Wax Duck, Chinese Sausages, Wax Meat,

Wax Duck, Wax Meat, Chinese Sausages are a must during Chinese New Year. The prices are quite high at this moment and most Singaporeans will buy at the last few days of Chinese New Year as most prices will fall during that time and I am one of them too...lol. And if you go during the eve of Chinese New Year, the prices of most Chinese New Year products will drop tremedously.

But homecooked cookies are best ordered earlier and collected by this weekend as they are in great demand during the festive period.

For more Chinese New Year Food and Cookies:click here

Sunset

The photo may looked crooked...lol. I just put the camera through the window and just click the button...hahaha. Cause I dare not looked direct at the sun. I like the colour of the sky but the crane looked out of place.

Chinese Paper Cutting Crafts

Saw many chinese paper cuttings on sale in Chinatown. They are beautifully cut. Chinese Paper Cuttings is part of chinese culture where they are either cut by scissors or paper cutters.

The only paper cuttings that I know how to cut must be the chinese character "Shuang Xi" which means double happiness. I did that long ago during my wedding.

Ang Pow Lanterns

Ang Pow (hokkien language) or Hung Bao (mandarin language) also known as "red packets". The ang pow contained gifts of money. They are considered extremely auspicious to receive as a gift. They are commonly used for Chinese New Year, weddings, birthdays or happy occasions.

Ang pows can also used to make handicrafts. It is very common to find DIY ang pow lanterns in most chinese homes in Singapore. Only staples and glues are used to form the shapes of the lanterns. Accessories are then added to make them prettier. Ang Pows lanterns can only be found in Singapore and Malaysia but I have no idea who started this trend. The person is a genius who started this.

These are made by me. I am not very good in making them. There are prettier ones make by others. You can view them in here.

Koi Fishes

Koi is the Japanese word for carp.

Keeping Koi is a very expensive hobby. You need a good and big pond to keep them if you want your koi to grow to a huge size and healthily. The value of Koi depend on the colour of the fishes. The price can vary from a few dollars to thousands of dollars.

The kois you see here are not worth much because their colours are not very pretty but then I love them as much. Seeing them so huge and swimming about minding their own business is a joy.

But alas these Kois dont belong to me. The only koi in my home is the koi mould which I used to make "agar agar"....hahaha. You can view them in my food blog

Palm Tree

This photo was taken during my walks in botanic garden. The place was quite shady and when I looked up I saw this huge beautiful palm tree shading us. It looked like a huge umbrella.

Although we are 2 degrees north of the equator, Singapore is a garden city with many huge trees shading us.

You might like to know that we will have another huge garden in the city beside botanic garden. It will be known as Gardens by the Bay. It is still under construction (will be completed around 2010) and when completed will be very beautiful.

Gardens by the Bay will consists of three different gardens. It will grows flowers that are not able to grow in Singapore with the help of technology. In fact some of the flowers are already booming in nursery. For more photos of our future garden:Click here

Year of the Rat 2008

Yes, it is the year of the rat. At least at this Chinese New Year decorations, there is no Mickey Mouse here...lol.

And if you find this familar, this is the same place where the christmas decorations titled colourful whirl of christmas is. Only difference are the mouse decorations are in and the Carousel Horse decorations are out.

Kitem asked me: "I read on the net that the Rat is not such a nice character, I hope it's not true, will you tell us about the Rat character later on in your blog?"

I am not a fortune teller but I can tell you from sources I read...hahaha

The year of Rat arriving on 7th February 2008

The year of the Pig was a very unstable one. It is believed that 2008 the year of Rat is going to be an easier year for most of us in general. (Let's see if this is true.)

If those who are interested to know the character of the chinese zodiac, read on.

Source: Way OnNet Group (I got this source from a book send to us from Singapore Post)

Rat-Gentle, simple, optimistic, observant and meticulous. Inquisitive behaviour to get to the roots of matters.

Ox-A solemn, obstinate and quiet personality with ample patience and empathy. Down to earth, hardworking as well as loyalty towards friends.

Tiger-Highly motivated in work, righteous and public-spirited, coupled with exceptional organizing qualities in the company of challenges and pioneer spirit.

Rabbit-Gentle,kind,active and caring. Strong in achieving goal without being constrained.

Dragon-Impressive-looking,optimistic,direct,confident,dilligent in handling matters whilst set with a far-sighted goal.

Snake-Mysterious,careful,vigiliant and intelligent. Carry a sense of beauty depicting an artistic ability.

Horse-Traits of generousity, influential, independent, bold and unrestrained. Great versatility, often seen as a centre of attention.

