It is customary to send festive snacks to relatives, friends and business partners. This is why we suddenly found our kitchen piled high with candies and pastries. Here are some:

These gold coins are actually milk chocolate candy wrapped in gold foil. While the chocolate may not taste as good as Ferrero Rocher or Royce, it is certainly more delightful to look at! Some merchants would even package these “gold coins” in cute boxes resembling treasure chests. What fun!

Pineapple tarts are considered a staple when it comes to Chinese New Year cookies. The homemade ones are the best, because they come with a generous amount of pineapple jam on top of a rich, buttery cookie.

A Muslim friend (very sweet of her) gave us these goodies — coffee-flavored cookies topped with a dollop of chocolate! Coffee and chocolate make such a luscious combination!

Another staple at Chinese New Year is the traditional peanut cookie. Peanuts are popular during this time because they symbolise longevity to the Chinese. The bite-sized pastry is soft, crumbly and savory. We have to go easy on these however yummy they are as they are sore throat-inducing at the same time.

My most favorite snack may well be the simplest of them all — the Kuih Bangkit. This is made with tapioca flour, coconut milk and scented with pandan leaves. The best ones have a light and melt-in-the-mouth texture.

Of course, a nice, steaming hot steamboat meal is to be enjoyed at the family reunion dinner, too. Snowy partakes with a whole fish all to himself!

Have Your Say!

What food do you enjoy most at Chinese New Year? Is it the Bak Kwa, the snacks or the steamboat? Leave your comments below!

Posted by Veron in Food, Holidays category | Chinese, Chinese New Year, holiday food, Snowy

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The Manhattan Fish Market is running a 1-for-1 deal for its Lob-Xi Fatt Cai seafood meal. Who doesn’t like 1-for-1 dealies right? Each platter includes a half lobster and fried calamari rings amongst other goodies. Don’t they look tantalising?

This promotion runs from now all the way ’til March 7, 2010 at their 8 restaurants. Check it out (click to enlarge):

You can also fish out 4 lucky numbers (Uh, where from?) and claim a sure-win prize! What fun!

Oh yes, they will be open on the first two days of Chinese New Year, too! Here’s our earlier review of The Manhattan Fish Market.

For those of you who might prefer something more traditional, we have just the right place for you to indulge in Chinese New Year food.

Posted by Veron in Food category | Chinese New Year, promotion, seafood, Western

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Are you still looking for a restaurant to dine at this Chinese New Year? Do you fancy having great seafood and customary festive goodies with wonderful-sounding names like “好事发财” or “步步高升” that actually taste as good as they sound? Welcome to Palm Beach Seafood Restaurant.

For more than half a century, the restaurant has been serving delicacies from the sea. From their first home at East Coast to their present premises at the scenic and tourist-favorite One Fullerton, the restaurant has evolved with the times, bringing innovative dishes to our seafood-loving population.

During this most important Chinese festival of the year, you can enjoy an array of festive dishes here with your loved ones or colleagues ;)

Alaskan King Crab Yu Sheng 鱼生
SGD58++ / 88++

The Yu Sheng (raw fish salad) has become quite a staple for this occasion. Here’s a very good write-up on the history and tradition behind it. Typically eaten as an appetiser, this is the one dish that would usually elicit the most oohs and ahhs at the table.

A kaleidoscope of colors is created from the various types of shredded ingredients that include red pepper, carrots, ginger, chopped peanuts, vegetables, jellyfish and raw salmon amongst others. Over here, it even comes with pitaya (dragon fruit) slices! By the way, did you know that this fruit comes from a cactus plant?

To up the posh factor you can even have shredded Alaskan King Crab or lobster added to your salad. The crab meat is extremely succulent and sweet. What a great way to pamper oneself!

And that’s the aforementioned majestic Alaskan King Crab. Executive Chef Andy Lau (yes, exactly like the Hong Kong starlet) amusingly informs us that at times, the crab manages to make its escape out of the tank! I don’t know about you, but I sure wouldn’t want a mega-huge crab like that to be freely crawling ’round my feet!

Amazingly, the Alaskan King crab is nowhere near as big as the Japanese Spider Crab.

The Japanese Spider Crab is the largest crab in the world, boasting a leg span of almost 4 meters!

Oysters with Prosperity vegetables 好事发财
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The Chinese, as a group, like to hear auspicious sayings and anything that sounds remotely like an auspicious saying. So when you have a dish with a name like 好事发财 (good fortune), we lap it up like crazy. Can you tell why oysters + black sea moss = 好事发财?

What intrigues me the most is the black sea moss. While this is apparently a very common ingredient in Chinese dishes, I have never had it in my life! My Mom never cooks it because it “looks gross”. Really, this peculiar vegetable (or weed) from the sea looks just like human hair! Or as the Cantonese would call it, “Fatt Choy!”

Taste-wise, the hair-like moss actually goes down very well. It suffices to say that I like it. Apparently it doesn’t make an appearance aside from Chinese New Year, just like the God of Prosperity.

