It’s Chinese New Year!

There will be sound of lion dances and firecrackers. We haven’t been home for Chinese New Year in four years, but this year we’ll be there. Three days late for the family dinner on the eve, but we’ll be there. Yay!

Whenever I think of Chinese New Year, I think of the food.

Okay, so I think of food anyway but Chinese New Year food is extra special…and naughty, especially the snacks serve to welcome friends and relatives to your home during the festivities. Freshly deep fried prawn crackers, juicy slices of ‘nyuk kon’ (dried barbecued pork) and arrowroot chips. Gosh, this is what I will be thinking about throughout the 13-hour flight to Malaysia.

It was food I was discouraged from eating at any other time except during the lunar New Year. My mum believes in balanced meals and healthy eating. Too salty, too ‘heaty’, too artificial or processed were the usual reasons…or maybe just in my home.

My sister and I would sneak slices of ‘nyuk kon’ into our shared bedroom when mum wasn’t looking. We were careful to never leave a crumb or take too much that what’s left in the containers would look too suspicious. Somehow though, mum always knew. Really makes me laugh when I think about it.

So much has changed since we were children, but Chinese New Year this year will bring the most change in my life.

For starters, I’m going home as a married woman. It means I’ll be the one dishing out the ‘fung pau’ (red packets containing a little gift of money – I kid you not) instead of receiving them.

During the lunar festival, married couples offer red packets to children or unmarried young adults (usually within their families and close friends) as a sign of good luck or blessing. As you receive the red packet, the tradition is to wish whomever it is giving you the red packet a happy new year, longevity, prosperity and health.

Legally I’ve been an adult for a good number of years but suddenly, I’ve been promoted to join the married class of ‘fung pau’ givers. There is something about the event that seems so serious. Although knowing my relatives there will be many laughs and jokes about how my days of receiving free money are long gone. And that the only way to regain them, is to have a child by the next lunar year.

Ah…the unavoidable ‘baby-talk’. I greatly appreciate the genuine concern, so I really hate to break the news to some very encouraging people. Despite this being the much anticipated Year of the Water Dragon, any amount of family planning and timing will still result in a human baby. So there you go...

The change I am most excited about is a complete redirection in my working life. Well currently non-working life but before you pass judgement, I have a plan. For a café and the past three weeks have been an another amazing time of conducting research on new locations, property prices, market trends and of course, studying the cafés I love and frequent. I have also been baking my friend Soph (top chef and top baker she is) as both of us have been badly bitten by the baking bug. I’m so glad to have her company as we sign on to more baking classes.

Thanks to Dave, author of I Want To Bake Free and the work he has already put in to starting his tea room (check out his progress on opening a Tea Room in Cardiff), I have also been working on my business plan. Business plans full steam ahead throughout Year 2012!

I can’t really put into words how every step that leads me closer to my café dreams make me feel. Even the word ‘alive’ seems lacking somehow. I think back to when I first entered the insurance industry and realised that maybe, just maybe I could make a difference in this world. And that realisation gave life and drive to a career that led me to the UK.

Charleston and I spoke at length about starting our own business and I remember it clearly. The day we decided, I felt peace in my heart and saw rainbows in the sky. Perhaps it was all in my head, but that feeling was undeniable. It felt good.

It’s going to be truly trying; at times there will be ‘why-did-I-give-up-a-good-paying-job-for-this-crazy-idea’ moments with hair-pulling and head-shaking. But we have a two year plan and a lot of determination to see it through. And in the end, when our first customers open the door to our café and we see their smile, it will all be worth it.

So since I’m feeling all positive and happy today, I am going to be one of those insistent encouraging people and say, “Go on and achieve all your dreams this year!”

Oh, and if you have let slipped that New Year’s resolution just claim that you’ve got some Chinese ancestor and start over today.

Happy Chinese New Year!