Hola amigos, amicas or ni hao xiao peng yu. Spanish is as far away as I can get from being Chinese, culturally speaking that is. Yet ironical as it may seem, we got off the plane in Barcelona, into a bus and before we knew it, we were in the city centre in the midst of shops sprouting Chinese names such as Du Hua, Tian Tian, Xing Xing and it was a total surprise. Where have all the Chinese gone? I was tempted to sing a la the old Marlene Dietrich. Barcelona, of course, where else? So many Chinese but no yum cha. So off we went for the tapas instead. Continue reading “Tapas, Yum Cha, Siestas and Senoritas…”
What Animal are you in Bed?
Sometimes when there is a lull in a conversation and I am bored sitting for hours at a Chinese banquet of endless courses, I like to ask the person sitting next to me: “What animal are you?”. I get a repertoire of stock responses : Huh?? *#* What do you mean? Animals as in Noah’s ark? Animals in the zoo? Two legged kind? I have come to expect these responses even before the person opens his mouth so recently I got a laugh when I asked a man the same question at a Chinese New Year dinner. He replied: “Where? In bed?”. Continue reading “What Animal are you in Bed?”
Hong Boa’s, Money And Love The Chinese Way
I have my two nephews, Paul from Canada and Ian from London with me in Melbourne. Paul and his wife Jacqui have two sons aged 4 and 6. My grandnephews are delightful and the best hong bao I can ever have. Hong bao’s are money placed in small red envelopes that we give to children and other youngsters on Chinese New Year day. However, when we are old, the young ones can give us hong bao’s instead. A sort of reciprocity. When they are young, we give them presents and when we are old, they give back to us. Continue reading “Hong Boa’s, Money And Love The Chinese Way”