Goat-Well-mannered, friendly and affable, sentimental, honest and magnanimous. Dislike putting on a front for others.

Monkey-Energetic, humourous, clever, agile,strong self-confidence and likeable.

Rooster-Full of vigor,gentle,modest and prudent with an eye for detail. Enjoy life and a fashion-conscious person.

Dog-A perfectionist with character of loyalty, honesty, hardworking, obedient, responsible and righteous.

Pig-A firm disposition, direct and friendly personality, beckoning someone of trustworthiness. Calm and steady character with good management of monetary affairs.

If you like to know your chinese zodiac, check out this website: http://www.chinesezodiac.com/calculator.php

"Chun Lian" or couplets

Clarice asked if red represent luck? I hope you can find your answer in today post. :)

Red can represent luck, happiness and joy but red can meant fire and power too. Legend had it that "Nian" a monster would attacked the villages during the spring festival (also known as Chinese New Year), but "Nian" is afraid of loud noises and the colour red. So the villagers frighten the monsters away by lighting firecrackers and pasting red papers all over the villages every spring.

Today the red papers comes with wordings and known as "Chun Lian" or couplets.

Couplets are always red and contained Chinese good luck sayings written on them. Pasting red couplets has been an important part of the Chinese New Year's celebration since ancient times.

The wordings are alway written in gold colour. They are usually pasted in the kitchens or on doors or door frames. But nowadays people pasted them all over the house. I was taught by my late traditional mom that the right wordings had to be placed in the correct position.

These are my old couplets . We need to change new couplets every chinese new year.

The above couplet reads "Zhao Cai Jing Bao" which means usher in the wealth and riches. This couplet can be pasted in the kitchen or on doors.

The above read "chang man" which means always full. So this is pasted on rice pot so that the pot will forever be full of rice and we wont go hungry.

Chinese New Year 2008

I saw these beautiful decorations in front of the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Chinatown. I am not sure if they are part of the Chinese New Year Decorations or for prayers purposes. Anyway I find them attractive and cute so I just snap them with my camera.

I noticed most of them have lotus flowers with them. As this is a buddhist temple, the lotus flower has a meaning.

In Buddhism it is believed that the lotus is a water lily that grows in murky ponds and takes its roots in the black soil. Just as the beautiful lotus blossom grows from the mud, human beings can also detach themselves from suffering, to rise above the earthly and blossom as Buddhas.

Significantly, the color of the lotus too has an important bearing on the symbology associated with it:
1). White Lotus (Skt. pundarika; Tib. pad ma dkar po): This represents the state of spiritual perfection and total mental purity (bodhi). It is associated with the White Tara and proclaims her perfect nature, a quality which is reinforced by the color of her body.

2). Red Lotus (Skt. kamala; Tib: pad ma chu skyes): This signifies the original nature and purity of the heart (hrdya). It is the lotus of love, compassion, passion and all other qualities of the heart. It is the flower of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion.

3). Blue Lotus (Skt. utpala; Tib. ut pa la): This is a symbol of the victory of the spirit over the senses, and signifies the wisdom of knowledge. Not surprisingly, it is the preferred flower of Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom.

4). Pink Lotus (Skt. padma; Tib. pad ma dmar po): This the supreme lotus, generally reserved for the highest deity. Thus naturally it is associated with the Great Buddha himself."

(Source:http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org/general_symbols_buddhism.html)

Chinese New Year Decoration 2008 (Year of the Rat) at Chinatown

These are this coming Chinese New Year decorations for 2008. The chinese new year mood is not here yet and many stalls are still in the process of putting up their goodies and wares for Chinese New Year for sale. The chinese new year mood will be very high come end of this month and especially during the night.

Winnie the pooh and friends have decided to come to Singapore to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Why? Because they are celebrating the year of the rat with Mickey Mouse. Mickey is seen in many Chinese New Year Decorations and Cards, etc for the year of the rat.

Closer look at Mickey and Donald donning the lion dance suit. They looked cute.

Can you see Mickey and Minnie in the centre of the decorations?

Closer look at Mickey and Minnie Decorations. Have you noticed the chinese character "FU"? It's the only time when a Chinese word is hung/pasted upside down intentionally. The reason being "Fu dao" means "luck or fortune has arrived". But the word "dao" can also means upside-down or arrived. So, the character 福, fu, upside-down is a play on words implying fortune has arrived.

Integrated Resort, Sentosa, Singapore

SENTOSA OLD FERRY TERMINAL...............NOW YOU SEE IT................

NOW YOU DONT....................

