#happy cny/lunar new year to those who celebrate | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

crow-posting · 11 days

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(For all the crew!!!)

Do they celebrate their resurrection day? If so, how? If not, why?

Do they celebrate any holidays? - @mantleoflight

⚠️ long post ⚠️

1. Do they celebrate their resurrection day? If so, how? If not, why?

The Awoken Brigade:

RZ-3 doesn't celebrate, but only because both he and Ori [his Ghost] forgot the exact day. 😅 He does, however, celebrate "Found Light Day," which is the Vanguard's version* of a shared birthday (similar to Tết).

*(Found Light Day is a headcanon, just fyi.)

Takara celebrates her resurrection day like it's a birthday. She doesn't invite a lot of people but she goes all out with food, desserts, and decor. The activities usually start out as high energy (eg really competitive Uno) but always devolve into something low-key, like movies. Truthfully Takara is happy with doing whatever as long as she gets to spend time with her loved ones.

Avraam doesn't celebrate his resurrection day, as he hasn't even got a death certificate from the Reef. It just feels awkward to celebrate his resurrection when people refuse to admit that he died in the first place. RZ-3 and Takara did throw him a living wake, however.

Riley doesn't celebrate his resurrection day for similar reasons to Avraam. The Reefborn keep "volunteering" information about Arsträd [his past self] and it's really uncomfortable for him. But he does enjoy Found Light Day and hopes to have parties like Takara at some point!

Fireteam Nike:

Bai was resurrected in the Dark Age, so he had little time or reason to celebrate such an event. Nowadays he holds a simple celebration around the time he was rezzed (he knows the week but not the day), by eating long noodles - to cherish his new life - and burning incense - to honor his old one.

Duane's resurrection day is too painful for him. Although he doesn't regret being a Guardian, he was the only known Spartan for the longest time and felt severed from everything he had ever known. His resurrection day reminds him of all he's lost and/or set aside for the sake of protecting humanity, so he tends to avoid it as much as possible.

Usad's resurrection day fell on Leap Day, so he chose a completely different day, June 21st, to celebrate it. Since coming to the Last City, he likes to joke that Solstice is his personal party, and usually participates in all festival events.

- - -

2. Do they celebrate any holidays?

The Awoken Brigade:

RZ-3 celebrates every Last City holiday to some extent. Crimson Days, Revelry, Solstice / MoT, Festival of the Lost, Dawning - you name it, he's there. However, he only does the bare minimum for Guardian Games as he finds the competitive event "boring" and "tedious."

Takara will casually take part in most Last City holidays/events, but she really only celebrates Dawning. She isn't sure why, but the general atmosphere speaks to her more than any other holiday or celebration. The "New Year" part of Dawning is her favorite.

Avraam has come to despise Night of Ascents, as The Night reminds him that he chose to stay in the Reef instead of helping Earth as originally planned. He has no opinion on other Awoken holidays, but is intrigued by Day of Arrivals*, an unofficial Earthborn tradition of acknowledging the Awoken who broke away to help humanity. As for Last City holidays, RZ-3 and Takara have pretty much dragged him into every activity at least once, "just so he knows what it's like."

*(Day of Arrivals is also one of my headcanons.)

Riley hasn't been around long enough to decide which holidays he wants to celebrate regularly, but he has observed both Night of Ascents and Dawning! He thinks he would like Revelry and/or Solstice if given the opportunity.

Fireteam Nike:

Bai celebrates a mix of Old Earth and Last City holidays, including Lunar New Year (CNY), Mid-Autumn Festival, Festival of the Lost and Dawning. His work as a Cryptarch has led him to research Golden Age holidays as well, such as the Traveler's arrival, but he has no interest in those beyond academics.

Duane doesn't celebrate holidays, but he'll still accept food and/or gifts if offered.

Usad loves Guardian Games but gets frustrated every time by the scoring system. Since he lived with Bai during the Dark Age, he also celebrates Lunar New Year (Tsagaan Sar) and Naadam. (As stated before, Solstice is more like a party than a holiday.)

- - -

Thanks so much for the ask, @mantleoflight!

