Pity to those guests who arrive on 14 February and only stayed for 1 night as most places are closed on Chinese New Year, even the shopping malls! As a result, most of the guests stayed in my hostel playing cards, watching movies and ordered delivery for dinner.
The party for Chinese New Year in Singapore is on New Year's Eve in Chinatown. However, the feedback that I have gotten from my guests is that right after the countdown at 12 midnight, most of the people just went straight home. This is very different from most western countries as after the New Year's countdown, there is usually a huge party (or many huge parties) to attend. Some guests even saw Europeans staring at each other after all the locals had gone home, looking really bewildered and wondering where the party is.
This year, we held our celebration on 21 Feb (the 8th day of Chinese New Year). According to Wikipedia.org, the 8th day of Chinese New Year is the eve of the birth of the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor is the Taoist ruler of heaven and all realms of existence below including that of Man and Hell (again, explanation is obtained from Wikipedia.org). This is not the point though, the purpose of this entry is to show some pictures of our Chinese New Year celebration!
To celebration Chinese New Year, we bought 2 packets of Yu Sheng. Thanks for Esther who helped us to cut the carrots in order to save money as it is really expensive to buy from the supermarket! Yu Sheng is the Teochew style raw-fish salad. It consists of raw fish (salmon in our case) and shredded vegetables, with sauces and other condiments. It is considered a symbol of abundance, prosperity and vigor.
When you add the different ingredients, you are supposed to say very specific New Year's greetings:
Step 1. When dish is placed on the table, say 'Gong Xi Fa Cai', 'Wan Shi Ru Yi' (Congratulation and may you be properous)
Step 2. While squeezing the lemon over the fish, say 'Da Ji Da Li' (Wishing you Good Luck and blessings)
Step 3. Place the fish over the shredded carrots and radish, say 'Nian Nian You Yu' (Wishing you abundance inwealth every year)
Step 4. While sprinkling Pepper over the dish, say 'Hong Yun Dang Tou' (May you have good luck at your doorstep)
Step 5. While sprinkling Cinnamon powder, say 'Qing Chun Chang Zu' (May you be young forever)
Step 6. While pouring the Peanut oil, say 'Rong Hua Fu Gui' (May you enjoy prosperity)
Step 7. While pouring Plum sauce, say 'Tian Tian Mi Mi' (May sweetness enters your life)
Step 8. While pouring the crackers, say 'Man Di Huang Jin' (May gold falls at our feet)
Step 9. While tossing the Yu Sheng, say 'Yue Lao Yue Qi, Lao Dao Feng Shen Shui Qi' (Toss higher and higher till the wind and the oceans rise up for a good year ahead)
My 2 part timers (Yi Quan and Davian) happily volunteered to lead everyone in saying these greetings! Many thanks for that.
Everyone listening intently to the explanation
Getting ready to start preparing the 'Yu Sheng'
Everyone watching at the preparation. Some looking pretty amused.
The final product after adding all the ingredients
Everyone joining in the tossing of the Yu Sheng!
