Today is the last day of the year of the snake. I can't wait to bid farewell to the snake. It wasn't a good year for me. Hopefully, the year of the horse will be a good one.
Traditionally on the last day of the old year, us Chinese feast and gamble the night away. (gamble the night away is optional) The feast aka Reunion Dinner is a must. It's still early afternoon as I write this post so we haven't had our Reunion Dinner. My MIL hosts the Reunion Dinner. The dinner will probably include a tossing of salad (yu-sheng) for good fortunes. My MIL makes a pretty good salad which is way better than the ones sold in supermarkets or restaurants.
We are quite ready for Chinese New Year which is tomorrow and the day after. In Singapore, the first 2 days of Chinese New Year are public holidays. Which means, some people will take the opportunity to travel overseas for a quick holiday.
This year I was well-prepared and bought our 8 mandarin oranges on Monday. Most families buy a whole carton. We don't eat these fruits because my kids don't like them and as for me, they give me a 1,000 day cough. I exaggerate, more like a 100 day cough. I just have to remember to take the 8 oranges with us when we go visiting our relatives tomorrow.
I have also got our red packets ready. My son helped me stuff the red packets with money. As much as I hate to give money away, it is the tradition to give away red packets during Chinese New Year. My kids do receive red packets from my relatives after all. In Singapore, we give red packets to our relatives who aren't married. This means every kid will get one. I'm in charge of who to give to for my side of the family and hubs takes care of who to give to for his side.
The designs for red packets have become quite different from the tradition over the years. I really like Mister Potato - it's so weird!
The new year will be the year of the horse and this red packet (I know it's golden) shows a horse. What's clever about this design is the character for horse 馬 is incorporated in the design.
I'm still loosely playing with the idea of giving my home a last cleaning - like a major vacuuming, washing of the bathrooms etc. However, the thought of it alone is so tiring. Tomorrow we can't sweep the floors as we don't want to sweep our fortunes away. That shouldn't be a problem for me as I'm happy not to do any sweeping of the floors. Well, I should at least fold the dry laundry and put them away.
I'l see you in the year of the horse.
Happy New Year to you and your family, Jane. I do hope the Year of the Horse is a good one for you.
ReplyDeleteHey Jane! Happy Chinese New Year to you and your family! :D
ReplyDeleteTalking about red packets... I kept a collection of them over the years. I think other than the designs, the size of red packets also increased (ie. became longer over the years). So now, I can't really fit them into my album. Sighs.
I love the idea of receiving money for not being married, I feel like I've been missing out on a trick!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year Jane!
P.S. Have you thought you might be allergic to mandarins?
happy lunar new year! i'm a horse! oh boy... i remember the last time it was the year of the horse.. it was pretty uneventful for me. :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Chinese New Year @Christel. I've never heard of anyone collecting ang pow packets. My kids always throw the empty packets away. It's so wasteful. In the past there used to be perfumed ones and some even had glitter on the outside. The glitter would get everywhere - your face, clothes, the floor.
ReplyDeleteI hope the Year of the Horse is a good one for you and your family Jane.
ReplyDelete