#destiny the game #destiny 2 #destiny ocs #ask game #ask meme #ask prompt #rp ask blog #oc asks #crow-posting #oc-posting #rp-posting #destiny guardians #the awoken brigade #fireteam nike

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meraki-yao · 3 months

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Personal ramble 4 Feb 2024

So Chinese New Year is coming up next week. For those who don't know CNY is the biggest holiday for Chinese people, and we usually celebrate it for 16 days: from the last day of the previous lunar year to the 15th day of the new lunar year, which for this year is from 9th to 24th, although official holidays lasts for a week only,

And when I say it's the biggest holiday, it's big. There's a bunch of traditions: going to the flower market, getting flowers, getting new clothes, spring cleaning, decorating the house with couplets, visiting friends and relatives, having a big family meal, unmarried people get red packets/money etc etc. It's a happy time. And this year is the first CNY after the pandemic

Unfortunately for me, my family can't do most of the fun things this year.

My grandfather on my dad's side passed last November, and according to tradition, for a full year after an elder in the family passes, we're not really allowed to celebrate CNY. In fact, we're not allowed to decorate the house with couplets for three years. Filial piety is one of the most important values for Chinese people (which is why I have so many parental issues) and my dad is his father's only son, aka sort of the "heir" of the family, so we need to follow tradition.

And I understand and respect this tradition, I get why we have to follow it, but it's still kind of a pity that we can't join the festivities after most of the fun stuff was put on pause in 2020.

yeah just a sort of life update

#personal #techically my dad has a brother but because of money they gave him to another family to raise #so my dad's the only male bearing our family name #and if we follow the patrichary my dad has two daughter #so me and my sister kind of ended up ending the bloodline in the tradition sense?#ehhhhh whatever fuck the patrichary

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ellsieee · 1 year

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Happy lunar new year (to those who celebrate it)!

I had all my new year foods (fried new year pudding and poon choi) and I'm stuffed.

Some of my friends and I are lazy Asians and can't be bothered to bust out the Chinese keyboard, and we never learned jyutping, so we end up sending each other new year greetings using the English translation of Chinese characters that are homonyms or very similar sounding to the actual characters in the greeting. Just to be obnoxious. Since there's a limited pool of greetings, it's usually pretty easy to figure out what greeting is being used though we try to mix it up with the homonyms we use.

大吉大利 (great luck and prosperity) becomes big tangerine big tongue. 步步高陞 (career advancement) becomes step step tall star.

This year my friend and I sent each other the same greeting (心想事成). I sent: deep want time city. She sent: some up poop sing. 😂 I have to admit it took me a few seconds to process this one because she is a total cheater. She used some and sing as English words that sound like Chinese characters, while up and poop have to be translated into the Chinese character. *shakes fist* Though admittedly, I had a laugh.

This only works with Canto though. I once sent these weird CNY greetings in a group text and my Mando speaking friend was like wtf is this? 🤣

#random els things #the poon choi was so good #i had food coma #and now i have leftovers for days #like 5 big containers worth #yay less cooking for the next week? 😅

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nako-doodles · 2 years

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attenjin plebejins! the phishing king has a jinportant message for you simplejins! (for @stargazingjin♡)

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chinaaesthetic · 3 years

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Chinese New Year! 新年快乐!

*please note that the information below isn’t celebrated by everyone in the same way. Some customs are more common in northern China rather than southern China and vice-versa.

How to wish someone a Happy Chinese New Year:

1. 新年快乐！Xīnnián kuàilè! - Happy New Year! (This can be used one the first day of the lunar calendar as well as the Gregorian calendar).

2. 新春快乐！Xīnchūn kuàilè! - Happy Spring Festival!

3. 新年好！Xīnnián hǎo! - Hello! (This is how you greet people during Chinese New Year).

When greeting or wishing someone a Happy Chinese New Year, many Chinese people wish their family and friends things like: “I hope you have a happy and healthy family,” “I hope you get a job promotion,” “I hope you have good fortune and pockets overflowing with gold.” Here are some examples:

4. 恭喜发财！Gōngxǐ fācái! - Wish you a successful and prosperous year! (This saying is known well because of this Chinese New Year song you can watch here).

5. 阖家幸福! Hé jiā xìngfú - Wish you a happy family!

6. 事业有成! Shìyè yǒu chéng - Hope you have a successful career!

You can watch this YouTube video or read this article to learn more about how to wish someone a Happy Chinese New Year!

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What is Chinese New Year?

Chinese New Year, also known as lunar new year or the spring festival, celebrates the first day of the new year on the lunar calendar. In 2021, this holiday falls on Friday, February 12! This holiday is the most important holiday to those who celebrate this - its importance can be comparable to how Americans celebrate Christmas.