Sentosa old ferry terminal is gone, demolished and make way for the much talked about Resorts World at Sentosa . The integrated resort will have hotels, water park, maritime museum,etc and of course the Casino and Universal Studio. It will be completed in a few years time. The other integrated resort will be at Marina.

I am looking forward to them, now I dont have to travel to USA to visit Universal Studio, and I think Singapore will be a more exciting place to visit for tourists.

Not to worry that the sea in front of Vivo City will be polluted with rubbish. The boat man above is there to take care of the cleaniness.

Antiques at the lobby of Singapore Swissotel Merchant Court

When I went to the Ellenborough Market Café at Swissotel Merchant Court Singapore for buffet, something beautiful caught my eyes besides the gorgeous and yummy buffet.

These antiques displayed at the lobby of the hotel are so beautiful that I cant resist taking photos of them.

The below photo is an antique bowl on displayed. It is a very huge bowl and the designs on the bowl are very lovely.

The vases on displayed are very tall about 6 feet. I think they are lovely and must be very expensive.

You need to go to the hotel for their sumptous buffet and dont forget to admire those beautiful art pieces.

Trishaw in Chinatown

Another entry for my chinatown postings. One way of getting around chinatown is to ride in a trishaw.

During the olden times, the trishaw is a two wheeled transport manually pulled by a man in front, it is known as rickshaw. Mostly the rich can afford to sit a trishaw back then. The man pulled rickshaw operated from Jinrickshaw Station in Neil Road.

Singapore Botanic Garden-National Orchid Gardens

This will be my last posting on Singapore Botanic Gardens. For more photos on plants, flowers and cactus, you can view them at my flower blog. I will post them there once I do some reseach on the names of the flowers, trees, etc. I am only an admirer of flowers and amazing trees so am not familiar with their names. :)

Admission to Singapore Botanic Garden is free but admission to its Orchid Garden is S$5.00. It is very worth the money cause there are so many beautiful and unique orchids in the garden.

There is also a VIP garden too where orchids are breed and named after VIP of other countries. I saw many VIP orchids but I failed to find those named after Princess Diana and First Lady of USA, Laura Bush, but I did snap the posters of their orchids. Will post them in my flower blog.

I am so delighted with the beautiful orchids. Their colours and their shapes are so eye catching.

I have yet to find out the names of the above orchids. I still have many photos of beautiful orchids but I have yet to sort them out.

It is a happy day for me at botanic garden. I took a lot of photos, spend quality time at the gardens and learn a lot about the orchids and the amazing trees and not forgetting about those sculptures and my close encounter with the swans. :)

Singapore Botanic Garden-Passing of Knowledge Scultpure

This sculpture is located in the Sun Garden in the Singapore Botanic Gardens where all the cactus are. I like this sculpture very much because I find it very meaningful. The sculpture is known as Passing of Knowledge. It really is like a father passing his knowledge to his child.

Beside this sculpture, there are many cactus plants in this Sun Garden. Geez, I really beginning to like the Botanic Garden, it changes so much since my last visit with my young sons. But my sons are now all grown up, and just like the name of the sculpture, we as parents had passed our knowledge to them. :)

The Passing of Knowledge sculpture (2003) by local sculptor Victor Tan Wee Tar
(Source:http://www.sbg.org.sg/tanglincore/sungarden.asp)

Swing Me Mama Sculpture

Swing Me Mama was sculpted by Dominic Benhura in 1995 using serpentine (spring stone). His inspiration for the sculpture sprung when he was swinging his kids. (source:http://www.sbg.org.sg/tanglincore/sculptures.asp)

I would alway swinged my kids this way too when they were young. I think the sculpture really shows the bond between a mother and her child. There are more sculptures in the Singapore Botanic Garden but alas it rained heavily and I was too tired to continue walking to look at the other attractions in the garden, what a pity.

Singapore Botanic Garden-Swan Lake

This is the Swan Lake in Singapore Botanic Gardens. It used to have many swans but I spotted only two swans. I wondered where all the black swans had gone.

Not sure everyone interested in my tales with these two swans....lol. I thought I would go home empty handed without photos of the swans. The two swans were spotted at the far end of the pond and then I tried to get their attention but the swans just ignore me and ate their food. Just as I was about to give up, these two lovely swans swam so fast to me like a motor boat. It is kind of funny....hahaha. Did you spot their webbed feet, they paddled very fast towards us with their feet.





And now I am so satisfied taking so many photos of these two swans, they actually swam so close to us and stay with us for a long time. I enjoy the moment with the swans and had a fun time at Swans Lake.