February 18th is Chinese New Year or "Spring Festival", this is the only time of year that most shops and restaurants shut in Singapore. The city is, once again after the Christmas season, a blaze of lights and full of shoppers. Red, the color of good luck, is seen in decorations on every business and residence. It is an interesting time to be an observer from Boise, Idaho! The celebrations can last up to two weeks so hopefully we will have a chance to join, or fight, the crowds to get some pictures. On Tuesday night we are invited to a New Year's celebration and we were warned of the expectations for a get together like this. We need to bring 8 oranges to exchange with the other guests and red packets, or Hong Bao, full of 4 two dollar bills for the children. As you can see 8 is the theme because it is the lucky number this year. There are 8's every where, we even got an $8.88 discount last week at a sports store! This year is also the lunar year of the pig so not only are they included in the decorations but also the pig represents babies and weddings and we have seen a lot of both. This holiday is time for everyone to rest so hopefully with everything closed down, China too, Travis will have a chance to catch his breath and relax a bit.
Gong Si Fa Cai- Wishing you great prosperity!
1 comment:
We celebrated Chinese New Year in Vancouver, B.C. Not fair! We only got candy in our lucky red packets! Not 8 dollars. Guan Hay Fat Choy (Happy Chinese New Year). Nancy
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