People have been celebrating Chinese New Year for about 3,500 - 3,900 years. It’s exact origins are unknown, but this tradition is believed to have started in the Shang Dynasty (1600-1049 BC) when people would make sacrifices to the gods and their ancestors towards the end of a year. However, the tradition was recorded and official during the Han Dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD) when Emperor Wu began using the lunar calendar. He chose to follow this calendar because it would let him know when second new moon after the winter solstice was.

Now, many Southeast Asian countries and people besides the Chinese celebrate Chinese New Year such as: Koreans, Vietnamese, Tibetans, etc. However, it is common to not see Japan celebrate Chinese New Year.

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Why do I keep hearing about the Year of the Ox/Cow?

Just like in western culture, there are zodiacs in eastern culture that the Chinese follow. There are 12 zodiacs, and these zodiacs follow a cycle of 12 years. Each new year represents one of the zodiacs.

In order, they are: Rat/mouse, Ox/cow, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.

2021 is year of the Ox/Cow - 2020 was year of the Rat/Mouse - 2019 was Year of the Pig... and so on.

Because each zodiac has its own characteristics, they define a year. Chinese zodiac scholars have said in 2021, Year of the Ox, will be a flip-around positive change. They believe this year will be lucky and that it will be a good time to focus on love and relationships. People who are born in years of the Ox are known to have a lot of endurance, be calm and confident, but are also stubborn.

Just like in western culture, these zodiacs are believed to affect personality, fortune, etc, and instead of getting your zodiac by your birth month, you get your zodiac by your birth year. If you are interested in your Chinese zodiac, you can type in your birthday on this calculator and read about it.

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What happens during Chinese New Year and how long do you celebrate it for? Lantern Festival?

On average, Chinese New Year is celebrated for about 15-16 days (from about New Year’s eve to the first full moon). Preparations start seven days before New Years because stores and restaurants close and people travel to be with their families. Most students are also on their big break during this time - they get off from school around the beginning of january and go back after Chinese New Year. It should also be noted that Northern China and Southern China celebrate the new year differently.

During the preparation period, people go shopping for food and decorations. They also clean the house very well. If living in a different city than one’s family, many people will travel back to their hometown to celebrate with family.

During the New Year’s Eve period, the house is decorated with New Year’s decorations, and there is a reunion dinner with family at the host’s house. Out of all the dinners you have during the year, it is incredibly important you don’t miss this dinner, which is why there are so many issues with travelling during this time. At this dinner, you eat many lucky foods such as dumplings and fish. Also during this time, the older generations will give younger generations something called 红包, which translates to “red envelope.” These envelopes are filled with money and are only given on very special occasions such as new years and weddings. Friends give these to each other, but it is not common at all for a younger generation to give one to an older generation person. There is a custom where families stay up late to “watch over the new year,” which is called 守岁. Late at night, people also like to go to temples to hear the first bells of the new year ring because they believe it will drive away bad luck.

On Chinese New Year’s Day, fireworks go off, families cook and eat large meals together, sacrifices are made to ancestors, etc. (Fireworks are especially important because they believe it will make your business more successful.) One popular tradition you might know of is the dancing lion/dragon parades where people wear a dragon costume and parade through the city. Dragons are very representative of Chinese culture and are thought to bring luck to a community. Lions are a symbol of protection.

For about a week after the first day, most people go visit family and friends. A lot of times people will visit the other side of their family. For example, someone will spend most of the time with their mother’s side of the family during the new year, then during this week, they will go visit relatives of the father’s side.

After that week, most people go back to work. This is around day 8-10. Businesses, restaurants, and stores reopen, and many people leave their hometown to go back to jobs in the city.

Day 15, the final day of Chinese New Year, is the Lantern Festival. On this day, the first full moon of the new year happens. To celebrate, people will light more fireworks, revisit family, eat sweet dumplings (called tangyuan), and participate in the Lantern Festival. People release lit lanterns into the sky to honor dead ancestors. This is called 元宵节.

You can read more here.

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What foods are eaten during Chinese New Year, and what do they represent?

During Chinese New Year, many special foods are eaten, and these are foods that are considered to be lucky and to bring fortune into the new year.

1. Dumplings - represent wealth. Dumplings take hours to make and involve family help. They’ve been eaten for at least 1,800 years and are especially popular in northern China. It is said that the more dumplings you eat during the new year, the more money you will make.

2. Fish - represents prosperity and success. The word “fish” in Chinese sounds like the word “surplus” in Chinese.

3. Glutinous Rice Cake/Nian gao - represents success in your work (more money, better position).

4. Spring rolls - represent wealth. They get their name because they are most often eaten during the Spring Festival which is CNY. This dish is more popular in eastern and southern China.

