last thursday morning i woke up to a trail of scented smoke and the aroma of chinese mushrooms... it's chinese new year 2004.

as opposed to my friends, who have a relatively quiet time - my parents celebrate it traditionally with lots of food eaten amongst lots of people, there's one thing that i've given some thought to seeing as though this year marks my quarter century of existence, the red pockets.

it use to be all good, the red pockets kept rolling in, and when i was much younger this was my only source of disposable income for the next twelve months. but over the past few years and working full time, i've started to feel guilty, i even believe that some of these people are living off the pension. everytime i get one of them pockets, i use the same phrase: 'may you be blessed with good health' - kinda made me feel better.....

and..... at the end of the day it comes down to one word: "tradition".