The Ox Rocks.

Happy New Year!  Don't be fooled by the Ox that we got...



In celebration of Chinese New Year, I decided to make myself a delicious traditional Chinese meal:



Ah yeeees, Orange Chicken and Pot Stickers (that's pretty half-Asian in itself).  Please take note:

1. Enough food for the entire population of the Liaoning province.

2. The sweet blue glass goblet.  The metal dragon with red eyes on the front makes it holiday-appropriate.

3. The four sets of chopsticks constituting the lesser-known "Chinese Formal Table Setting."  Unlike in Western cultures (where you start with the outermost utensils and work your way in with each course), proper CFTS manners call for using one pair of chopsticks from the left side of the plate for each BITE.  The diner rotates through the different pairs systematically until the meal is finished.  The pair on the right side of the plate are only to be used in the event of an emergency (i.e., the diner manages to drop the other six chopsticks while eating; a pencil-break tournament breaks out; someone's hair needs putting up; or, there's nothing else worth stealing on the table).

4. The absence of red envelopes.  More than a billion Chinese relatives in the world and no love for this guy?

Anyhow - I hope you enjoy many a Chinese New Year (or Chinese Buffet) to come.

Zaijian!