5. Oranges, tangerines - represents luck and fortune. This is originally a Cantonese custom, but many people grace their tables with citrus fruits. The word for “tangerine” sounds similar to the word for “good fortune” in Chinese.

6. Longevity noodles - represents longevity. These noodles are longer than usual to represent a person’s long and happy life. This is more commonly eaten in northern China. *It should be noted that these are mostly eaten on birthdays but can be eaten during the NY as well.

7. Sweet rice balls/tang yuan - togetherness in family. This food is eaten during the Lantern Festival, the last day of Chinese New Year. The shape and pronunciation is associated with closeness of the family.

8. Snacks - represent a sweet and pleasant life. Any sweet snack like dried fruit, candy, tanghulu is eaten during this time.

When it comes to food during Chinese New Year, there are superstitions about how foods should be prepared and what makes them lucky. You can read more about them here as well as here.

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What kinds of decorations are put up in houses during the new year? What do the colors represent?

1. Spring/door couplets - These couplets originated in the Shu era. As seen in the picture below, you post these on doors in couples - in Chinese culture, even numbers are seen as good luck. On many of these couplets are written wishes or poems for the new year. Each couplet should have the same rhythm and the same number of words.

2. Paper cutting - Translated as “window flower,” these intricate, red paper cutting pieces are placed on windows and often represent the zodiac of the new year or other symbolic animals such as fish, dragons, and phoenixes.

3. Upside down characters/Fortune - Many Chinese people during the new year hang up positive characters such as Fu, which means happiness and good fortune. It is written in calligraphy on a red piece of paper and then put upside down on doors and windows. It is hung upside down because the people want the good fortune to fall down onto them.

4. Red lanterns - These lanterns push away bad luck and are seen during both the Spring and Autumn Festival. They can be hung on trees, outside houses, etc. There are also many styles - they can come in many shapes and have symbols written on them.

5. Kumquat trees - As said before, citruses represent good luck and fortune. People place kumquats and citrus fruits on their tables or decorate their homes with small kumquat trees.

You can read more about decorations here as well as here.

Common colors seen during Chinese New Year are red and gold, but green can also be found.

The color red is not only dominate during Chinese New Year, but it is also very representative of Chinese culture as well. Red signifies fire, good fortune, and happiness. It is representative of good luck, keeps the holiday very joyous, and scares away bad spirits.

Gold or yellow is considered to be a very beautiful color. Gold symbolizes wealth, riches, and prosperity.

Green represents money, harmony, and growth.

Though these are the most common colors, it should be noted that a color combination of green and red is considered to be tacky in Chinese culture.

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What do people wear during Chinese New Year?

On the first day, it is traditional to wear new clothes and new accessories as it symbolizes new beginnings. However, there are people who like to wear sentimental accessories to respect and remember their ancestors.

Some people like to wear traditional Qipao/Cheongsam, Tang Suits, and Hanfu, but many people stick to western clothes like skirts, dresses, and pants. There is also a tradition of wearing lucky, red underwear for New Years.

Tang suits are the most popular to wear during the New Year, Qipao is also popular, but it is often too cold to wear during the winter months. Many people are starting to wear Hanfu again to celebrate the new year, but it isn’t widely accepted yet to wear during the new year.

During the new year, people wear a lot of red and gold. It is important to NOT wear mostly white and/or black. These symbolize death, and white is worn at funerals. Anything that is bright, bold, and upbeat should be fine to wear, but you should go for something that is red.

*If you want to wear something that is traditional Chinese for New Years, please make sure you know about cultural appropriation and know how to wear these properly.

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As there is so much information about Chinese New Year, I cannot possibly tell you all about it in one post. It is truly something that you must experience in your lifetime. It is very beautiful, fun, and there are so many things to do and celebrate. I ask you that you please research this more and look at all the beautiful pictures of food, lanterns, fireworks, etc.

Please stay safe and 新年快乐！

#lunar new year #china #year of the cow #mandarin #chinese new year #langblr #studyblr #cny #chinese

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cavvaje · 3 years

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didnt know what to do for cny, and have been really busy myself, so here's an attempt at putting eivor in a lunar new year colour scheme :)

happy lunar new year to those who celebrate! 🐂🧧

#ac valhalla #eivor #m!eivor #male eivor #lunar new year #screenshots #im so tired man #c:m

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babygirljoelmiller · 3 years

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gung hay fat choi and happy lunar new year to my fellow azn’s🧧🧧 especially those who never felt particularly connected to their heritage. and especially if you’re 24 this year because it’s finally our year again lol 🐂

this is my first year home for cny in about 5 years because i was always away for school and i was stuck in LA right before covid last year. i have a lot of mixed feelings about everything but it’s nice to be around family and to talk to other asian people at work about their families and traditions. still feelin weird.