Nian Gao (Chinese New Year cakes) 步步高升
SGD18++ / 28++

Next, we have the Nian Gao that have just the cutest Mandarin name of all: 步步高升! What this means in English is, uh, improving step by step? Can someone offer a better translation? Basically, the 高 character sounds exactly like pastry in Chinese.

The “small” portion comes with a dozen pieces of the pastry evenly divided between deep-fried or coated in coconut shavings. Both are yummy but our favorite is the deep-fried one.

Rather than being wholly Nian Gao, it also features a layer of yam and a layer of sweet potato. This way, it does not get too cloyingly sweet. Yum!

Have Your Say!

As you may already know, two important occasions happen to be on the same day this year. We’re curious to know: which would you be celebrating?

Do you intend to dine in style at a fancy restaurant this Chinese New Year, or would you prefer a quiet reunion dinner at home? What are your must-have food during this time of the year? Share with us below!

(Hint: If you are still racking your brain on where to bring your sweetheart this Valentine’s, check out our review of an Italian Valentine’s Day dinner!)

Many thanks to Karin and Gail for hosting us at Palm Beach.

Posted by Veron in Food, Holidays category | alfresco/outdoor dining, Chinese, Chinese New Year, Fullerton, holiday food, seafood, waterfront

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First of all, a happy Lunar New Year!

I would be visiting relatives in sungei renggit, Pengerang this holiday (we do this every year). It’s a laidback little town located South of desaru in Johor. There isn’t much to do there, but the peace and quiet by the coast is a sweet relief. Plus, the food there is awesome! Authentic 2-ringgit ramly burgers with 16 different kinds of sauce, anyone?

I should be taking more pictures of the place. Meanwhile do check out my old blog posts on sungei renggit. There are pictures of beautiful sunsets and cute kittens, just the way I like it.

Have a smashing holiday y’all!

Much love,
Veron

Posted by Veron in Web Design category | Chinese New Year, eCard

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I hope it’s a good year ahead for your zodiacal sign. I am born in the year of the rat, and apparently it would be a year of good fortune. I don’t believe in fortune-telling or any form of astrology or that whole “it’s all written in the stars” crap. But well, I can really use any kind of blessing right now.

To a great year!

Much love,
Veron

Posted by Veron in Web Design category | Chinese New Year, eCard

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I was born in the year of the rat, although ironically my favorite animal is the cat! In the picture from left to right: dog, rat, ox (but it does look more like a cow).

These illuminated animal signs are on display at Harbourfront Centre as part of its Chinese New Year decor. Do I spy bee cheng hiang in the background? This Chinese New Year I am boycotting them, with their obviously-meant-for-the-trash and too-burnt-to-be-eaten bak kwa (grilled pork jerky) that they shamelessly sell at $26 per kilogram. Okay, rant end.

In the picture from left to right: sheep, monkey, dragon.

This is the year of the pig, which is why the pig has been given the highest prominence over here. Ta-da!

My, that is one jolly looking pig! Doesn’t it look all pink and happy? The red paper stuck to its side has a Chinese character in yellow, which means “full” or “filled” (or something to that effect) in English. We Chinese believe that to be full of anything is always good, especially when it’s food or money.

Now that the Chinese New Year decor has taken the place of Christmas trees, I wonder what they did with those adorable teddy bears!

Posted by Veron in Holidays category | Chinese New Year, Harbourfront

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I was awed by the decor at the Heeren. At the heart of the mall you would notice string after string of cherry blossoms (I think they are but I can’t be sure) raining down from the ceiling like a fountain. It had colorful peonies and dainty little lights, not unlike those in Christmas!

I thought it’s all very beautifully done, and very elegant! The red veils are a very nice touch. Check out that cluster of peonies too. I love the purple ones!

Normally I wouldn’t pay much attention to Chinese New Year decor, well not as much as I would for Christmas anyway. But the decor at the Heeren impressed me so much it sparked off this new series of blog entries.

Oh I won’t be doing this everyday though. There’s still a long way to go before it’s Chinese New Year!

Posted by Veron in Holidays category | Chinese New Year, Heeren, Orchard Road

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i remember many a time when I was young, I queued with my Mom overnight along with thousands of other people just to buy the limited edition phonecard that was limited to the first 2000 people. I also remember the numerous times I had tagged along with my Mom to go shopping for these cards all over the island. My brother didn’t share the same passion. But I was fascinated by the beautiful designs and colors on these cards. My Mom says that when she dies, she wouldn’t have much money to leave us. All she would have would be these collections.

nowadays, Singaporeans don’t really collect these cards anymore. So in recent years, my Mom started collecting red packets (you know, the ang pow you get your money in every Chinese New Year). I even spent the whole of today helping her display the red packets nicely in albums. She is very proud of her collection, but she isn’t selfish about it. She shares whatever she has with her fellow red packet collecting friends. This wouldn’t be an interesting blog entry to most people, but I’m blogging it because it would make my Mom happy.

One thing to note is that my Mom only collects commercial red packets, that means only those released by companies. Store-bought red packets are a no-no. They may look more beautiful but are simply meaningless, she says.

