This Chinese New Year ("CNY") marks a special moment for me because it's my horoscope year and hence officially marks my adulthood into the mid 30s. Of all the Chinese festivals, CNY is the most celebrated, elaborate and most important to all Chinese over the world.
The CNY is celebrated on the first day of the First Moon of the lunar calendar. CNY signified a new start of the year. Socially, it was a time for family reunions, and for visiting firends and relatives. It also stressed the importance of family ties. The CNY's Eve dinner gathering was among the most important family occasions of the year.
I used to look forward to CNY as a child (not because I get to receive angpows) because this was the festival where I get to wear the gold necklace, new clothes and shoes, savor all the goodies and meet my cousins. It was very crowded and cheery at my grandmothers' houses. The children would be playing all sort of games while the adults would gamble in games of Black Jack or Majong. The entire house would be bustling with noises of joy and laughter. Compared to yesteryear, CNY today pales in comparison. Relatives no longer gathered together in full attendance, cousins have distanced away, and gone were the days where the elderly would keep themselves busy whipping up dishes of delicacies. I really missed the traditional CNY in the good old days.
Anyway, CNY this year is good because it falls on a Friday through Sunday. What's even better is that we are compensated with one day off in lieu. This makes a 4 day celebration for me which equates to holiday! Below are some snippets on how I spent my CNY.
LoHei for a prosperous year
Lo-Hei is a must because it's a tradition. During CNY, people must Lo-Hei as this symbolise a brand new year with a good start, as well as a bountiful year filled with prosperity. My first Lo-Hei started a few days before CNY with my friends at Suhi Tei whereas I had my second Lo-Hei with my hubby during Valentine's day at Peach Garden.
Peach Garden introduced its CNY menu which I really think is quite good but slightly expensive. Our eight course Chinese cuisine cost us $88 per pax and comprised of a salmon yusheng, shark-fin soup, King Prawn with Assam Sauce, Steamed Sea Perch with Garlic, Glutinous rice with Chinese sausages, Mango & Pomelo Nian Gao with red dates Ching Teng. These dishes were delicately prepared and very flavorful. I very much enjoyed the steamed fish and find the Nian Gao very delightful.
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| Yu Sheng |
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| Sharkfin |
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| King Prawn with Assam |
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| Steamed Sea Perch with Garlic |
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| Glutinous Rice |
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| Mango & Pomelo Nian Gao with Ching Teng |
CNY's eve dinner - A yearly family affair
As usual, we had our CNY's eve lunch at my mum's house and dinner at my in law's house. Both lunch and dinner were home-cooked food. Of course, we must Lo-hei as a family. Check out our abalone yu sheng from the Paradise Dynasty.
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CNY means House Visits
During CNY, it's common for relatives and friends to visits each other's houses either to play poka games or mahjong sessions or gossips. For us, it's quite traditional where we started our day to the temple/church for prayer, visiting my husband's granny and relatives' houses, my parents and uncles's houses.
As I seldom get to see my uncles except on a few family occasions, I do feel that they've aged a lot during every visits. While my heart goes out to them and I felt guilty for not visiting them regularly, it is in fact quite hard for me to fork out time to visit them. Anyway, I do wish them a healthy and bountiful year with lots of happiness.
CNY means rest, relax and happy times with the kids
As we have a four day holiday, I decided to spend it wisely at D'Resort and take this opportunity to bring our kids to Wild Wild Wet, located just next to the resort.
D'Resort is a pretty new resort that is built 2 years ago. The moment we step into D'Resort, we were at paradise. D'Resort is one of Singapore's first nature inspired resort, featuring an integrated water park experience. Nestled in the lush greenery of Pasir Ris Park, we truly feel relaxed and recharged. Right at the doorstep is one of the longest stretch of beach and also a mangrove swamp that is home to a myriad of unique wildlife. There are a variety of room types to choose from ranging from family rooms, duplex cove facing the beach or the park to premier suites adorned with luxury bathroom amenities. Check out D'Resort website and make your booking for a worthwhile stay-cation in Singapore. https://www.dresort.com.sg
We booked a family room and was given a "under-the-sea" theme room, decorated in oceanic blue with sea turtles, dolphins, whales, dory fishes and all kind of sea creatures. The kids were totally wowed by the room, especially the treasure box where they have to answer the question and cracked the code in order to access their treasures (comprising of D'resort bears and kids' toothbrush kits). What's even surprising is that we have our very own in-room N espresso coffee machine. Overall, I am quite impressed with the room decoration and amenities.
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| Treasure box with surprises for the kids. |
The resort is also connected to a shopping mall where we can easily have our dinner and buy the groceries. There is also an ExplorerKids, cinema, bowling centre and KTV to entertain everyone. I guess we were spoil with choices.
Wild Wild Wet is a water park housing a variety of slides from easy and fun ones such as the professor playground to thrilling slides for the adventurous ones. To summarize, there is something fun for everyone at all ages in the park. It's interesting that the water park also rent out cabana [see picture taken from another website] equipped with fan, chairs and bean bags and a fridge full of coke. I thought this is a genius idea that allow us to take a break, rest and recharge before we continue our day with more fun at the slides.
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| Cabana for rent |
Beside the variety of slides, there is a Shiok River with all the floats where you can simply sit on it and let the river bring you through the entire river course. Of course, if you find the normal floats too boring, you may rent the fanciful floats at a nominal price of $8 per hour.
Anyway, the kids thoroughly enjoyed their day at the water park to the extent that we were all sun-burned.
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