January 26, 2009

Congratulations and be prosperous!

Kung Hei Fat Choi! Metro Manila has a very large Chinese population and though it's not a legal holiday, the Chinese Lunar New Year is celebrated in many parts of the metro. The newspaper we subscribe to has a special section about it today and many of the ads—especially those for restaurants, malls, banks and airlines—follow the theme. This is also the time when we receive tikoy (nian gao) from our Chinese friends. Tikoy is a sweet, glutinous rice cake which is ready to eat out of the box but which we usually slice, dip in egg, and pan fry. It's usually white or brown depending on the kind of sugar used to make it, and in recent years, flavored varieties like ube (purple yam) and pandan have become popular. Tikoy is the most common Chinese New Year treat among Filipinos and it is considered good luck to eat it because nian gao is a homonym for "every year higher and higher."

tikoy and Chinese New Year-themed newspaper ads

Angela in Nice, who also keeps a Valbonne daily photo blog, tagged me yesterday to reveal five details about myself (as if I don't do that every time I write comments! heehee) so here goes:
  1. I've been a bookworm every since I can remember. My stack of books waiting to be read will keep me occupied for at least five years—and it keeps growing every time we visit bookstores.
  2. I usually get motion sickness in enclosed vehicles. I need to feel the wind on my face.
  3. I'm 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 meters) tall.
  4. If I have to choose between chocolate and potato chips, I'll choose potato chips.
  5. I'm an Aries and was born in the Chinese Year of the Fire Horse. (Do you know your astrological signs?)

Now I'm supposed to tag five other people. I hope they'll come out and play!
  1. Elaine in Willits, California, USA
  2. Saretta in Molfetta, Italy
  3. Marley in Cheltenham, UK
  4. Priyanka in Delhi, India
  5. Nobu in Tokyo and Funabashi, Japan

25 comments:

Eki said...

It sounds and looks similar to what we have here (especially that nian gao rice cake). It's a national holiday in Indonesia ... Posting the festival today.

Oh, and thanks for the reminder about the Feb CDPB theme, Hilda.

Olivier said...

c'est la fête, des superbes défilés et des couleurs partout. Le Chinatown parisien va être en folie
it is the feast of great parades and color everywhere. The Parisian Chinatown will be madness

Saretta said...

Glutinous rice cake, yum! No, seriously, I used to eat it in Japan! I miss Japanese food...

Of course I'll come out and play...thanks for inviting me! :-)

Halcyon said...

Happy New Year! That cake looks good!

Julie ScottsdaleDailyPhoto.com said...

Happy Lunar New Year! I was glad to see your photograph today. I also did a Lunar New Year's post. I was hoping more people would remember and do something special. Thanks and I enjoy your photographs and all of your comments to others. My husband has been doing the Costa Rica Daily Photo site and he has enjoyed your comments this past year. You guys have motivated me to start my own website, Scottsdale Daily Photo. I will see if I can keep up with all of you.

nobu said...

Thanks Hilda,I will come out tomorrow.

George said...

Happy New Year! I was in China during one lunar new year and it was quite a celebration.

penny said...

I enjoyed learning about the Chinese Lunar New Year, thank you!and now you have made me hungry:D...and I am an Aries too ;)

Ursel said...

Gung Hei Fat Choy! The picture is great.Looking forward to the new year of the Ox. Thanks for posting.
(Thanks for your comment at my blog. There are skyscraper in downtown but not too many and not extensively high either.)

Anonymous said...

I would choose chocolate potato chips. Popular here and people pay a premium price for them.

Anonymous said...

I'm totally with you on #1! Funnily enough I did a similar meme on my blog today.

Happy New Year!

pocketcultures said...

Congratulations to you! And all the best for year of the Ox. Will you show us the food tomorrow?

Ken Mac said...

potato chips and too many books...excellent!

lunarossa said...

I think I would eat tikoy straight out of the box. I've got such a bad sweet tooth and I couldn't resist it! Hilda, I have to confess you that every time I look at the temperature in manila I feel so envious! It's barely 3 degrees here in the UK and we can consider ourselves very lucky! Do you think there is a market for Italian translators in Manila? I can speak German and Spanish as well!!!! Ciao. Antonella

Joe Narvaez said...

Kung hei fat choi Hilda!!! Sarap tikoy!

gogouci said...

I tasted ube rice for the first time a few days ago at a Vietnamese festival and loved it. At first, I wasn't sure what to expect, I had never eaten anything that color before.

Anonymous said...

I used to be a bookworm too, until I got a laptop with wireless access.

Copenhagen said...

Happy New Year! I miss the fun I had in Taiwan when I was a child.

escape said...

kung hei fat choy! i slept that early during the eve of the chinese new year.

nino said...

Thanks for the tikoy!

angela said...

Thanks for playing, Hilda. We definitely share number 1. I love books and reading.
Gorgeous photo..

Christina S said...

Happy Chinese New Year!

I'm a fire horse too, but a Cancerian one.

Tamera said...

Wow you're tall! :o)

 gmirage said...

Tikoy! I love those, because of my love for it, my 2nd year hs teacher gave me one as a gift during graduation! :D

 gmirage said...

Oh, 5'9"??? Wow!!!