Kung Hei Fat Choy - Happy Chinese New Year!

Our Chinese brothers are celebrating the most anticipated and important event in their colorful tradition. Today is the celebration of the Spring Festival or the Chinese New Year. This year's celebration has become more special since it was declared as a non-working holiday by the Philippine government for the first time.

Filipino-Chinese and even Filipinos prepare for this feast by making sure that their houses are in order. Many people flock to Binondo or other China towns to buy lucky charms and the popular "tikoy" or the sticky rice pudding. The belief is that giving tikoy to family and friends will bring good luck and the stickiness of this food will bind the family together. There are also firecrackers at night to drive away evil spirits.

What's more, there are dragon and lion dance performances where there are Chinese communities. What I didn't fail to notice is that the traffic is a lot lighter today.

Well, I can only hope that this New Year will bring us more joy and blessings from God.

Kung Hei Fat Choy!