Chinese New Year, Muay Thai and Presidential Palace

Xi Nian Kuai Le!!! (Happy Chinese New Year)

Chinese New Year

It is the year of the dragon so anyone born in 1988 or 1976 or 1964 (12 year increments)…etc. this is your year. Emily “Awesomest girl in the world” Martin, Ashton “Taking over the world” Charles or Nancy “Gave birth to me” Lokken….this means you. This is the most important holiday for any ethnic Chinese or Korean. Yes Korea has the same New Year and they are not happy it is referred to as the Chinese New Year, they feel a bit slighted, or this at least is what I have been told. We get two days off in Singapore, some countries get two weeks off for it but festivities last nearly a month. It is good to give two oranges (not just one) and kumquat trees are everywhere. I am told it’s because of the shape of the fruits (this is only a Singapore thing though) and giving them is a form of good luck.

People will pour out their money to buy presents, decorations, material, food, and clothing. It is also the tradition that every family thoroughly cleans the house to sweep away any ill-fortune in hopes to make way for good incoming luck. It is custom to give red packets/envelopes of money called Hanbao’s to family and friends but should only include even numbered amounts as odd numbers are associated with money given during funerals. Odd numbers are determined by the first number though so $50 would be inappropriate because it starts with an odd number. $8 is the most common amount because it is considered lucky. Only single people are supposed to receive them….since I am not married yet, I got one with $16 in it from a Rotarian, boom!

During Chinese New Year festivities last for nearly the whole month of January and include the Dragon dance, parades, get together’s and the Prosperity Toss known as Yusheng or Lo Hei. The prosperity toss is taking a salad with a ton of ingredients and as a group you toss it around and up in the air with chopsticks. It is very popular and the higher you toss it the more luck. It does it a little messy but not too bad and we all eat it afterwards. I got to have two Lo Hei’s at a Rotary Club meeting, was actually pretty good.

Presidential Palace

There are 5 times a year when the Presidential Palace called Istana (http://www.istana.gov.sg/content/istana/index.html) is open and during Chinese New Year is one of those times. So my roommate Ian, his girlfriend’s sister and friend and I all went to check it out. We got within 5 feet of the president, saw a Dragon Dance, toured the grounds (which is a 9 hole golf course in the heart of the city) and got to tour the presidential office. The office held all of the gifts provided by governments over the years and I have to say that the US by far gave the worst gifts. Malaysia, India, Japan, Italy all gave amazingly ornate beautiful gifts and the US gave two bowls with the state department seal on them. It was embarrassing to be honest. Come on US lock it up and get a little more creative. I am thinking a huge Bald Eagle carved out of granite or glass or something, anything other than a boring ceramic or steel bowl. If I was the President of Singapore I might eat my cereal out of our bowl though, just for fun.

Chinese New year was a lot of fun and I am really glad I got to experience it here in Asia.

High Tea

My Rotary Counselor took me for high tea at the Woodward hotel on Orchard Road a few weeks ago and it was amazing. They had more food and desserts than you can imagine. You get a pot of tea and hang out in the afternoon eating as much as you can. This is the high life and I loved every second. Most of the people having high tea were either businessmen or the wives of businessmen meeting with other wives. I like high tea even if it is very British.

Shark Fin

I mentioned in a blog before that I had not had Shark fin soup well I have still not had it but I have had Dim Sum Shark fin. The shark fin is cartilage and is known as a luxury item. It was wrapped in rice flour and fried. It wasn’t bad but nothing amazing so no need for me to try it again but I have tried it now.

United Nations Basketball

I have joined a basketball team called the United Nations. We have 3 Americans, 2 Canadians, 2 Australians, 2 Frenchman, 1 Dutchman, 1 Chinese man, 1 Malaysian, 1 Italian and 1 Indian. We lost in the finals but we are back playing a second season now. It is funny to hear the different accents on the floor and cursing in different languages when things don’t go our way. It is a great group of guys and has really made Singapore more of a home. We had a poker night the other night with a bunch of the guys. Really glad I got asked to play and have been able to. I have recently had to fight off yelling out Linsanity whenever great play occurs though, probably inappropriate but man I am all caught up in what Jeremy Lin has been doing with the Knicks, love that guy.

Muay Thai

So I have been doing some Muay Thai of late and really enjoying it. I have done some boxing classes before but this is a lot more fun. Muay Thai is like kickboxing but with a little more flair and you use elbows. Haven’t sparred with anyone as it takes a while to get to the level of actually fighting with anyone but have liked it a lot. It’s a great workout and knowing how to use your elbows in a fight is an added plus.

I am officially booked to come back with Emily April 6^th after she comes and visits. Excited to finish up school strong and have Emily come out but really excited to get back to the states and see everyone, get a job and get married. Growing up so fast.