.::. River Angbao .::.

The husband suggested to drop by River Angbao on the floating platform on CNY eve, after the reunion dinner.  It's been eons since he suggested something like that!  And I'm excited, because it's something which we used to do.  I remembered that he was angry with me the last River Angbao because I kept nagging him to bring me while he was reluctant.  It was me who was lazy this year, and thought that I could simply go home to sleep!



Dragon Rickshaw.

The entrance.  It was crowded, as usual.

The performance stage with MBS as a backdrop.

There seemed to be a lot more food stalls this year.  There's also a fun fair with children games and cotton candy.

I'm an Oxen!

The lanterns were pretty!  I wonder if they'll reuse them for lantern festival in Chinese Garden?

Hello Dragon.

I remembered that there was a God of Fortune spitting out small pieces of papers with numbers for you to buy 4D the last time.  But this seem to be the 'God of Fortune' this year.

And we tried rather unsuccessfully to take a picture with them in the background.

The husband took this picture and insisted that it was perfect since there's the 'God of Fortune', a piggy and the MBS as a backdrop.

Us.

It was still pretty early and we went to sit down to wait for the fireworks at 1230am.

But to our dismay, it started drizzling at 11pm.  By 1130pm it was a full-blown downpour.  We shared a tiny umbrella and went for shelter like everyone else.  We were contemplating to miss the fireworks and go home instead.  It was so windy and raining so heavily!

Who knows, we started hearing loud noises and realized that they started the fireworks early!  And so everyone jostled out of the shelter to catch the fireworks.

I was really surprised, because it was raining so heavily!  I always thought that you can't have fireworks if it's raining?

The atmosphere was great because everyone was rushing out to catch a glimpse of the fireworks despite the heavy rain.  There are families with kids, couples and old people, all excited about the fireworks and exclaiming in awe.  I was savoring the moment, looking at the fireworks and snuggling closer to the husband under the tiny umbrella.  All the while feeling amazed and blessed.

The wind was pretty strong and blew the formations away quickly, very fast paced fireworks!

Look at the very wet floor and people with their umbrellas.

And when it all ended, people cheered.  What a great start to the dragon year, he sure has made it known that he's a water dragon.

A lot of tourists were all soaked.  It was really a heavy downpour and we were both pretty much drenched and cold.

And probably because of the rain and late nights, plus the prawn rolls and BBQ food I had on CNY Day 1, I was totally down on CNY Day 2 and spent the day sleeping till dinner-time.  My throat hurt, and my whole body was aching so bad, it was impossible to get out of bed.  By day 3, I was still aching and had to visit the doctor.  Till date, I'm still not fully well.  Horrible virus.

That about sums up my boring Chinese New Year.

.::. Reunion Dinner .::.

I had 2 reunion dinners on Chinese New Year eve this year, one at 6pm and one at 8pm.

Although the husband would like me to join his reunion dinner, I insisted on going for my own reunion dinner.  It's probably the last year which I could actually insist after all, and I didn't really want my family to have our reunion dinner on another day just because of me.  It ended up that the timing was possible for me to make it to both!



Mummy and the sisters.

How can you have reunion dinners without Yusheng?

Second round at the Overseas Restaurant.  The food was pretty good, the roasted pork is famous.

Looks like the kid are having fun among themselves.

As much as eating out on reunion dinner is the norm nowadays, don't you miss those good old days when  families cook a feast and gather together?

Nothing beats good-old home-cooked food, especially during such festive days.  My grandmother used to really put in effort to cook many sumptuous dishes on during such festive seasons and all of us would squeeze in the tiny kitchen and eat around a charcoal steamboat.

Chinese New Year is getting less interesting these years.  I remembered making all kinds of CNY goodies with my aunts and grandmother from young.  We would spend hours and many weekends in the kitchen, kneading dough, mixing flour and even making egg rolls one by one from scratch.  You'll have to quickly roll it when it's very hot, otherwise it'll harden once it's cools.  It was hard work, but good fun and made up a huge part of my childhood memories.

As such traditions die off, I wonder what would my kids remember of Chinese New Year in future?  Simply another day when you eat in a restaurant and call pizza/Mac delivery because no shops are open?

.::. Almost there .::.

Today, we dropped by our future home.  The flats are already mostly ready and people have already started collecting their keys.

There are already people staying in other blocks!

