Happy Chinese New Year!

Gong xi fa cai! Xin nian kuai le!

Hopefully everyone's feasts went well! Remember, no cleaning or showering or crying today ;)

I may have gone overboard for just MM and me.

Last night's dinner went pretty well, if I do say so myself, but wow was it exhausting to make. We had pork and shrimp wonton soup, seafood, tofu and veggies over cripsy noodles, baby bok choy with chinese mushrooms, turnip cake (lor bok gow) with chinese sausage, steamed ginger fish, and egg tarts (dan tat). MM loved the turnip cake, but for me the real winner of the show was the egg tarts.

From my mom's kitchen to my own!

What can I say? I have a huge sweet tooth.

It is the Year of the Rabbit, which is one of 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac. Now I had no idea until I linked that Wiki article, but apparently, in Vietnamese culture, it is the year of the Cat. This occurred because the Chinese word for rabbit sounds like the Vietnamese word for cat, and thus the rabbit, quite literally, got lost in translation!

My sister, who is a rabbit, would be so upset! (Source)

 My wonderful parents sent me a care package, containing 2 new year's cakes (nian gao), and 2 red packets (hong bao or lai see), one for MM and one for me! It's the first time that MM has ever gotten a red packet, which is generally given to younger relatives and contains either money or candy.

MM has really been great about accepting this foreign holiday with all its bizarre traditions. As he graciously offered to clean the bathroom yesterday in honor of Chinese New Year, I let him use my Swiffer WetJet to help clean the floor. A few seconds later, I hear from the bathroom:

MM: This is AWESOME!! *buzz from the WetJet*

Haha, so he gets a red packet AND he discovered the joys of cleaning. I think it's been a good holiday!

Happy Chinese New Year's Eve!

'Tis the day to clean your homes, and prepare your feasts!

Because MM has just come off an overnight shift, we will be playing the night pretty low key. For dinner I will be trying my hand at a couple Chinese dishes, of course, most with symbolic meanings.

Among them:
Noodles (for longevity)
Fish (for wealth/abundance)
Dumplings (for wealth)
Turnip cake (because I love it)
Egg tarts (just because)

Luckily, I did most of the cleaning earlier this week, because this dinner sounds like it will take a while.

Hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful Chinese New Year's Eve! Tomorrow it will be the Year of the Rabbit (my sister's year)!

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Chinese superstitions

So yesterday I posted about eyebrow threading. This would mortify my father. Not only because I am sharing with the whole interwebs my *ahem* very personal [/sarcasm] grooming habits, but because he hates the idea of plucking eyebrows. He, in fact, was so adamant about my younger sisters and I NOT tweezing, that he said it was bad luck in Chinese culture to remove your facial hair.

Pssshht, yeah. This was the general response from me and my sisters, and I'm pretty sure all three of us employ some sort of hair removal technique on a routine basis at this point. But it did get me thinking about the other crazy superstitions held by Chinese people, my parents included. Let's start by the ideas that my parents, particularly my dad, have drilled into my sisters and me throughout our lives.

Things my dad says will bring you bad luck in Chinese culture:

1. The number 4: In most (if not all) Chinese dialects, the word for "4" sounds remarkably like the word for "death". So naturally 4 = DEATH. Makes sense, huh?
2. Sweeping the house on Chinese New Year (CNY) Day:  Because you will "sweep" away all the good luck. (my thought was always: "But won't it sweep out the bad luck too?")
3. Washing your hair on CNY Day: Again, because you will "wash" away all the good luck. So stay away from all Chinese people on Chinese New Year. They be smelly.
4. Having unpaid debts on CNY: If you have debt on Day 1, you will likely have debt the rest of the year. This has actually motivated me to pay off all my credit cards by Chinese New Year every year. I wonder if $200,000 in student loans count...
5. Crying on CNY: Because if you cry on Day 1, you will likely cry the rest of the year. This is the one day all the parents are supposed to put up with their bratty kids, and not spank or punish them. Lucky kids.
6. Talk about deceased people after dark: Because it will disturb their spirits. Or bring ghosts. Or both. I can't remember.
7. Getting a clock for your birthday: Because the word for clock in Chinese also sounds like the word for death. (A lot of words sound like death, apparently.) So clock = death. But only on your birthday. I assume other days are okay.

Man, that's a lot of stuff. Alternatively, there are ways to change your luck if you've committed any of the above atrocities. Observe:

Things my dad says will bring you good luck in Chinese culture:

1. The number 8: The Chinese word for 8 sounds like the Chinese word for prosperity. So 8 = prosperity. Savvy?
2. Long noodles on your birthday: The longer the noodle, the better, because the length of the noodle represents the length of your life. Long noodle=long life. So no penne or farfalle on your bday, mmmkay? (This may be the day to go visit the noodle shops in China that make a whole bowl of noodles from one continuous noodle.)

Hmmm, that's all I can remember for now. Lots more stuff can bring you down, I guess.

Here are some other superstitions that I found around the web:
-A house facing North will bring bad luck to the family living there (sucks for 1/4 of the building)
-Clipping toe or finger nails at night will bring ghosts (and may result in uneven nails)
-It one keeps a turtle as a pet, it will ruin his business
-If a dog howls for a few hours in late night, it means someone died somewhere
[Source]

So what have we taken away from this? Eight is good, four is bad, Chinese people smell on New Year's, no turtles, always face South, and someone is always dying somewhere (HEY, it's TRUE!!!).
Funnily enough, nothing about eyebrows. Hear that dad? We can tweeze all we want!!

Are there any strange Chinese superstitions I missed? Any weird beliefs in your family/culture?

Asians in the mainstream

Growing up, there were not a whole lot of Asians on tv or in magazines. We had Lucy Liu, and that was about it.

I still love you, Lucy (source)

There was no one to emulate for hairstyles, for makeup...it's no wonder I spent the better part of my childhood wishing I were blond. (I actually realized this childhood wish sometime in college...but that's another story.)

Recently, however, there has been a genesis of eastern features into the limelight, especially on the modeling front. I first noticed it in my daily Victoria's Secret catalog (for some reason, they think that if they send me not one, but TWO catalogs in the mail everyday that I will be more inclined to buy fancy underwear) with Jarah Mariano.

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I did a double take when I saw this East Asian model trying to sell me underwear. Granted, she's only part Asian, mixed with other ethnicities more known for churning out models, like French, Italian, etc. But it's a start!

Then there was the introduction of several Chinese, Korean and Japanese models in the December 2010 edition of the famed fashion epitome, Vogue. (Sidenote: the one with Angelina Jolie on the cover--doesn't she look fab??) In their spread "Asia Major", Vogue exposes the newfound interest in exotic looking beauties from the east.

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Despite the controversy this article spurred regarding what was perceived as a callous lumping together of all East Asian models, I think it's fantastic that such different features are finally being accepted on a mainstream platform. Click here to read the Vogue article.

The newest addition to this influx of Asians is the new face of Louis Vuitton's 2011 menswear ad campaign, Godfrey Gao.

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Unlike the female models in the Vogue spread, Gao's Asian features are not played up as much, and upon cursory glance, he appears as well groomed and metrosexual as any other man with a Louis Vuitton manbag ("It's a European carry-all!!!").

While I am definitely not attracted to Asian men (they remind me of my dad--that may be TMI), I think Gao looks great and fits in perfectly with mainstream models. To me, it's less about him being Asian, and more about him having that typical plastic, hollowed out model stare. (Blue steel?)

What do you think of Gao and this new Asian assault on mainstream media?
[Inspiration article]