Chinese New Year Preparation

Are all of you prepared for CNY already? Do you have a checklist of dos and don'ts for CNY? My mom is quite a traditional person so the traditional "procedures" have passed down to me to practise. Makes me feel that if I don't/do those things that she has taught me, lightning will strike me..haha...

Let's see if your practice are the same as mine:

Dos

1. Buy all the auspicious groceries. Abundant of them. Things like mandarins, seafood, rice, soft drinks, sweet snacks, bah kwa (bbq meat), nuts.  
2. Spring cleaning.
3. Cut hair way before CNY (hair sounds like wealth in chinese, so nobody will want to cut wealth during the beginning of the year. Of course, it is also because most salons will increase their price during that period).
4. Decorate the house with auspicious stickers and plants.
5. Remember all the auspicious greetings.
6. Buy new clothes and shoes, bras and panties.
7. Buy red packets (married couples)
8. Singles, make sure you carry a bag big enough for at least 2 mandarins, lots of red packets, tissue and makeup to touch up the face while visiting relatives and friends under Singapore climate.
9. Wash your car.
10. Groom your pets.
11. Get ready the medicine for sore throat or drink more cooling tea.
12. Eat vegetarian food if possible.
13. Pray at 12am.
14. Everything as red as possible. Excluding blood please.

Don'ts

1. Sweep floor during CNY period.
2. Curse people or talk nonsense. 
3. Eat too much heaty goodies.
4. Pluck other people's flowers.
5. Forget to give red packets if you are married and a single has greeted you with mandarins.
6. Forget to keep your red packets (for singles only).
7. Wear black.
8. Kill lives.

So how? Does the list tally with yours? It's quite fun preparing all the decorations and goodies right? I know many people will go chinatown to feel the real thing, but I think it's not for me. Don't like the sweaty people and them walking to close to me..Feel molested and paranoid of being robbed. So I always go to Takashimaya CNY Fair, with aircon and almost all the things I need..except bah kwa, which I will get from ION.

Takashimaya CNY Fair started from18 Jan to 8 Feb. It holds a variety of famous brands and food that are great for CNY.

 I think it will be more appropriate to make snakes instead of rabbits..

 Sugar coated lotus roots.

 I bought most of these sugar coated goodies..whole year sweet sweet nice nice..

 So red

 A lot of seafood available too.

 Bunny soft candies..quite pricey.

Cookies.

10 more days to CNY! Can't wait to eat at grandparents place as usual..although things are never be the same as few years back when everyone was well, we hope that this year will be better for everyone.

I wish everyone healthy, happy and everything smooth smooth throughout the year. 

Huat ah!

xoxo