" to buy or not to buy "

vendors selling these outside the street,
a variety of pots and pans and even dog pans.
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" Salisi "

you must be wondering what on earth this means?!

still in downtown,
someone I think, out of concern wrote this and posted it,
warning people of potential pickpockets and thieves.
sadly, we have lots of them here and their full of tactics.



to explain the word further,
* click this link below. ^0^
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" What happened during CNY "

PART III

uh oh, I think by now, you're getting tired of CNY posts.
I assure you this is the last piece of it. ^0^
While I wasn't able to attend our dinner reunion last week,
blame it on the terrible traffic and no available valet service from a 5star hotel
and literally no parking space. tsk, tsk.

Thankfully, Pepperoni did all the shooting for me. ^-^
If the last two days were about the streets,
today, let's head inside Manila Hotel's CNY version.

a feisty dragon welcomes you as you enter the main lobby,





the twelve animal signs, there's me! year of the monkey.
okay, pls. don't count the age... ^0^



cocktails...


Hours before the event, the stage was still empty


quintessentially Manila, the resto's name: Mabuhay..


a Gaijin who was also dining that night,



its interior, very elegant and chic.


brace yourself for the Lion and Dragon dance...









before heading to the dishes,
a very nice centerpiece on our table.



I will not describe each dish, let the pictures do the talking... ^0^














and hours later, the lobby looks like this...






I don't mind people wearing masks or in mascot outfits,
but this guy in his dragon ensemble?!


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" What happened during CNY "

Part II

now everything's in vertical mode.

lucky charms displayed.


local vendor selling Everlasting flowers.


more gilded charms...








busy street...


fruits that bring luck...

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" What happened during CNY "

Hi Guys! back to Manila again.
I haven't been out and about lately, in fact, I still have lots of fotos from last year.
But last week, I made sure that I have to visit Chinatown and see what's happening.



Here are some of the random shots.











chinese wines for sale also.



It was clearly livelier and more festive than last year,
I was surprised to see hordes of people, even tourists wandering about,









some of the locals even brought their cameras with them,
which is something you don't see everyday.
I think, pinoys are beginning to accept it as part of their special day as well and
they are more curious than ever unlike before, it's usually a snob.
In fact, there are more vendors selling this and that,
to the point of occupying the streets of the pedestrians.








The most was either these "lucky charms" or "properity fruits" that bring good luck.
Pinoys tend to be superstitious. ^0^

and in fact, it was only this year that CNY was officially declared as a special holiday. ^0^
a smile for me as I get an extra day off again! ^-^





chinese caps, gilded trinkets, the laughing buddha, even angry birds! ^0^





Although, I don't really follow these traditions like we used to,
I missed those times when we only have a simple get together dinner at my grandma's house
with cousins and relatives, eat noodles,lumpia and more, and then, exchange red packets and
celebrate it till midnight.
Nowadays, it gets a bit boisterous and flamboyant,
non-stop lion/dragon performances here and there and lots of fireworks
and of course,
the famous sticky rice cake (Tikoy) fever. ^0^

and lots of balloons this year,
can't help taking fotos of them.
I can be a kid sometimes. ^0^
I like the smurfs though, cute right?!
100 pesos each, more or less 2$. ^0^







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