(this post is just for me to talk to myself so don’t rb but if anyone else is celebrating i’d love to hear about what you’re doing !)

#k8.txt

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samsideup · 4 years

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To: Black Roses 🌹

Chinese New Year, otherwise known as Lunar New Year, is coming right up! Where I live, we celebrate it quite extensively (tho not as elaborated as in China). So I won’t be posting regular content for a bit. But I’ll be back in no time!

To those who celebrate it as well, a happy advanced cny to you and your loved ones! Hope you’ll collect lots of angbao (& if you’re alr married, yikes, hope the damage to your wallet is not too painful). Eat lots too! Diet comes after...

To the rest who don’t, let’s patiently wait for the boys’ comeback! Their latest insta stories rlly showed them being hard at work. I honestly can’t wait to see/hear what they have prepared. I’m sure you guys are excited too!

Said this one time too many but, please still feel free to drop me an ask/message (anon works too!) I’d still be around to chat and I’d love to get to know all of you :)

- Q

#personal #black roses #the rose #i posted this on my other side account for ji chang wook too #if you happened to see both #LETS BE FRIENDS

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jichagiwook · 4 years

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To: Wookie’s Fans

Said this one time too many but, please still feel free to drop me an ask/message (anon works too!) I’d still be around to chat and I’d love to get to know all of you :)

#ji chang wook #personal #i posted this on my other side account for The Rose too #if you happened to see both #LETS BE FRIENDS

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maxverstepponme · 2 years

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This is not something trying to start any disputes just a Chinese side of the story. Chinese New Year is lunar new year, lunar calendar January 1st. The Lunar calendar is created by the Chinese people, so is the lunar new year. So it is Chinese and known as CNY for many many years. None of my friends from all over the world called it lunar new year. I always had to explain the lunar part to them. But about five years ago, we had south Asian people (don’t want to mention the country) posting comments on Twitter and insta telling everyone to say lunar instead of Chinese. I think it’s when we started to get pissed because we’ve had so many things Chinese claimed to be others’ so all Chinese stopped saying lunar new year on social media like we used to because we don’t want our culture stolen. I think those people didn’t do it just for cultural reasons, they also did it for political reasons too as we still have territorial disputes and wars during the Cold War, and economic ones today. I used to tag both in my posts before that but not anymore. Obviously we have no problem with other people of counties celebrating it or calling it lunar new year but telling others to not call it CNY is something we have problems with. It’s like saying Christmas has nothing to do with Christianity for us. I don’t want any fights or arguments, if anyone wants to call it lunar new year it’s perfectly fine but just don’t tell me not to call it Chinese New Year. This is not about not being inclusive or generous. Then again if you want to call us petty then okay we just want to take care of our own things 😂 As for brands calling CNY, like Alfa Romeo for Zhou, I really don’t think telling them to change would work too. It’s known to them to be CNY and, big market yk 😂 //

I'm the anon who asked. You seem a little pissed about this situation. I would discuss but you seem very precise. I never said people to change but we don't call it that way here. We actually don't call it Lunar New Year too. But I would like to say christmas example didn't make sense to me since only Christians celebrate it but this one is not only celebrated Chinese. Thank you for info. Didn't know that way. Happy cny

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cherriedlusts · 3 years

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♡ ˙ ˖ — happy valentine’s and happy lunar new year / cny to those who celebrate!!🌹

#.✰* — ˗ˏˋ ooc ˎˊ˗#牛年大吉！！🐮❤️🧧#also i finally fixed my theme!#next up: fixing the muse page lol

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marsellaseptha · 3 years

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#latepost Happy Chinese New Year for those who celebrates....🙏 Gong xi Gong xi🙏 . . . . . #cny #chinesenewyear #newyear #lunar #lunarnewyear #ox #yearofox #yearoftheox #tahunbaruimlek #tahunbarucina #tahunbaruchina #chinesenewyear2021 #tahunbaruimlek2021 #imlek #imlek2021 #pinkfilter #pinkstagram #pinkfeed #pinkaesthetic https://www.instagram.com/p/CLM-wVsLcj6/?igshid=5qde2rx7vxnx

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bites-kms · 5 years

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Lunar New Year

Living in Asia changed my life.

