chinese new year 2013

Its almost 3am in the morning but I don't feel like sleeping yet, so I am here showing some tender loving care to my somewhat neglected blog haha.

While Chinese New Year has never been anything exciting for me, I still look forward to it; it always feels more like a 'new year' than the Gregorian counterpart. Perhaps because of the strong traditions and cultures that come attached with the Chinese New Year, the whole atmosphere seems happier.

This year my mother decided that she didn't want to cook for reunion dinner, so we took up a reunion dinner package at a coffee shop opposite my house, therefore making this the first time in years my family had a proper reunion dinner on the eve of the Chinese New Year.

The package was a little expensive, probably because all the other coffee shops in the area were closed and they were enjoying a monopoly. Food wasn't too bad though.

The dinner went okay I guess, but when you have a family that doesn't talk much to each other, you get more or less the same scenario at the dining table.

This year I took time out to visit Chinatown again to soak myself in the atmosphere. I first visited it two years back, and this year things hadn't really changed. In fact some of the stalls were selling the same things at the same place. The atmosphere was still great nonetheless.

The only photo I took, at the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. 

A stage was set up in the area too, with nightly performances leading up to the Eve. The audience seemed to be made up mostly of elderly residents living near the area, with a very small handful of curious tourists. I guess most of us weren't really interested in the performances.

Yesterday was Day 1 of Chinese New Year, and as per tradition we visited our aunt who lived a block away from us. The day ended with my cousins and their families visiting us.

That's all from me for now. Happy Chinese New Year to all!