Celebrating the year of the rat

The New Year is perhaps the most elaborate, colorful and important of all the traditional Chinese festivals. It is a time for celebration with family and friends, a time to bid farewell to the old and to welcome in the New Year.

Full of creative and innovative ideas, the city’s popular hotels and resorts each showcased and performed time-honored Chinese rituals and customs to usher in the lunar New Year. All   were delightfully fabulous.

The landmark building at Nivel Hills that is now home to Marco Polo Plaza Hotel opened the festivities with a series of activities, best of which was the ritual of tossing the fish salad called Yee Sang believed by many to bring prosperity and good luck. It was participated in by guests of honor, Cebu Provincial Governor Gwen Garcia, Cebu First Lady Margot Osmeña,  People’s Republic of China Consul General and Mrs. He Shijing,  Department of Tourism Undersecretary Phineas Alburo, Regional Director Dawnie Roa,   businessman and hotelier Winglip Chang, civic leader Melanie Ng and culinary specialist Jessica Avila and  the driven and likable  General Manager Hans Hauri.

On a different note,  the massive  lobby of the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel was packed to capacity as guests eagerly awaited the lion-eye dotting ceremony which was done  by the property’s much admired General Manager Marco Protacio and Cebu First lady Margot Osmeña.

An outstanding performance by the Plum Blossom Choy Li Fut Foundation Dance Group and an impressive tai-chi and wushu demonstration by the Wushu Federation of the Philippines shortly followed after which invitees proceeded to Café Uno to savor an infinite variety of dishes cooked to perfection by Executive  Chef Joerg assisted by sous chef Eko.The evening culminated with a fantastic 20-minute fireworks extravaganza that brightly illuminated the otherwise dark sky.

For the Year of the Rat, Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa invited Marites Allen, a certified feng shui consultant to give a short talk at the Tea of Spring Restaurant on the art and science of Feng Shui and what the Lunar Year 2008 has in store regarding career, money, health and love.

Prior to the much anticipated  lecture, invitees partook of the tossing of the  Yee Sang salad carefully prepared  by Executive Chinese Chef Kenny Yong .This ritual is a recently invented ceremony that is popular among businessmen and said to have originated from the Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore.

Like a majority of people curious and even perhaps eager to know what is in store for the year, I too gathered some insights on what to expect in this Year of the Rat.

The Year of the Rat is expected to be a year of plenty, bringing wonderful opportunities and good prospects. Business will be on the upswing and fortunes can be made. It will also be a year filled with love, fun, and peace.