I have a date with Spring! Part 01

The Spring Festival, commonly known as the Chinese Lunar New Year is only about 9 days away (29 January). To the Chinese people, it is as important as Christmas to people in the West. All over the world, they(China alone..inhabitants is 1.3 billion)are looking forward to ushering in the Year of the Dog. The celebration, unofficially, lasts 15 days. In our younger days, my siblings and I loved this festival..good foods, new clothings, the deafening sound of fire-crackers and most importantly..the little red packet with money in it called ang-pow...only for children and the unmarried.
In Dubai, the chinese population (mainly from China) is on the rise..I don't know the exact figure..but I think they, like the indians and filipinos, have established a solid presence here. The creation of the Dragon Mart (the dragon shaped trading hub..will write in the next post) is a testimony of their formidable status in Dubai.
Inevitably,chinese restaurants abound as well..good, bad and ugly in terms of foods and services. I have learnt a trick..it works all the times..when u visit a chinese restaurant...first thing to do..throw away the menu!..instead ask the chef to cook something off the menu...believe me..u will love it!
Over in Deira, there's a little chinese eatery called The Little Red Room..on the second floor of a budget hotel..selling chinese northern fare. Excellent food..for only 6 Dhm..u get rice with 3 dishes. I try to frequent the place once a week...closest thing to home.
In my company, we have a British guy working as Biz Development Manager...middle aged and a bit potty. Unfortunately, the chinese boss and his wife dislike him..they schemed to get rid of him but to no avail because he was recruited by the french partner. I like Richard (the british guy)..i think he's good in his work...we love to booze at the Sherlock Holmes Pub once in while..and cracked sick jokes about the villianous boss and his evil wife. Richard is one lucky bloke..he arranged with his direct boss..the frenchman..to work at home...at the same time he can be with his wife and only son. Amazingly, he loves everything oriental..including LingLing. In fact, he used the company's status to get her a work permit here. It's really puzzling..she's just a plain jane. I know for a fact, no offence, quite a number of young, beautiful and foxy girls from China got their visas thru the same manner. However, their job is basically to keep up their appearances..and wait for their master to summon them..at least once a week...to entertain his clients from Japan/Korea.etc in some posh parties. It's like a scene from the latest movie from hollywood: Memoirs of a Geisha!..