I had a lot big dreams for this CNY for this was the first year I am celebrating in my own house and I LOVE decorating it to fill it up with festivities. For our entrance way, I used our tingkats from TiffinsByCandy to hold the mandarin oranges from our guest. There were bits and pieces of CNY vibes around the house. But I was the most proud of this.
I think I am an anomaly amongst the millennials. Most of them love X'mas but I think CNY is like the best time of the year. I love squeezing to 办年货, gyrating to the beats of the lion dance (sadly we didn't see any this year), snacking on all the CNY goodies. It was also my son's first year being more participating in the festive and boy did he take after his ole Mama.
In an attempt to bring traditions back, we even got ourselves a baking kit to try making some pineapples tart. Despite its ugly exterior (no fault of my son by the way, it was me, I just can't squeeze nice round shapes), it tasted really yummy! And we all had fun making it with the extended family.
For those who are not locals, CNY was really muted in Singapore because of the rising Covid cases and the restrictions on the number of visitors. Initially, it wasn't that bad until my MIL tested positive on the first day of CNY. Oh golly. Fortunately, our contact with her was limited so we stayed negative throughout but CNY kinda got delayed.
As a family, I like to think that we sort of came roaring back. So with 7 less days, we went on a mission to complete our visitations. And I am glad we did because our little one brought so much joy to the older folks. We also took this opportunity to reconnect with our old friends and relatives. Call me sentimental, but Covid has made me value my kinship and friendship a lot more. I know a lot of people used this opportunity to tighten their purse strings and gave less ang paos. But for me, some money has to be spent and this is one of them.
Like his mother, my son also enjoyed his visitations. He explored and had cheat-days moments where he nibbled on some CNY goodies/ snacks. He also participated in the rowdy loh-hei. And best of all he got to dress in fancy clothes. (Most of them are from The Elly Store by the way!)
Speaking about clothes, I wore a nice Batik piece from Blu for most of my visits. It is a piece from an local designer across our shores and I love it for its details. In fact, I liked it so much, I wore it at an X'mas gathering session LOL (it got me a nice tongue-lashing from my mother because you should always save the new clothes for CNY!) But not me la, I wear them immediately. This versatile piece looks so fine and suiting for a ballroom, and also causal enough for the streets of Orchard.
They have a lot of lovely pieces and mine had quite a bit details - ruffles, asymmetrical lengths. It is sort of an A-line cut so for ladies like me with broad shoulders, we might look a little bigger. The ruffles at waist was much appreciated because it hides my Mum-Tum. The asymmetrical lengths does make me look a little taller. For our sunny island, batik is god-sent because the fabric is so airy.
Pardon my very long post, but I am rather excited/ occupied this period. So ending the post with more CNY photos (My bro and I twinned) and more photos of nice xmas trees in Orchard (remind me to use cuter bags in future). Last but not least, a super auspicious and delicious cake from Rive Gauche. I have never see 3d jelly cakes as cute, so I thought it deserved a square as well. =)