It gave me unthinkable opportunities, it made me grow, it gifted me with lovable traditions that I will keep, it fed my soul and my belly with delicious treats and dishes but most importantly, it gave me life-lasting memories and friends.

Vietnam, Year of the Goat - 2015

I first got in touch with the wrongly called “Chinese New Year” in Vietnam, shaped as Tet. Tet is the Lunar New Year celebrated throughout the country, where people travel milles and milles to be with their relatives. They eat a very cute, squared and perfectly packed rice cake, also known as the Emperor’s cake, which consists on a quite tasty wrapped pork with rice pie in banana leaves. People clean their houses to bring prosperity and to remove last’s year bad luck, they toast to their elders and dead ones, and they eat big feasts of delicious food.

They toast to the Mot Hai Ba, Yo! with Saigon Beer and kids get excited about the hand out of the li-xi, the red envelope containing lucky money for the year to come. I was so exciting about this I flipped the traditional elder-younger order, since I was the one working and I wanted to give back, hence, I gave a li-xi to my Vietnamese granny as well, that sweet, old tea lady, wearing pajamas and selling lottery tickets by my street. At the Phibious office we did some offers with a chicken and oranges, and celebrated with a big, nice dinner all together with Karaoke, traditional music and li-xi giveaways.

Ham Nghi, one of the main streets in HCMC, becomes the most colorful and scented street in all Saigon with a flower display and market they arrange to celebrate the occasion. It was my first tet-a-tet with Tet. I didnt know what to eat, what to do nor how to celebrate it.

For Westerners, it’s a another beautiful excuse to explore. It’s probably one of the longest paid time-off people get, so we took proper advantage of it. After coming back from Australia, we decided to spend almost all of the savings we got left and go to Ha Noi, the northern ex-capital of Vietnam, and Ha Long Bai, while taking the week to explore the beautiful country that was hosting us. We didnt have any family but ourselves to visit so we made sure to build and find our own. We enjoyed everything and did quite a lot in such short term: an overnight train ride with two strangers to Ha Noi, a nice and centric hotel stayed, two nights sailing between the dragon’s tail of Ha Long Bai arguing with the waiter what does happy hour vs. 3X2 meant, long drives to Sapa and even longer walks through their rice fields, being mesmerized, surprised and loved by its people, bargaining at the different markets for beautiful blankets and cups, learning more from them than what they could ever have taken from us, eating the most delicious pork and rice that I’ve ever had in my life, being grateful and happy with my special person by my side and watching the New Year’s fireworks by the Turtle pond back in Ha Noi while eating the real Northern Pho Ga was priceless. From the moment we left Nguyen Phi Khan, we kept laughing and wishing everyone “Chuc Mung Nam Moi!”. It was indeed, a beautiful way to start the Year of the Goat.

The Year of the Monkey I spent it in cold Stockholm, sharing an equally cold greeting on Facebook and crying over the emotional doodle. I think around the same time I tried to cook Pho and discovered an Asian supermarket by Hornstull, but that was pretty much it.

Singapore, Year of the Rooster - 2017

But then, life is generous and took me back to Singapore, where I could really learn about the importance and significance of the Lunar New Year. In Singapore, there was no issue about calling it Chinese New Year, on the contrary, they have this beautiful acronym they use throughout all their celebrations and communications (CNY). I’ve learned the new greeting, it was Gong Xi Fa Cai, and it took me a long time to actually remember it without reading it!

Ogilvy Singapore really invests on keeping their employees happy, at least regarding bonding and general events. Each year, they bring the lions and dragons to dance and to wish prosperity to all of us, they give us 2 oranges for the dragon to leave us lucky numbers, they hand out the red envolopes they call angbaos. This was the first time I experience the Prosperity Fish Toll, Yu Sheng or Lo Hei. It was a fun, weird and inexplicable mess. I has so much fun!

It is a simple dish, based on a Cantonese Raw Fish Salad. It usually consists of strips of raw fish, mixed with shredded vegetables, crackers, and a variety of sauces and condiments. In Chinese, fish is one accent away from abundance. That’s why it it’s a common belief that in order to get prosperity, wealth and abundance it is important to have some sort of fish on New Year’s table. The higher you toss it, the more abundance and prosperity you’ll have, hoping that your wishes come true. They are multiple versions of this activity but at the moment, is commonly associated with Chinese New Year celebrations done in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Personally, I really like the concept of li-xi (VN) or angbao (Hokkien version of Hóngbāo) those beautiful, hand-crafted red envelopes with golden drawings containing lucky money much more than the regular western gifts. The more you give, the more you’ll get in return. And I absolutely love that.

