Noodlies, Sydney food blog and the lion dance

Lunar New Year is very much part of Australia’s events calendar, there are at least 12 festivals held across Sydney to celebrate the Year of the Snake. Opinions about luck in the snake year is mixed, the Sydney Morning Herald quotes Taiwanese and Hong Kong experts who are on pessimistic – the last two snake years brought September 11 and the Tiananmen Square government crackdown. I’m more optimistic, as a snake sheds its skin – 2013 could be a year for renewal and rebirth. In any case, if you’re worried about luck, then noodlies, Sydney food blog recommends these eight lucky foods for the coming year – that should do the trick.

Retailers are also recognising the importance of Lunar New Year for their customers and the bottom line. World Square Shopping Centre, just off Chinatown has held celebrations for the past seven years – the main feature, a spectacular lion dance, seems to get more and more hair-raising. Ben Davis, World Square’s Centre Manager speaks to noodlies about their celebrations in the video below, watch ’til the end for some spectacular leaping lions.

World Square obviously recognise the potential for bloggers to amplify their message, noodlies was invited to the lion dance and Lunar New Year lunch at Din Tai Fung. Famed around the world, this Taiwanese chain has been credited with spreading the love of dumplings. It’s Friday lunch time prior of Lunar New Year and Din Tai Fung has to employ an army in the kitchen to keep up with demand.

Noodlies, particularly likes the juicy pork truffle dumplings, noodle and dumplings in a crimson spicy Szechuan pepper sauce and fried rice, which comes ‘bowled’ but separates easily into grains – a nice touch as noodlies is not a fan of soggy, clingy fried rice.