Majority of Filipinos have Chinese heritage. It's ingrained in our culture, food, and the society as a whole. A few years ago, we officially started recognizing the first day of the Lunar New Year as a Holiday.
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| Lion Dance for luck |
The Chinese Lunar New Year is celebrated either in January or February. This year of the Fire Rooster, January 28 was marked as the day of the celebrations.
Waterfront Hotel and Casino in Cebu City has been honoring this Holiday every year. They commemorate it during the eve. For this year, January 27 was filled with dragon dances, lion dances, Wushu performances, noodle-sharing and fireworks display. They never falter in ushering another year of prosperity, happiness, and health.
Cebu Waterfront never fail to impress their guests. I was lucky to be invited to this year's celebration. One thing that was a surprise for me was when they unveiled the biggest serving of pancit or chow mein noodles. It's a staple for Filipino and Chinese families especially when we observe milestones. It's a symbol of longevity.
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| Pancit noodles symbolizes long life |
Another type of food that is popular during the New Year is 'Tikoy' or Nian Gao which is made from glutinous rice and brown sugar. We were given a box each of this specially made rice cakes. Mine had purple yam or ube flavor.
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| Ube-flavored tikoy |
One more reason to celebrate is that Waterfront Cebu has promoted the first female Executive Chef, Linda Hou. Hailing from Shanghai, Chef Linda will be bringing her culinary expertise to the different gastronomic delights offered by the hotel.
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| Cafe Uno sweet desserts |
It was unfortunate that I wasn't able to watch the fireworks at the hotel since I had to leave for another engagement. But I got a glimpse of the extravagance from a far.
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| Round objects for Good Luck |
What a way to welcome the Year of the Fire Rooster. Kung Hei Fat Choi! Gong Xi Fa Chai!
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