To all my readers, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my Chinese readers and followers a Happy Lunar New Year and for the rest, Happy Holidays.
A cute decoration which I saw on my sis’s place; a group of kids playing with fire crackers.
I will be posting more when I am back from more eating and visiting relatives and friends.
Kong Xi Fa Chai!!!!!!!! Huat ah!!!! ( translated….Happy Chinese New Year!!! Prosperous come come….!!!!) =)
Chinese New Year celebration is just a day away. Today is the eve’s of Chinese New Year and all (nearly) are busy getting ready for tonight’s reunion dinner. Some have already started theirs prayers before the afternoon. Most of the Chinese shops or restaurants (especially those run by Chinese or Chinese families) will be close today or if even open, they will only open till noon time.
Today, I will just share with you some thing about the Chinese New Year’s Red Envelope or red packet which they called Ang Pow (which is Hokkien) or Hong Pow (in mandarin). In Asian societies, this red packet signifies a monetary gift especially in festive seasons like Chinese New Year and other special occasion such as a Chinese wedding.The red colour of the envelope symbolizes good luck and is supposed to ward off evil spirits.
Below are some of the red packets that I have collected over the past years.
All sorts of red packets…… which banks, shops that will give out to their customers where they will put their logo on it.
These are the ones from the year of the dragon. Guess these are useful for the Year of the Dragon. Have to wait for next cycle to come; 10 years. =P
These ones are from the beauty center which they give out to their customers.
… and this years one; Year of the Horse with picture of the horse or ‘ma’ in mandarin on the red packets.
Anyway, will be getting busy soon…. stay tune for the Chinese New Year celebration!!!!
Guess you wanted more… and that’s why you are back. =) Thanks for coming back here.
This is a cut out from a paper cutting of red paper. Can you see what is the picture they have cut out?
Open windows…..
… and old vintage Chinese bicycle. (this is something hard to find in Malaysia)
another showcase…. other part of old Chinese ‘mock up’ house
‘sunning’ the food under the ‘sun’
During that time when I was there, the mall also had arrange a lion dance performance to entertain the shoppers. You can see than the ‘lion’ was trying to cross a stream. Very interesting performance.
Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Want more? Well.. keep following and you will find out. =)
Hi there!! You thought that that was the last on the Red Chinese New Year? Well you are wrong. =P
Below pictures are taken in another shopping mall in Penang, Malaysia. Their theme is different from my earlier one.
A big treasure box filled with ‘gold’ and jewels…..
and protected by a dragon!!!
This mall theme was more like a old china house with a horse shed…..
Why you ask a horse shed? Well the coming Chinese New Year, the chinese zodiac is horse.
Outside the mall… cute 12 Chinese zodiac animals. Seen your Chinese zodiac around?
Another view …..
A close up shot of the old Chinese house. You can even see the giant joystick and also the Chinese household shrine.
Want more pictures? Stay tune……. =)
Hi there!! More red here. Still at the shopping mall and walking around. Lots of different decoration to see and also very tempting to make the shoppers buy (lots of) stuff.
Red and pink flowers (fake)…..
Chinese decoration for the shoppers to hang in their house.
more deco’s…..
This year is the year of the horse… so lots of cute stuff horse toys.
Kids will just love it… and adults too!!! Lol!!
More flowers to choose from.
This stall sells all the all the oriental decorations… something different from others.
….mmmm something to think to have in your home.
Stay tune. More pictures of the preparation for the Chinese New Year celebration from other places around Malaysia. =)
Another festive is round the corner after Christmas. This time is a another over at the eastern part of the world…. a big celebration for the Chinese folks all around the world.
In Malaysia is also the same and is a big one too. Another 2 weeks more to go and everyone is busy doing last minute shopping. Shops all decorated in red and playing Chinese New Year songs.
As usual, every year, there will be lots of cookies to choose and eat from. Sometimes there are even kind of cookies that you never the year before. 😊
Not forgetting hampers as gifts to families and friends.
