This is an example of what the "hong bao" packets look like. Children and single adults receive these packets of money during Chinese New Year. It is also customary to give hong bao packets to those who provide service to you in any way.
2009 is the YEAR OF THE OX!Ringing in the New Year, Chinese-Style
Chinese New Year, a 15 day celebration of the new year according to the lunar calendar, is the most important festival of the Chinese culture and a huge occasion in Singapore. The new year is greeted with much rejoicing and celebration, and seen as a chance to put the past behind and start afresh, with new hopes for prosperity, health, and luck. Most Chinese families are busy with cleaning and decorating their homes and shopping for special foods such as waxed ducks, Chinese sausages, mandarin oranges and traditional cakes and biscuits. On Chinese New Years Eve the very important main event is the "family reunion dinner". Oranges and tangerines are exchanged between hosts and guests, symbolizing gold and luck. Parents give their children red packets of money, called "hong bao". It is considered good luck for the children to stay late and herald in the New Year. Chinese New Years Day is a time to reaffirm ties with family and friends. Some offer prayers to deities and ancestors. The first two days of the 15 day celebration are spent visiting relatives and feasting. Usually clothes are new and in auspicious colors of red, pink or gold. Red scrolls and banners bearing the greetings "Gong Xi Fa Cai" which means "wishing you great prosperity" decorate homes and businesses. Many homes will bear the Chinese sign "Fu" which means luck. It may even be hung upside down in the belief that good luck will come upon the household. During this time unlucky words are not spoken and brooms are not used to avoid sweeping away the good luck. Most businesses resume by the third day yet the festivities continue until the 15th night. Lion dances outside businesses are staged by troupes of young men and women who don the traditional lion costume and perform an age-old dance to accompanying drum and cymbal clashes. Special dishes are served throughout the festival including "Yu Sheng", a raw fish salad which symbolizes prosperity and abundance. Once placed on the table, everyone gathers around the table and digs in with their chopsticks, tossing the salad high - the higher you toss, the better your luck!
This is what Chinatown looks like during Chinese New Year
Store fronts have lots of things for sale!
Check out these waxed ducks, chinese sausages and dried fish
Saw this sign posted in Chinatown. Singapore has a very low crime rate and they are not afraid to use the death penalty. People are hanged on Friday mornings in Singapore.
I love the Chinese lanterns and got carried away taking pictures of them!
This is what happens after drinking beer at a Chinese karaoke bar. Shelby and his friends Alan and Don tired of Chinatown and found a pub off the beaten path. Don't they look cute in their tiaras? :)
Kasey is becoming a professional shopper in Chinatown
Aren't the lanterns fun?
Alan took this photo of our family and the Burkett family, including Donna's mother Virgie who was here visiting from the Houston area, and Kasey's friend Kat.
Wesley shot pool while the dads drank beer at the Chinese karaoke bar
Alan, Shelby and Don trying to reach their happy place!
Kasey with friends Lacy and Kat (before the dads took their tiaras!)
Kasey and Kat getting friendly with Buddha
Check out this lucky Bamboo plant!
On the streets of Chinatown at dusk
Red is everywhere!
This guy was hawking some housewares - check out the hair!
Mandarin oranges are a symbol of wealth and prosperity. When you are invited into a Chinese home, you are supposed to take two oranges to them and you usually receive two oranges in return (NOT the same oranges though!)