"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.