A red-hot Crimson Hotel welcomes the Year of the Fire Rooster
With just a couple of days before the cock crows and signals the start of the Year of the Fire Rooster, preparations are at fever pitch in Chinese communities around the world. Home s are being tidied up and decked out in red trimmings, the better to invite good fortune. The stores are teeming with feng shui items and goodies that are believed to bring good luck, good health, wealth, abundance, and all the good things we could ever wish for. People are stocking up on Chinese New Year fruit (such as pomegranates which signify many offspring, pomelos for having children, peaches, bananas, lychees, longans, melons, pineapples, apples, grapes) and food essentials. Truth is, you really don’t have to go to China, Hong Kong or Singapore to feel the spirit of Chinese New Year. For here at home, down south at Crimson Hotel in Filinvest City, Chinese New Year is set to dazzle everyone with its red-hot attractions.
For starters, upcycle artist Jevie Pagaguitan transformed Crimson Hotel’s The Gallery into a lovely garden abloom with prosperity trees fashioned out of upcycled materials. His Lucky Rooster sculpture is something to crow about. Wikipedia defines upcycling as “taking something that is disposable and transforming it to something of greater use or value.” From trash to cash.
At Crimson Hotel, get a little feel of Little Chinatown as you check out the stores selling assorted feng shui items, paintings, and Chinese delicacies.
Some lucky press people got a taste of Crimson Hotel’s festive lucky Chinese New Year culinary offerings last week. On the menu: assorted roasting combination platter, whole suckling pig platter, crab and corn soup, braised dried oysters with mushrooms in sea moss, steamed live garoupa in superior soya sauce, braised sliced abalone and Japanese mushroom in premium oyster sauce, stewed e-fu noodles in Shimeji mushrooms, double boiled snow fungus with red dates and wolfberries, capped off by Chinese-style petit fours for dessert.
Abalone is inarguably the star of most Chinese banquets — but especially come Chinese New Year. This chewy, juicy shellfish is prized for its resemblance to the ancient Chinese currency called ingots, thus symbolizing prosperity. Another wealth symbol is oyster (its Chinese translation is ho see, which sounds like good fortune). So finish up your abalone and oyster!
Spicing up the menu is a special appearance by feng shui expert Joseph Chau. At the press launch, Chau gave his forecast for 2017, telling Roosters, for instance, to keep a close eye on their spending; Pigs to save money for a rainy day; Dogs to gain more knowledge and experience at work; Rats to expect unexpected windfalls; Oxen to enjoy a very good financial situation; Rabbits to stop all risky investments; Dragons to broaden their sources of income; Snakes to expect stable financial fortune; Horses to be more conservative with their investments; Goats to work more to gain more; Tigers to avoid office politics; Monkeys to watch out against becoming over-greedy.
At Crimson Hotel, the Chinese New Year celebration almost never stops as guests are treated to a feast of great food and fine entertainment with the Chinese New Year brunch buffet at the Grand Ballroom on Jan. 29.
Priced at 1,588++ per person, be entertained by troupes of colorful dragon dancers, traditional Chinese theater performances, and acrobats as Joseph Chau leads the Chinese New Year ceremony at the ground lobby before the lunch at the ballroom. Diners availing themselves of the Chinese New Year brunch get the chance to join the raffle for an overnight stay in a Presidential Suite for four persons.
More gustatory fireworks await guests at Cafe Eight, where guest chef Adrian Lim creates his specialties (suckling pig, longevity noodles, jelly fish in peanut sauce, and assorted dim sum) from Jan. 27 to Feb. 4. Lunch is at 1,238++ per person while dinner costs P1,418++ per person. The prices include free-flowing beverages such as wine, beer, juice, and sodas.
Can’t get enough? Well, you can always opt for a staycation during Chinese New Year, and avail of the Lucky Rooster Room Package. Stay from Jan. 28 to 29 and enjoy a special rate starting at P5,888++ inclusive of buffet breakfast for two, complimentary Feng Shui Guide for 2017 by Joseph Chau, complimentary tickets for two to the Chinese New Year brunch celebration, and late checkout at 6 p.m. Book the Lucky Rooster Room Package and get a chance to win an overnight stay for two in an Executive Club room. How lucky can you get!
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For booking or more information, visit the official website at http://www.crimsonhotel.com/manila/.