My buddy Samson aka @7braidstrong (www.7braidstrong.com) shot all these photos and rushed to edit them in time for Chinese New Year because apparently I'm a slave driver. Poor dude has a wife, a kid, a full-time job, a side gig in photography, and here I am bossing him about to give me awesome photos. Muchos gracias. I wish I could feel bad but I don't because I love all his work. If you're looking for a photographer, get in touch with him.
HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!
I hope the year of the rooster is an auspicious and prosperous one for you and your loved ones! I personally have never been all that traditional but as I grow older, I definitely have begun to appreciate this festive season more, and care for what it means - MONEY. LOL.
I had to lead the lohei at my family's reunion dinner (which is definitely not like any other reunion dinner - we had tortillas and tacos, and we invited a whole bunch of random non-Chinese folk) and while I'm pretty sure reading it off some page I found on google is kind of lame and my Chinese accent was all off, I felt this need to show off my Chinese-ness while also realising that basically every step in the lohei is about money, wealth, valuables, gold, more money, more wealth, and prosperity. Duuuuude we need to get a grip.
Nonetheless, I had a great time sharing a part of my culture with people who might have been largely unfamiliar with this aspect. I hope they left dinner with some new insights ("we LOVE money") and yusheng is delicious.
Thanks for reading, may it bring you big money.
