Gong Xi Fa Cai! A couple weeks ago, I got an email from my friend Zi Hua from Prima Taste in Sngapore inviting me to a lunar new year’s celebration. It sounded great, but Singapore is so far away and such short notice. I quickly realized I was being invited to a Singaporean event very near where I live! The Seattle Singaporeans Meetup Group holds an annual lunar new year celebration at a restaurant called China Harbor on Westlake down in Seattle. I happily accepted the invitation and yesterday got to attend!
I got to sit at the dragon table! If anyone is wondering, I’m a rabbit – maybe that’s why I was lucky to be at this table! The event organizers sat here.
One of the first things we got to do was have Lo Hei Yusheng. What happens is a big plate comes out with some raw fish (usually salmon) and some thin sliced vegetables. Then, different spices, sauces and such are added, signifying different things like health, wealth and prosperity. Once everything is added, everyone at the table stands and with chopsticks, tosses the whole thing like a salad and says different positive things like prosperity and happiness. Then we got to eat it! I wish I would have gotten more video of this, but I was taking part.
Here’s what is looked like at the end. It was really good!
During the event, I was asked to come up and say a few words about The Ramen Rater – I must admit I haven’t done a lot of public speaking and was pretty nervous! It was fun though and I was really honored by the gifts from Prima Taste who sponsored the event and the letter that was read.
Next, we enjoyed a multi course meal – Honey Walnut Prawns, Crispy Roast Chicken, Curry Vegetables, Black Pepper Beef, Mixed Vegetables, House Crispy Noodles and Black Glutinous Rice for dessert. Everything was very delicious.
At the end, the Lion Dancers came and put on a great show! Turns out the leader of the group was in a Jackie Chan film called Who Am I – pretty cool! He explained how busy they were – running from one lunar new year event to another putting on the show.
When I got home, I opened the gift from Prima Taste – a very nice Risis pen and card holder with a Merlion (a special symbol of Singapore which is a fusion of mermaid and lion) and an inscription to me. I didn’t expect this and was very honored to be sure. They also gave me a couple cartons of their Curry and Laksa LaMian! They’re #2 and #3 on my top ten list.
I’d like to thank Eric Sim and Chan Zi Hua of Prima Taste, Ai Lin and Clement of the Seattle Singaporeans Meetup Group and Jim & Lucy who brought me to the event! Thank you all for your kindness and I was truly honored to know you and to have been able to attend this auspicious occasion!
If you’d like to learn more about the Seattle Singaporeans Meetup Group, you can find them here. You can find out more about Prima Taste here. You can find out about the China Harbor restaurant here. Gong Xi Fa Cai to all!
