Chinese New Year (CNY) is also commonly referred to as Lunar New Year. In Mandarin, it is referred as 过年 Guo Nian which translates loosely as 'to pass the year' or 春节 Spring Festival.

While there's 12 days of Christmas, there are 15 days of Chinese New Year, though only the 1st 2 days are widely celebrated and acknowledged as public holidays. 

On the eve of Chinese New Year Eve, I met up with bestie, Carissa in town for some last minute CNY outfit shopping after work.

Chinese believe in wearing new clothes during Chinese New Year as it symbolizes a new beginning in the new year. It also symbolizes abundance of clothing in the new year.

Check out our shopping haul within a short span of 3 hours.   

Bestie got two dresses from FEP while I got a dress from FEP and a skirt from H&M. Tell me, are we efficient or what? To think that I kept heading to Bugis and Haji Lane over lunch time as well as PS, Somerset and even Cine after work to look for my CNY dress but it was in vain. Little did I expect to find it in FEP itself.

While checking out one of the shops in FEP, I bumped into my ex-colleague, Carol whom I haven't met for 3 years! She was shopping for CNY clothes too.  



Chinese New Year Eve (除夕)



with my colleagues



Chinese New Year Eve is half-day work for most of us working adults. Before heading home, my colleagues and I whom are in the recreation club went around the company to distribute mandarin oranges and red packets 紅包 (angpows) to our colleagues. Most of us were in red to inject more festive feel.

Red packet 紅包 (Angpows)

The color, red symbolizes good luck. Red packets are normally given out by married couples to singles. especially children or colleagues. The amount of money in the red packet usually ends with even digit as Chinese associates odd-numbered monetary gifts with funerals. Money should not be given out in fours as the pronounciation of '4' sounds like the word 'death' in Mandarin.

Mandarin orange 柑 (Kam) 

The giving of mandarin oranges signify well-wishes for the new year. The oranges are presented in a pair and must be presented and received with both hands. Mandarin oranges symbolises prosperity. The Cantonese word for oranges is kam, which sounds like gold. Likewise, mandarin oranges are known as ju in Mandarin which sounds like ji which means good luck.

We had steamboat for our reunion dinner on Chinese New Year Eve at home. 



Chinese New Year Eve Reunion dinner 年夜饭 / 团员饭



We had fried noodles and glass noodles, ngoh hiang, roasted meat, tau kwa with leek and achar (pickle) apart from fishball, fish cake crab roll, fish-shaped fish cake, tofu, fish, pork and chicken for steamboat.

I love the fish cake that shaped like a fish. Mummy says she got it because its shaped like a fish and it means  年年有魚!

Reunion dinner 年夜饭 / 团圆饭

When family members gather together on the last day of the lunar year for a meal despite their busy schedule.

The New Year's Eve dinner typically consists of chicken and pork. Fish 魚 is also included but intentionally not finished. This stems from the Chinese phrase, 年年有魚/餘, loosely translates as every year there is fish/leftover which means may there be profit every year.

Stay tuned for my upcoming posts on my Chinese New Year celebrations.

Love,
Patricia

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