By Jullie Y. Daza It was meant to be. A fusion of feng shui meets the Philippines’ newest, tallest, five-star-est hotel, for fireworks and fabulous festivities to welcome good fortune in the year of man’s best friend. Feng shui expert Princesse Fernandez was all set to host the Lunar New Year’s Eve revelry at a hotel in Makati when it turned out that its chefs would not be comfortable producing a full, and fullblown, 100 percent Chinese menu. As Princesse noted, “How can we welcome a new year without an abundance of the classic prosperity dishes to be shared by friends and family?” As a matter of culinary fact, the hotel would need to borrow chopsticks, rice bowls, and other Chinese-style tableware from another hotel with a fullblown restaurant! Changing horses–or dogs–in mid-stream would entail too much logistical overhauling, and time was running out. To book a ballroom or function room with tables and chairs for 300 guests so late in the day, with only three weeks to go, was a near-impossibility in a season of Chinese celebrations. Or so thought Princesse’s staff at Yin and Yang Shop of Harmony. Princesse and her No. 1 cheerleader, her mother Baby, was about to give up, when along came an old friend. Henrietta Go, a Hyatt alumna and loyalist for over 35 years –she was marketing head  for several Hyatt hotels in New York, Bali, Shanghai, etc.—showed up with an invitation for Princesse to deliver a talk on feng shui as part of a fund-raising dinner for her golden-jubilee class of ICA (Immaculate Conception Academy). You can guess what happened next. The feng shui thing led to a stream of ideas and before they realized what was occurring under their noses, Henrietta had broached a plan to the Grand Hyatt hotel’s general manager, Gottfried Bogensperger, who without hesitation and being an old Asia hand who’s married to a Shanghainese, approved the deal, and it was done: Chinese New Year’s Eve at the Grand Ballroom of the Grand Hyatt in Bonifacio Global City, on the night of Feb. 15. Kung Hei Fat Choi! The Year of the Earth Dog, by Princesse’s reading, means “a turning of the tide,” where the energies of fire and wood last year will now shift to water and metal. It will be a good year for those who were born in summer, “but they will need water,” just not too much. The Earth Dog signals a time of “emotion and meditation, contemplation, going back to the basics and to our roots,” therefore the industries that are well aspected are those oriented around wellness, the home, insurance, and agriculture. “It’s an emotional year,” she added, “we will be in a reflective, self-evaluating mood as we look inward and to our families and core group for help and support.” For example, she said , “climbing a mountain will be easier if we do it with friends.” (More feng shui and Lunar New Year celebration tips in the Feb. 13 issue of Manila Bulletin, our special Chinese New Year Supplement.)