Preparing for Chinese New Year
Posted on | February 13, 2010 | No Comments
Finally it’s Chinese New Year! Here’s how I have been preparing for it:
Spring Cleaning
Spring cleaning is a process where the Chinese believe the old should be discarded so as to make way for new things.
So since the start of 2010, I have been busy trying to arrange my things neatly in my drawers, bookshelf and cupboard. Never mind that they are messier but at least I cleared and dumped useless paper.
So few areas, shouldn’t be a problem, you may say. Well, I do have domestic helper to do the rest of the cleaning. But I have three shelves allocated to my girl and she’s now agile enough to move a chair, climbed onto it and browsed her belongings, the shelves are never neat.
New clothes to usher the new year!
We Chinese believed that at the start of the fresh year, we ought to have new clothes, new things to signify a good start. Or at least, this was what my mother told me since young!
I was sick for half of Jan and with hubby gone for the past 2 weeks, I hardly had time to shop for both of us. Thankfully there were clothes that I bought earlier (one size bigger) and now she’s ready to wear. Pants from Shenzhen. There’s this lovely pink dress from my dear friend who gave her as a Christmas present. Settled!
As for me, I have been shopping online and more fervently so for the past 3 weeks. Love online shopping!
Decorations for the home
Spotted at the door: Chinese new year banner
Chloe was jumping to try to stick a red-ribbon fish ornament onto the door, hence the blur picture.
The rest of the pictures were blurred, but basically I placed a couplets at the living room and tried to hang the fish ornaments.
A trip to Chinatown
Chloe’s childcare arranged a trip to Chinatown for the little ones to soak in the Lunar Festival atmosphere. She’s too young for the teachers to handle and hence parents were invited.
Th trip started with her teacher explaining the meaning and fables behind certain food and products. But the weather got too hot, the sun was glaring, the group was dispersed and most parents and their child ended up shopping and looking at stalls selling decorations and food.
Red crackers that look like carrots
A stallowner preparing his plum blossoms for sale
I was quite tempted to place plum blossom at home. Except that I also need to get a big vase, ensure that Chloe doesn’t play and accidentally break it. And how do I transport them home and keep these long things after the festival is over? Just thinking about the logistics and I am over-whelmed.
Love how the laterns look with the blue sky in the background
This is my favourite photo taken that day. It’s quite rare to see the vibrant blue sky, no glaring sunlight and sparsely spread clouds. It made me forgot how humid and hot that morning was!
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