Hello!

There is this group of Colombian girls with whom I get together one day of the month to play Pokeno.

Pokeno it’s like Bingo but with cards, it’s really fun! Everybody brings a gift, we usually set a “specific gift”, like this time was “make up”. But on top of that, if there is something special in the calendar then we do something associated to it. This time we all dressed up with a Chinese dress or shirt to celebrate (in advanced) Chinese New Year.

My friend Ximena (who she is from Colombia, and I met through my friend from Venezuela) and I went to Avenue K (Mall in Ampang, at the other side of KLCC Suria) and there were these smalls shops with many different dresses and shirts, hats, umbrellas, and all kind of accessories for Chinese New Year. I tried on a dress, and after feeling I was suffocating and sweat like crazy in a tiny dressing room, I decided to go for a typical red/gold shirt. — Easier to put on than the dress, and also the textile of the dress was all shiny and tight, and not exactly what I would wear…besides the dress was like 4XL and still I felt too tight for my own taste! Jajaja.. So, I got the shirt and Ximena did get a dress (it looked really good on her). After that, we got some pizzas and went to her place to chat chat about this holiday season, my time in Houston with the family, her parents time in KL, and so on.

So, on Tuesday Jan 17th: Pokeno Night!! We went to Mount Kiara, which is where most expat families with kids live (or at least that’s my perception). Chinese New Year decoration was beautiful at my friend’s place, all red and gold: red napkins, red tablecloth , chop sticks, a paper-made dragon (super cute!), and a little Rooster (because this year is the year of the Rooster, the 10th in the Chinese zodiac) next to the buffet, it was super nice!! But the most beautiful was to see all of us (we were 14 in this Pokeno Night) wearing a Chinese dress/shirt, and there were so colorful!

Let me tell you a little bit of Chinese New Year: It is the first day of the Chinese Lunar Calendar. It was set to coincide with the slack time just before a new year of farm work begins, as a time of preparation (this made sense when most population was rural…now it’s more urban with more than 55% of the population living in the city). The date is different each year on the Gregorian calendar, but always falls between January 21th and February 20th. This year it will fall on January 28th (next Saturday) and of course I will have some days off (Friday and Monday to be more precise! jajaja).

We put together the “Prosperity Salad”, which is a mix of vegetables, a variety of sauces and condiments and usually have strips of raw fish (we didn’t put any raw fish, just the vegetables and a bunch of condiments!). The name is given to this salad is “Yusheng”, which literally means “raw fish”, but its Chinese symbol means an increase of abundance (This explanation is a little vague, but I just wanted to give you an insight of the meaning, bear with me plz! Jajaja). So, yusheng is considered a symbol of abundance, prosperity and vigor.

We mixed it all, and we all made wishes for the New Year, hoping that it is full of happiness, health and love!.

Note: Look for the predictions in the Rooster Year for your Chinese Zodiac Sign! Here you can check it out: Chinese Horoscope

You all have a Fabulous day and an incredible year of the Rooster!