New York City, Year of the Dog - 2018

It was my first Lunar New Year outside Asia after a major Asian’s immersion. I couldn't wait to celebrate it and share all the knowledge I got with my parents who where in town. We went to Nom Wah Tea Parlor, one of the oldest if not the oldest dim sum place in NYC, brought straight from Hong Kong. Later on, I was wearing my kimono and went Karaoke. I know, BIG mess of random concepts and badly executed ideas done by a Western/Latina girl who though she was, even for a moment, Asian.

But thank god I had my Step Up Ogilvy Singapore Crew to save the date. They spent the whole weekend cooking and preparing this feast. They had the Google Home playing Chinese New Year’s songs. The six of them + a korean wife, displayed Singaporean delights in front of my face and taught me the beauty of this preparation. We needed to say the prosperity prayer, we placed a newspaper underneath it in order to control the mess, we made sure we had enough plates and alcohol to toast and eat for the upcoming New Year. Fish, shrimp, chicken and even mussels were there to bright up our night and my failed attempt to celebrate the Year of the Dog in proper and legit way.

New York City, Year of the Pig - 2019

This time, we were ready. I was counting the days to meet with the new friends Ogilvy Singapore, even one year later, keeps gifting me with. We scheduled the dinner in advance, we were excited to see Sameed again and we went full on for a Malay-Singaporean style feast in Rasa. We had some Malaysian prawn Mee, Maggie Goreng, Kang Kung, Satay Combo, Salted Egg Yolk Prawn, Rendang Beef, Curry Chicken, Soft Shell Chilli Crab, Cereal Shrimp, Sambal Stingray, Indonesian Chicken, some Pad Thai and Nasi Lemak.

It was great to have a little piece of Singapore with me today. I guess that once you live in a country part of you never truly leaves. It’s like The Squid Theory: you keep leaving traces behind while shaping yourself and your path from the places you’ve been, the people you’ve met and the food you’ve ate.

So, to all my friends around the world who share with me the joy of celebrating Lunar New Year, Chuc Mung Nam Moi and Gong Xi Fa Cai full of prosperity and best wishes to enjoy, embrace and live up to the fullest the Year of the Pig!

Asia, I miss you and I really cant wait to go back! ♥

#asia #singapore #vietnam #food #foodie #newyork #nyc #lunarnewyear #chinesenewyear #cny #yearofthepig #pig

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ireviewuread · 5 years

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Where to get Chinese New Year Snacks online? | CNY Delivery SG | Sponsored

Chinese New Year Snack

Chinese New Year, the time of the year where you dress in red, recite your greetings and get/give those red packets. Of course, let’s not forget the main part of celebrating Lunar New Year - Nope, it ain’t Mahjong nor steamboat - it’s the snacks. I always look forward to going back to my grandparents’ place for there’s always an abundance of these tasty CNY snacks. From almond cookies to Hae Bee Hiam, I will consume them all. However, a series of concerns come to mind as I ate these goodies.

Most of the times my grandparents were often forced to wander out of their houses to get these snacks. As they get older, I felt that it has become increasingly more inconvenient for them do so. With the advancement of technology, we’re now able to order these CNY goodies and delivery fuss free to their house. Personally, I prefer handmade goodies for they taste more authentic than machinery produced snacks. Additionally, with the lack of preservatives and artificial flavourings it makes these snacks a little bit healthier for your body. That’s where Poon Confectionary - CNY Delivery comes in.

Poon Confectionary | CNY Delivery SG

Established in 1971, Poon Confectionary is a bakery that was first set up in Pahang, Malaysia. They offer homemade and handmade freshly baked Chinese New Year goodies and snacks. Using quality ingredients, the bakery utilises recipes that have been passed down 3 generations to produce 30 different kinds of Lunar New Year snacks. In addition, they do not use any preservatives or artificial flavourings in their snacks. Who says you can’t take the healthy route when you choose your Chinese New Year snacks.

