Every year before the Chinese New Year, me and my family will visit Chinatown at Eu Tong Sen street to feel the atmosphere of the Lunar New Year with streets lighting and decorations and of course to grab some CNY goodies at the various stalls at the Chinatown Bazaar.
Celebrate the year of the Rooster at Chinatown begins with the official light up and opening ceremony on 7 Jan by President, Dr Tony Tan. This year the street is decorated with the largest number of lanterns in the festival history of Chinatown which 5500 of lanterns were handcrafted and illuminate the streets using environmentally friendly LED lights.
More than 400 stalls have lined up at Pogada Street, Smith Street, Temple Street, Sago Street and Trengganu Street for this festive bazaar. As this year the weather in the month of January can be quite warm, it will be better to put on something light and comfortable to walk in the crowds through the bazaar.
Various stalls have set up ready their goods at the bazaar in the early morning of 7 Jan. Who are their first customers? As usual, samples of food and delicacies will be given to people who go near to these food stalls.
You can get from here various type of tibits like dried mangoes, variety of sour plums and other dried fruits.
Seeds especially melon seeds are often eaten during Lunar New Year as they symbolise harvest, abundance and also fertility. Dyed red melon seeds symbolise joy and happiness. Most household will surely get some of these seeds and put inside their circular or octagonal-shaped prosperity tray to serve guests.
Sweets symbolise safety and good fortune. They are a must to have to 'sweeten' the new year. Fruit jellies being popular with kids are available as usual.
For those who love cookies, you can get your pineapple tarts, almond nut crunchies, peanut cookies, cashew nut cookies, kueh bangkit and etc here.
Flowers and fruits hold special significance during Chinese New Year. Some auspicious ones are mandarin oranges, peach blossoms, peonies and etc. These colorful pussy willows are buds growing on willow plants is a sign of growth and represents the coming of prosperity.
Miniature pots like the Lucky Bamboo are very popular as they need little care and they can be placed at almost any corner of the house due to the small size.
Rooster in the form of stuffed toys are extremely popular this year because it is the Year of the Rooster.
Various decorative items like lanterns, door and wall labels and auspicious words stickers etc are available to choose from.
Red is undoubtedly the color for this festive season. Another stall selling different type of decorative arts and auspicious word couplets.
Other than hens and roosters, we have the company of Pokemon due to the popularity of the Pokemon Go mobile game.
It is believed that lion is an auspicious animal to bring good luck. Miniature lion dance costume models demonstrate excellent Chinese culture as lion dance is always performed on big occasions or Chinese festivals.
Orange symbolises good luck and good fortune. It is Chinese custom to bring 2 mandarin oranges to pay visit to relatives and friends during the spring festival. The family who receives the oranges would usually give other 2 oranges back in exchange. Some believe that oranges represent gold nuggets.
Different type of Ang Paos (red packets) are for sales. Take your pick and seal it with "good fortune" though this is mostly applicable to married couples.
Some Chinese especially the Cantonese will not miss these lap cheong (Chinese sausages), waxed duck and waxed meats.
A customer buying waxed meat. FYI, waxed meat is best use for cooking soup, claypot rice and steaming dishes etc.
Spring festival couplets would be good for placing on doors and walls to attract good luck and prosperity.
One tip for saving money is that during the last night of the bazaar on 27th Jan, prices will be heavily slashed to clear the stocks. You may have a good bargain after 9pm onwards.
One thing not to be missed for Singaporean Chinese during Lunar New Year is to get some Bak Kwa (BBQ Pork Slice). It has become a tradition over many years for local Chinese to eat this delicacy or give it as a gift to others to welcome the prosperity of the coming year. Lim Chee Guan's Bak Kwa is one of the most famous in town and it is normal to queue up to 2 hours during the festive season to get your turn.
Caishen (财神）, the God of Wealth is being highly regarded and also worshiped in the Chinese folk religion as he is believed to bring prosperity to the household. Who wants money, faster bring one of the Caishen go home.
There are much more to see over at the Chinatown bazaar 2017. Opening hours will be from 6pm to 10pm daily and 6pm till 1am on Lunar New Year's eve. Happy shopping at the Chinatown Bazaar and I wish everyone "Gongxi Fa Cai".
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