Being traditional

The real reason I went on my trip to Hong Kong was to be a good grandson.

My grandmother was having her 80th birthday, and this was an event that I had promised to attend for years.

It was something I had definitely been looking forward to. Not only would it give me the opportunity to finally see many relatives whom I had never had the opportunity to meet, it would also give me the opportunity to take part in some truly traditional Chinese customs.

For one thing, it was around Chinese New Year that I went. Chinese New Year involves numerous givings and receivings of "Red Packets" which are little envelopes filled with money. As a child, this period could be very important for your yearly finances, and yet I had never experienced the sheer magnitude of a Hong Kong Chinese New Year. There was lots of work to do to help my mother with the preparations of her Red Packets to provide to others.

Eventually, this was all done and I was able to actually wander in and wish my grandmother a happy birthday.

And it was so much fun!

As a mark of respect, in Chinese culture, there serving of tea is to the elders.

This seemed like fun! So I ever so gingerly bent down onto my surgically reconstructed knee and did the traditionally upstanding thing and served my grandmother tea.
However, standing up was still a touch difficult and we had to wait until some other relatives came over to help me get up!