On the
last day of the lunar year my friend Christina gave me the idea of making braised
pork knuckles
and tongues in Chinese marinade (called 鹵水 louh’-sui’) for diner.  I thought it was an exciting dish to make to celebrate
the arrival of the year of the horse so off I went to buy the ingredients.  However, when I arrived at the wet market - at about 2pm - my
pork butcher was about to close down his stall. 
I could not help but think of my 1st Chinese New Year in Hong
Kong when I could not find any vegetables after 4pm!  I learnt after this incident not to wait for the
last day to buy food needed for the first 3 days of the Lunar New Year.