of cny decorations. I offered to take a picture of the two of them together but they would rather each have a picture with me.

Harbourfront Decorations

The Clocktower area on the Kowloon side usually has a very large and colorful display for the CNY. The lanterns were not completely set up yet this afternoon, but I am sure by the weekend it will be ready and fully illuminated.






The entrance to Harbour City and the Ocean Terminal is always very elaborate.

Interesting pose.

Kung Hei Fat Choi

The Chinese New Year is often accompanied by loud, enthusiastic greetings, One of the most popular is "Kung Hei Fat Choi!"

In simplified Chinese: 恭喜发财, or traditional Chinese: 恭喜發財 it loosely translates to "Congratulations and be prosperous".

Love Hong Kong

Interesting find at the Market

I was at the Ladies Market and Fayun Market the other day and doing some "pre=shopping". I am looking for CNY decorations and found some things that I want. I will go again Saturday along with my friend Miranda, she is my negotiator and can barter with the merchants and "get me good cost saving".

When passing a shop with ladies clothes I noticed an interesting shirt on display.

Good try, but it is definitely a rip-off.

Hong Kong Harbour Reclamation

Over the years Hong Kong’s harbour is disappearing because of reclamation. By the early 1990s it had already shrunk to about 60 percent of its original 16,055 acres. The HK Convention Centre in Wanchai is built on reclaimed land, as is the the airport. Land reclamation for the airport added nearly 1% to the entirety of Hong Kong's surface area.

The new project near the Central Star Ferry births was originally planned to reclaim 32 hectares of land, but has been reduced to 18 due to public opposition. This elderly couple is looking in amazement as the harbour is shrinking, just like they are.

The area from the bottom of this picture to the narrow land strip border (just beyond the equipment) will be filled in to become part of the Star Ferry Complex and is projected to be completed by 2009.

Shanghai Style Reunion Dinner

Last night was a reunion dinner of many of the people I worked very closely with when I lived in HK. It was good to see "My Boys" (my former direct staff). The boys shown here are Wilson, Pat and Henry - two other boys, Dono and Sam were unable to attend this dinner but I will see them later in my trip.

Betty, Phoebe and Kiwi are other colleagues and good friends, too. Julie, our former director was unable to attend and we missed seeing her.





My dear friend Jamie arranged the dinner and has helped to make many of my travel arrangements. She was my administrative assistant and always has taken good care of me - even still!

Hazy Hong Kong Skies

Early yesterday morning I took a ferry to Heshan in China to visit one of our vendors and see production of a project I have been working on this past 18 months. Looking back at the HK skyline and the sunrise from the ferry you can see that this will be a typical gray day.

The skies in China turned out to be more clear than I expected. Actually this was the only time I have visited Heshan and have the sun shining. The temperature was very cold so it was good to have the sunshine.

The only good thing about the smog is it makes the sunsets more colorful.