All About Your Child

This year’s Chinese Lunar New Year is the one I believe I will enjoy the most, as I am deprived of enjoying this season for 7 years! All because of my retail business. During this time of the year, I am still busy tending my stall at the different shopping malls.

I don’t even have time to decorate my house or even do a proper clean up. Now that I have stopped my retail business as my main source of income. I told myself that I must enjoy myself to the fullest to make up for the 7 years of ‘misery’.

So we went shopping at Chinatown and really shop till we drop. We ‘dropped’ because we had to keep carrying the boys after walking for more than 3 hours. And so we began our shopping.

All the other Disney characters like Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, Winnie the Pooh, Piglet came along to make the streets of Chinatown come alive.

Taking photos here and there brings out the big smile on the children faces.

Then came the happiest part for the kids. I allowed the kids to choose any sweets and chocolates they like and dump them into the plastic bag. The sweets were going at S$1 per 100gm. The chocolates cost S$2 per 100gm.

So we had 2 packets, one for sweets and one for chocolates. There were over 50 different types to choose from. The kids were in heaven for that short 10 mins.

Mini-Mandarin orange plants were at every corner.
Lanterns were everywhere too.

The long dangling thing is but a fake now. Unlike in the 60s, the real firecrackers goes popping at every household during Chinese New Year Eve at 12 midnite to welcome the new year with a big bang.

Flower shops were always full of aunties grabbing a big bunch or two.

These cotton-like buds are the only plants we get to see during this time of the year. Since young, I have been amazed by this plant. They started off as sticks, then small brown buds start to form, when the ‘brown cover’ falls off, the cotton-like bud appears. The ‘cotton’ grows bigger and bigger till the leaves appear and then the flowers starts to bloom.

Then there were the decorations. This year there are so many of these decoration shops all because Singapore managed to get Mickey Mouse in as this year is the year of the Rat, my sister, Angela’s year, meaning she is 24 years old lor…getting old…hee hee hee…

My kids sharp eyes spotted these 2 huge lion-dance head right on top of the shop houses. “Mummy, seeeeee….seeeee… Lion Dance so high up”

This is my favourite part. Lots of yummy yummy cookies which you can only find during Chinese Lunar New Year. We bought almost S$100 Chinese New Year stuff home this year.

These are all the special fruits that every household should have – Mandarin Oranges, ‘Hulu’ and Pomelo as each represents Good Luck, Good Fortune and Lots of Wealth.

Although so sweaty, smelly and tired at the end of it all, but I am definitely a happy soul!