Gung Hei Fat Choi! Miss Q is very curious about Chinese New Year this year. She learned a little bit about it in preschool, but quickly realized what she learned was the tip of the iceberg and has been peppering us with questions ever since.
We started last night with homemade Chinese food: sweet and sour chicken in the longest noodles we could find. Unfortunately the noodles proved too long and had to be cut to bits after Miss Q started gagging; but at least she’ll have a long life. For dessert we had oranges and, of course, fortune cookies. Apparently the colour red will figure prominently for me. (No, I’m not going to be immature and say: in bed. Sheesh.)
This morning found us adventuring to North America’s second oldest Chinatown. (First is San Francisco.)
Miss C slept in the Ergo while hand-in-hand, Miss Q, Miss S and I walked through the Gates of Harmonious Interest. While Miss C’s eyes were shut, Miss S and Miss Q’s were wide open, oohing and awing at every little detail. “Look, Chinese Dragons.” “Look, Chinese Lanterns.” “Look, Chinese Cats.”
I didn’t know whether to laugh at their labeling of objects or shrink into the brick buildings. Was it okay for them to call everything Chinese _____ ? They’re just objects, animals, in Canada on a Canadian street… but we were in Chinatown and some of them, save the live orange cat, were related to Chinese New Year. Ack… the internal debate had to be brief. We had only been outside for a minute, so I did what any suddenly overwhelmed with the situation, don’t want to be thought of as racist or ignorant mum would do, I redirected the excitement. “Let’s look for the Beckoning Cat.”
“What? Where’s the cat? What does it look like?” The questions swirled around me as we marched into the store I affectionately call: the store that doesn’t end, in Fan Tan Alley. (That’s right, I don’t know the exact name of one of my favourite stores, all I know is it’s full of knickknacks and it’s narrow aisle is one long aisle that twists and turns through small rooms till it spits you out.)
Beckoning Cats were everywhere, as were paper lanterns, fire crackers, and the colour red. “It’s so beautiful in here,” Miss Q exclaimed.
Miss S was just as enamoured, her blue eyes gigantic as she looked at all the glass animals. Thankfully, though she was attempting to exert her independence and walk without holding my hands (like her sister) she was doing a great job of not touching. Believe you me, this store is very tempting.
The girls patience was rewarded at the third store we poked though. There, the store store owner gave the girls a piece of candy and wished them Gung Hei Fat Choi. Miss Q sort of mumbled that back to her, and Miss S didn’t try. But both of them said, “Thank you,” as clear as bells.
Miss S stuffed the candy wrapped in shiny red wrapping into her pocket. The minute we got home, she wanted to eat it. This proved to be a tiny problem, as it was a hard candy and visions of choking danced in my head, especially after my first attempt to cut it sent it flying onto the carpet. Fortunately, whatever state the candy came to her was a-okay with Miss S and she happily crunched the pieces I chiseled off for her. (Maybe when they’re 20, I’ll allow them to have a hard candy, sucker or gum.)
Any good tour of Chinatown always includes food, and while my mouth watered at the glazed pigs and ducks hanging in the windows, Miss Q and Miss S were unimpressed. Miss Q said that ducks weren’t for eating, while I quacked at her. Miss S declared she wanted to go back to the car, because she was cold. So I took them to the bakery to sample some delicious honeybuns.
The woman in the store told us to come back in 10 minutes for them, so we wandered around the block. I found myself wondering what was new at Kiss and Tell, until I realized taking the littles in there might raise some eyebrows, so I opted for the next best thing: Bubble tea.
At the time I wasn’t 100% sure if Bubble Tea was a Chinese creation, but a quick Wiki search tonight has confirmed it originated in Taiwan in the 80’s so close.
I asked for five Tapioca balls in the bubble tea (as opposed to the cup of them you usually find in a glass). I wanted to give them the experience but (hopefully) avoid choking. Also I’m not fond of Tapioca.
I had nothing to fear, as both of them were able to drink the Tapioca bubbles with no problems, however, on their fifth sip, I realized they were drinking caffeine… so much worry on this carefree adventure!
Miss S loved Bubble Tea,while Miss Q was lukewarm. Fortunately both were won over with their honeybun… and who wouldn’t be, it had literally come straight from the oven.
When we got home we hung our garland and lantern, and found a special spot for our miniature Beckoning Cat. Though it wasn’t as beautiful in our house with all the decorations as Miss Q had imagined, it was festive.
Our outing satisfied some of Miss Q’s questions, but it also created new ones, like: who else is born in the Year of the ____ (insert animal here, depending on which family member Miss Q was asking about). In our family we have a Rat, Snake, Dog (because Chinese New Year fell after Miss Q’s birthday, otherwise she would have been a Pig), Ox and Rabbit. For some questions, there is the internet.
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