Right outside our unit, but no keys to go in.

The doors look pretty nice!

Cheap thrill really.

But it made me really happy to drop by our future home.  I'm already studying my floor plan and visualizing how I want my home to look like.

3 more months and I'm going to step right in.

Nothing beats seeing all your dreams unfold bit by bit.

Love that feeling, though I can't help but be stressed over all that financial outlay this year.

Things will turn out fine, eventually.

.::. Duxton Hill .::.

We walked from New Majestic Hotel to Duxton Hill to get a whole cake for my sister's (and my) birthday.



I loved the feel of the place.  It was quiet and peaceful on a Sunday morning.

It was so quiet, with quaint shop houses and bars which looked like this.

It really didn't feel like Singapore.

We finally reached the bakery, but they didn't have whole cakes left.  It's a Japanese bakery, frequented by Japanese apparently.

Alas, we didn't get our cake and had a hard time getting a cake during CNY eve.

Another day perhaps.

.::. Happy Birthday .::.

The girls were the first to celebrate my birthday for me a week before, with a little cake during dim sum brunch.  I miss having all the girls together, it simply feels different with someone missing.

The husband celebrated my birthday with me on Saturday night, 2 days before the actual day.



He has already bought the cake and kept them in the hotel fridge.  To my delight, there's 4 different mini cakes!  All of them looks yum yum,

Needless to say, I'm a happy girl.

Make a wish.

Blow-out the candles and I can tuck in soon!

I kept looking on the cake on the extreme right that looks like a Mont Blanc cake made of Chestnuts which I dislike.  I kept telling him that I don't like that but he kept asking me to try it.  Surprisingly, it was an earl grey cake with a banana center!  It was very unique and went well, but I found it too sweet.

My favorite is probably the mango tart on the extreme right.  I like the danish pastry below and light custard cream inside.  Perhaps the earl grey cake was too sweet, but I found the chocolate cake and strawberry shortcake 'not-sweet'.  The strawberry shortcake was very light and fresh, but with very little cream though.  The chocolate cake was thick and rich but I found it a tad dry.  But all the cakes were still pretty good though!

I liked the mango tart.

Then I celebrated my birthday on the actual day with my sisters and extended family.  It was the loudest 'Happy Birthday' song ever.  We almost couldn't get a cake!  Most of the shops were closed when I tried to buy a cake on CNY eve.  Luckily, the husband got us a cake from Royals at Siglap.

Making a wish with my little sister.

It's good to have my little sister celebrating our birthdays together.

*blows.

A family portrait.

Another family portrait.

I don't like it when my birthday falls on the first day of Chinese New Year.  There's the visiting to do, and having to celebrate it on the same day simply seem way too rushed.

Somehow, this year, CNY and birthday didn't feel very exciting at all.  In fact, I was in bed the whole of second day and today, down with throat infection.  *bleah.

It's gonna be a very busy, exciting and fulfilling year ahead though.  =)

.::. Chinatown @ CNY .::.

After dinner, we walked to Chinatown.

It's an annual affair to visit Chinatown during the Chinese New Year.  I do not buy much things, yet I like  walking through the streets and take in the atmosphere.  I love those traditional stuff, but it seems like more people are selling fashion, and too many Taiwanese foodstuff and mocha stores!  There's even a Taiwanese bridal store selling packages there.  =_=""



Waxed meat.  I love my fried rice with lup cheong!  I will buy some for my own house next year!

Pomelo.  Lots of them.

Flowers and lanterns.  I like this Chinese New Year stick-like flowers!  My grandmother used to have that every year and hopefully I will get them for my own place next year.

And this uncle is singing very happily on the streets.

He was super energetic!

And I love my new lens, else it'll not be possible to take such pictures with my old kit lens.

Hello 2012.

Streets of Chinatown

Rehearsals for the CNY eve show.

This is so old-school and a dying trade!

Really pretty.

And the traditional biscuits.  I didn't get it this year, since there's so little variety left and none that I like.

The familiar streets of Chinatown during Chinese New Year.

Will you bring you little children to Chinatown?  I don't quite understand parents who bring very tired kids to Chinatown or even try to squeeze prams on the crowded streets.  It's difficult to even walk in the crowd, much less push a pram!

Pretty flowers.

That concludes our Chinatown trip and post-dinner activity.