A Weekend of Celebrations🥂🥂🥂

The reason for the celebration? Chinese New Year!

Here is what I read online: Chinese New Year is the BIGGEST holiday in China. Chinese people have 7 days off, and some may have 15 days off.

Amazing, isn't it?

I have been in Canada since 1997. I don't remember that I ever even took any day off during the Chinese New Year.

We are lucky this year because New Year's eve fell on a Saturday.

There is no excuse NOT to celebrate, so I did it, for the whole weekend and more.

It started with dinner with friends on Friday evening. There were six of us.

Walking to Chinatown with dancing snow softly landing on my shoulder felt like magic. And I made the 40 minutes walk more pleasant with my lovely companion: French and music.

It was DimSum on Saturday. There were also six of us. A whole different crowd, except ME.

The good time is the same and the food is more commendable because of the variety. For dinner, we ordered only six dishes. For DimSum, we tasted at least 15 to 20 different types of food and it only cost two dollars more compared to the dinner each of us had to pay.

Incredible, isn't it?

Maybe that is why I am heading back on Thursday again for lunch with a bunch of colleagues: Asian public servants who work for the government. I am a very proud ONE, both as an Asian and a public servant.

There were many activities organized by the Chinese community. After a stroll at Old Montreal, we came back and watched some street performances.

Homemade dumpling on New Year's eve was the highlight for Saturday. It might have been the first time I have had dumpling ON New Year's eve since I moved to Canada. Thank YOU so much Linda for welcoming us to your home: a place that makes me feel like a home away from home.

A ride home offered by the host after a cozy dinner with a few friends brought more warmth to my heart 💖💖💖

I was invited on Saturday evening for another party on Sunday and I accepted it without hesitation.

It was a day of fun and it lasted for more than five hours. There were almost 50 people.

I tasted so much homemade gourmet food. I even made some green onion pancakes at home myself.

There were some professional performances. Some talents are really impressive.

I reconnected with a few people and I made a few new friends 👍👍👍

I got my first ever red pocket. Ok, everyone got one. Thanks to the generosity of the organizers 💌💌💌

Not everyone got a fat gift card, I am lucky to be one of the few winners 🍀🍀🍀

In one sentence: The BEST Chinese New Year celebration weekend ever!