A factor that allows them to produce such tasteful delicacies is how each and every confectionary was still made by hand instead of heavy machinery. This meant that each and every piece that you savour in your mouth is an exclusive piece. Plus handmade cookies just taste so much better. Specializing in CNY snacks, Poon Confectionary offer over 30 different variety from Pineapple tarts to Love letters. It’s the typical Asian heaven. On top of that, they even have hampers and flowers. However, in this post, we’re going to be touching on the snacks portion.

Since 30 bottles of snacks are just too much for my small family, I’ve narrowed it down and chosen 3 of the staples:

Salted Egg Lotus Roots

Cheese Pineapple Tarts

Peanut Butter Love Letter (Kuih Kapit)

We’re going to test these snacks out in order of the list.

Salted Egg Lotus Roots

With the salted egg trend still going strong, it is no doubt that I’ve ordered a salted egg item as part of my CNY snack attack. The Salted Egg Lotus Root is the perfect item to ease your lotus roots cravings. Additionally, the reason why people have lotus roots every year is that it is a homophone for “having every year”. A snack you should never be without.

Coated with an abundance of salted egg seasoning, I was shocked that the sweetness of the lotus root was more prominent than the seasoning. I like how the roots were sliced finely and evenly, giving the lotus root a more orderly look. Despite my delight in its appearance and the sweetness of the lotus root, I felt that the salted egg seasoning leaned more towards the salty side than the salted egg taste.

In spite of that, I still felt that the lotus root still made a very good snack to munch on while your aunt is reminding you how old you are during the Lunar New Year. Maybe she will stop if you give her some of this but we will never know until you try.

So get your lotus roots cravings here.

Cheese Pineapple Tarts

Who celebrates Chinese New Year without pineapple tarts? Not me. That’s why we’re not skipping out on them. This time I chose the cheese pineapple tarts to sample. Upon first look, each and every tart looked slightly different. A sure sign that these tarts were handmade. As I broke the tart into halves, I could feel the firm external pastry crumbling to reveal the soft internal goodness.

Filled with sweet pineapple stuffings, the pineapple tart gave me a nostalgic feeling when I first bit into it. The sweetness from the flavorful fillings suffused my taste buds the moment I bit into a golden pillow. The quality ingredients they used were clearly presented in the taste and texture of the tarts.

The buttery crust with the light golden brown texture on top had a mixture of lightly sprinkled cheese on the surface. A slightly salted taste was detected on the surface of the crust. It is the perfect compliment to the usual pineapple tart. However, I would prefer if the cheese was more flavorful.

All in all, I do enjoy the pineapple tart. It was firm on the outside and soft on the inside. It doesn’t crumble too much and it is in the perfect aesthetics. The sweetness from the pineapple fills your mouth while giving you a tinge of saltiness from the cheese.

If you’re not up for trying the mixture of cheese and pineapple, Poon Confectionary also produce regular pineapple tarts too. You can get these Pineapple Tarts here.

Peanut Butter Love Letter (Kuih Kapit)

Last but not least, love letters! Be it stuffed or empty, I love snacking on these love letters. Since I had a strong peanut butter craving, I decided to go for this peanut butter filled love letters. Each bottle has 25 pieces of deliciously filled and folded love letters. What strikes me the most is how much fillings there are in each and every love letter. They are almost a cm thick each.

What amazed me was how they even self-made the peanut butter. It tasted heavenly. With a mix of sweetness and a hint of saltiness, this has got to be the best peanut butter I’ve tasted.

The loud crunch the moment I bit into the love letter, brought me back to the days. Where I quietly sat at the corner of my grandmother house munching sticks after sticks of love letters. The baked buttery taste from the love letter was strong enough to balance out the strong peanut butter taste, allowing both to compliment each other.

Out of the 3 goodies, I got to say that the Peanut Butter Love Letters have got to be my favourite. The love letters were not only baked to perfection but the homemade peanut butter got me gaining an addiction. This is a definite must-have snack this Lunar New Year - especially for those with a sweet tooth.

You can purchase these delicious peanut butter filled love letters here.

That’s it for my Chinese New Year staples snacks review. Check out CNY Delivery SG | Poon Confectionary on their website. If you’re looking to try out these goodies yourself. You can walk into their store for a free tasting. All relevant information listed down below. Happy Lunar New Year!

CNY Delivery SG

Free Tasting:

502 Macpherson Road

S368204 (Opposite Caltex)

Opening Hours: 1 pm – 10 pm Daily

Order the goodies online: Website | Phone: +65 97626523 | Email: [email protected] | Facebook | Instagram

#food #collab #Chinese New Year Snacks online #cny snacks #CNY Delivery SG #lunar new year

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