Boxes and boxes of mandarin oranges to pick from; small to large sizes of mandarin oranges.
This year, this shopping mall decoration is red and Chinese bamboo plant. Red in colour…..
A view from the top.
Another area of the mall where they had a big ‘Chinese bamboo plant’ gondola like deco
Eye view shot…..
Stay tune. More picture to come. =)
Hi there!! Indians in Malaysia or can I say, Indians around the world will be celebrating Diwali (or called Deepavali in some places) tomorrow. It is one of the celebration in Malaysia aside from Chinese New Year and Hari Raya Puasa (for the Muslims). It is also an officially holiday in Malaysia and Singapore.
Diwali or also called as ‘Festival of Lights’ which translates into “row of lamps”.It involves the lighting of small clay lamps filled with oil to signify the triumph of good over evil.They are kept on during the night and one’s house is cleaned, both done in order to make the Hindu Goddess of Prosperity, Lakshmi feel welcome. Firecrackers are played as it is believed that it drives away evil spirit. During Diwali, Indians will wear new clothes and share sweets and snacks with family members and friends.
Kolams (also knowm as Rangoli) can be seen at the entrance of the Hindu households to welcome the Hindu Goddess of Prosperity, Lakshmi as well as guests into their homes. Kolams also can be seen in shopping malls and and the entrance of hotels.
What is Kolam or Rangoli? Kolam means ‘beauty’ and are actually floor drawing using coloured rice powder and are used for ornamental or ceremonial design during Indian festivals.
Traditionally, kolams are widely practiced by female Indian community worldwide to represent responsibilities of the women to maintain her household as well as to train them to be a good housekeeper.
Kolam is a geometrical line drawing composed of curved shapes and dots of rice flour are placed in a grid pattern framework. Apart from geometrical shapes, it also incorporates motifs like animals, fruit and flowers. Aside from rice powder, other ingredients also can be used which includes beads, shell, salt, fruits and vegetables.
Beautiful kolam, right?
Here’s wishing all my readers who are celebrating this festival a Happy Diwali!!
This is 2nd part of my visit to the Snake Temple.
Worshipers jostling around to put their josticks ….
The offerings … and look at the size of the roasted pig. This was just one of the roasted pigs. If I am not mistaken, I think I saw another few more roasted pigs there.
More worshipers..
Look at the various sizes of the josticks…
and also colourful ones too.
This portion of the temple is where the snakes are kept or sleeping. They also created hand made giant snake to mark this year of the snake.
More shots of the temple.
Yesterday I dropped by another famous spot in Penang; the Snake temple in Bayan Lepas. There were prayers and activities happening there, and lots of worshippers and tourists seen visiting the temple.
I managed to capture some interesting pictures. Hope you enjoy them.
The entrance of the temple. A matter of fact the temple is smack in middle of an industrial area or more like the area was developed around the temple.
A short write up about the temple but it is in Malay language.
Chinese New Year decorations can be seen around the temple.
Trishaw….
Another shot of the entrance from another angle.
‘God of Prosperity’ among the crowd
The temple entrance where the worshippers are praying.
To be continued.
My trip back yesterday was a smooth one. I was expecting a long and slow drive back as everyone was taking leave and also rushing back to their hometown.
Got up 5am plus to start our journey as last year we left a bit later and the traffic was heavy and was a pace of average 70km per hour and it took us about 6 hrs where a good smooth trip will usually take about 5 hrs.
Our first stop for breakfast was on of the RnR (rest and recreation) area along the highway.
Food to buy and if you noticed, early in the morning people were already eating rice with dishes to select from.
Seating area…
I was kinda lucky as the traffic was smooth.
Reaching Ipoh for our next RnR stop
This is a new building built next to the highway where the highway user can stop and buy fresh groceries.
Agromall; it is still new and not many stalls slot utilized.
It also has toilet rest area and also a prayer place for the Muslim and a small playground for the children
… and my journey continues.
Outlook in Life 