Gung Hai Fat Choy!!

Happy Year of the Snake to all!!!  We are in the throws of Chinese New Year celebrations here in Vancouver.

We didn’t have snake for breakfast this morning, but we had a nice cooked Sunday breakfast of scrambled egg and white, Little Big Bread, bacon (I had half a slice), sliced orange and an almond milk latte.  I have an appropriate Chinese dragon mascot for the day.  (I bought him at the Night Market last summer and have been hanging on to him in the mascot box for New Year)

Dennis and I ventured down to Chinatown to take in some of the ambiance, though the big parade isn’t until next weekend.  I took a BOATLOAD of photos, and instead of boring you with them one by one, I’ve cullted them and clustered a few into collages.  Thank you Picassa.

This is the Millennium Gate (though it has been in this location since 1986) and shots in and around the area.

The Sun Yat Sen Garden

There was incense burning throughout the garden.  I thought this one looked like a smokin’ snake.  How appropriate for the day.

Dennis found a tiny narrow pathway between buildings that we’d never seen before.

I took a photo of a poster showcasing a Chinese Ballet troupe coming to Vancouver soon.

In the International Village, there were tea tastings…

…little plastic lanterns that were on sale for $0.50.  We bought two and found out WHY they were on clearance.  They didn’t actually light up.  Oh well, we loved them anyway.

…tons of decorations in merchant windows…..

…dancers….

…clothing of all kinds, sizes and colors….

…mascots….

… and calligraphy demonstrations….

We had a great time.  Gung Hai Fat Choy!

On the way home, we stopped by Helen’s house for a visit.  Her spring blooms are starting to peek through.  They are early this year, so hopefully we don’t have a bad frost again.

When we got home, I had a few crunchmaster crackers and 2 tbsp hummus.

I read that steamed dumplings are a traditional food eaten on New Year in China, so I grabbed a few with chicken and vegetable filling when I was shopping yesterday, steamed them, and we’re ASSURED good luck for the year!  5 little appetizer dumplings are 4 points, and we dipped them in ponzu sauce.

And dinner was a chicken breast with yellow curry sauce (yellow curry paste and light coconut milk) baked with red pepper and green beans and served on 1/2 cup brown rice.

We have a statutory holiday here tomorrow, so I have an extra long weekend.   I hope all of YOU had a great weekend, and may luck, happiness and prosperity fill your years too!