Kung Hei Fat Choy, is a Cantonese Hong Kong greeting that many people say at Lunar New Year.
     The words mean “wishing you to make lots of money or a fortune.”
     Lunar New Year begins this week on February 12.
     “The Year of the Ox” celebration continues for 15 days.

Beyond The Lockdown

     But we are locked down during COVID-19 and going out for almost anything, let alone dining, is currently not an option.
     But we, in this air cargo business are dreamers and doers.
     So relax and dream a little dream about post-pandemic life returning to some kind of normal.
     It is apparent to almost anyone traveling on business that there isn’t enough time to enjoy authentic local scenery.
     Dinner that hasn’t been worked into the business schedule becomes an after-thought, a quick twelve-dollar burger served on a tray with a moist towelette in some forgotten hotel room.
     We are so quick to let business travel spoil the excitement that comes with going to a new place. The town you’ve been zipping through for the past couple of days could be the grist for your memory’s mill, and sometimes culture shock can be cathartic.
     At the very least, a side step journey into town can afford a little life experience and a few polite conversations with the locals.

Never A Gloomy Sunday

     I recall a Sunday alone a couple of decades ago at the downtown Mandarin Hotel in Taipei, right near Nanking Road. The Mandarin was a crew hotel. Pilots and cabin crew have a reputation of being tight with a buck.
     Most pilots like to maintain a fairly high profile lifestyle, while cabin crew never has any money. Sometimes I think cabin crew invented stew. They always seem to be planning potluck dinners.
     The old joke: “Hey, this food tastes different. Did somebody wash my bowl or something?” barely affords a chuckle from these chowhounds.
     The Taipei Mandarin was always a good buy. The place was clean, if a bit faded. The restaurant served Chinese and American breakfast around the clock, which is always a good bet.
     The Mandarin was also equipped with a staff of husbands and wives who seemed to live and tend to individual floors.
     You were sure a gracious staff member would see you to your door following check-in, and it was no surprise when your arrival was heralded with hot tea and cookies.
     Once I stumbled into my room after a 19-hour flight and jumped straight into the shower, only to discover my disheveled heap of clothes had been neatly pressed and hung.
     Lots of expatriate fliers and business types stayed at the Mandarin.
     Anytime, day or night, Sky King is meeting under the gaze of Terry and the Pirates and Smilin’ Jack, all comic book heroes of 1930-40’s aviation.
     After arriving late one Saturday and working all of the next day on a story, I decided it was time to get out. The T.V. was rattling on in Chinese and English alternatively, about some sporting event that no longer held my interest. I decided to take a walk to find something to eat and maybe pick up some bottled water.
     It was drizzling lightly, a warm, early spring evening. Sundays anywhere are the same.
     It doesn’t really matter where you are in the world. There will be more places open on the day after the apocalypse than on any given Sunday.
     I stopped at a small restaurant that looked busy. Business in a restaurant is a good sign in any country. The first thing I noticed was how the place smelled. This joint smelled great.
     A couple of beers and a plate of fried rice later, I left my small side table completely satisfied.
     Around the corner from the restaurant I found a group of people laughing and joking in the staccato tics of quick and easy Chinese conversation. For a moment I thought that I had missed the place the cool crowd supped. I felt a need to get the name and address of said cool place so that I could return at a later time. I began to make my way to the group.
     It was then that a familiar sign struck me, a sign emblematic of gaudy, tacky Americana: the flashing red and white striped logo of T.G.I. Fridays. I laughed, and wondered if my joke was funnier than the joke shared by the cool crowd. I had not come halfway around the world to eat burgers and fairy food.

Get More Out Of Life

     Now, whenever it’s time to hit the road again, I think of that damp Sunday in Taipei. It reminds me to get out and experience more of the local scene.
     I always wonder about people who come to New York from other parts of the world insisting that the best restaurants are in Manhattan, simply because they’ve read that somewhere.
     Let’s set the record straight.
     Anyone can read a review and fork over a lot of cash. The Chinese restaurants in Flushing, New York offer a variety of exceptional choices.
     The idea after the COVID-19 has not changed.
     Have a little fun.
     Think about everything you do.
     What are you getting out of living this life?
     Wherever you are, make some time to get out, get fed, have some fun and not get stuck paying through the teeth.
     Try something new, even if it’s in small amounts.
     Live a little.
     You may not pass this way again.
Geoffrey