MEDIUM RARE
TV news was mostly — and cheerfully — centered on celebrating the entry of the Year of the Serpent last Wednesday the 29th. Just as well, for it was a dry news day — a legal holiday — smack in the middle of the week.
Who’s complaining? The air was festive enough in Chinatown, Manila, all the way to Banawe, Quezon City, Metro Manila’s second Chinatown. But in Makati, where Chinatown is felt no more than one day of the 365 of the year on a small corner known as Yin and Yang Shop of Harmony, CNY (Chinese New Year) was a big deal with a big presence.
Bravely flourishing beside a koi pond at the rear of New World Hotel, the shop is the cradle of feng shui-based CNY celebrations — how much more Chinese can you get? Chinoys, Pinoys, plus a sprinkling of other nationalities, they leave it to Auntie Baby Lim Fernandez and her children, Patrick and the late Princess (both of whom were born with a high IQ) to design the CNY celebrations.
The 2025 “Serpent” mandated a prosperity dinner of duck, chicken, meatballs, fish, prawn, crab, mushroom and black moss, sweet peanut balls, ending minutes just before the clock struck midnight, eve of the New Year. My tablemates, Dr. Nemi Platon and Dr. Valerie Mendoza, eagerly joined the crowd gathered at the hotel’s lobby to be entertained by dragon and lion dancers leaping to the beat of drums and cymbals in an exercise meant to drive away bad spirits. “Dotting” the eyes, ears, tongue, and tail of three dragons was the coup de grace to signal good luck for all.
The next day, I took cousin Ann, a balikbayan from Los Angeles, on a walking tour around the mini-parks and pocket gardens surrounding New World. Good weather was on our side, with just enough cloudiness to tame the temperature. And as if to remind us that the festivities were not yet done, the same dragon and lion dancers of the day before followed us to Sugi restaurant, where we enjoyed a hearty Japanese lunch.
I cannot end this piece without saying Kiong Hee Huat Tsai! to Gringo Honasan, whose beloved python, Tiffany, has been his companion, pet, and guardian these many years.