Some red packets aren’t actually red, but come in various unique colors such as yellow. I always get excited when I come across the uniquely colored ones. One of my favorites is this one from starhub, featuring their mascot dog, sparky.

There are purple and pink packets too. I simply love the purple one from cadbury chocolate! Look, there’s even one from awfully chocolate. Anyone knows where this shop is?

The pink ones are so pretty too! One from tian po jewelry…

… Another one from the Taiwan shihlin street snacks.

There are red packets released by fast food restaurants.

The ultra adorable qoo drinks!

And our favorite m&m’s!

One rather unique red packet is this very narrowly shaped one from the Tung Lok group of restaurants. This orange packet is so narrow that you can’t fit in a dollar note without folding it. I think it’s only meant to hold coins.

Also, in these couple of years, gold packets are gaining in popularity and more companies are releasing those.


I think the gold packets give off a more classy and “expensive” feeling. My favorite is this one from American express that has a pop-up feel to it.

Last but not least, here’s one for the guys.

Well organising, arranging and displaying the hundreds or even thousands of different red packets was exhausting and sure took up a lot of time! But I was glad as it allowed my Mom and I to spend some time together. We had dinner at the keng eng kee seafood place, in the Alexandra Village vicinity. Everyone please do not go there!

the food was expensive, it took damn long for the food to be served, and it wasn’t exactly worth waiting for! One couple seated right behind us walked away in a huff after waiting a long time for their food that never came. At 8pm, I was already feeling super hungry as I barely ate anything the entire day. And a hungry wanting is a cranky wanting. I managed to get our food served immediately.

The fried rolls came first, each one containing egg, prawn, vegetable, ham and mushroom. To their credit, the dish was actually very delicious! But then again, it ought to be since they called it their house specialty. Moreover, anything that is deep-fried tends to taste good. And it cost 9 bucks.

Next came the sweet and sour chicken balls. It wasn’t good. And I don’t see no balls. 8 bucks for the dish.

The last dish we ordered was sambal kang kong. But when it came, it wasn’t sambal at all! We asked the waitress about it, who admitted the mistake but asked if we could just let it go. My Mom was ready to agree but I said no way man. We ordered sambal kang kong and that’s what we were getting. No matter how busy they were, that was not a good reason for us to live with their mistake. The kang kong cost 6 bucks.

the total bill came up to $25.60. $23 for the food, 50 cents per bowl of rice, 20 cents per towel, and $1.20 for a can of barley. Amount of time wasted: irrecoverable. Everyone please do not go to this place. The food sucks, the service sucks, and they don’t even charge cheaply. Remember, it’s keng eng kee seafood. Don’t go there! *ROARRR*

Alright again for the 1035263th time, please vote for me at blogfest 2006. Instructions are on the right. Oh yeah if anyone has any red packet to spare, please contact me too. My Mom and I would both be delighted!

Posted by Veron in Holidays category | Chinese New Year, Family

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Over here, the area has been transformed into one thick with the lively Chinese New Year atmosphere. Red, yellow and purple little bulbs, as well as huge peach lanterns adorned every tree.

A very colorful pavilion structure was the stage where performances entertained the mostly elderly crowd. In this particular performance, the dancers were elderly women who were still active and fit at their age.

fu (luck), lu (wealth), shou (longevity), xi (happiness). Everyone was queuing to get a picture with these four giant Chinese characters. I managed to get only fu and shou.

The twelve zodiac animals also came on display. I was born in the year of the rat.

And as usual, there was the 20 meter tall statue of the god of prosperity. The folks at the Singapore tourism board love to brag about this every year. But looking at pictures I took last year, I found that they reuse the same statue every year.

But I guess the Chinese love the idea of having the god of prosperity around. This statue sprinkles down golden confetti at the crowd on and off. Now for the god of prosperity in person…

He held this huge gold liang (tael, an olden Chinese currency) which everyone in the crowd was clamoring to get a feel. The actor himself wasn’t spared either. I think I saw a hundred hands touching him no less. No wonder he looked stressed and sweaty.

There were many food stalls at the carnival, mostly Chinese ones. One stall was selling these mai ya tang (malt sugar candy) shaped in the different zodiac animals.

The candy was all hand-made! The stall holder was making them on the spot and selling them for three dollars each.

Another interesting stall was this particular one selling brown rice tea. The tea was supposed to help prevent night urination.

One stall was peddling Thai food, most of which looked very colorful and pretty.

louk chup that looked like miniature fruits and flowers.

Tiny pancakes with (what I think is) coconut filling.

Mango rice, durian rice, etc. I fell in love with the mango rice during my trip to Bangkok two months ago. But here they used rice of different colors, such as blue and green. I thought that was very unique. The Thai stall holders sold each packet of rice at five dollars each, which was kinda expensive.

At 9:30pm, there was a fireworks display.

And that’s it for River Hong Bao! Happy Chinese New Year!

Posted by Veron in Holidays, Singapore category | Chinese New Year, Singapore River

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Gong xi fa cai!

Much love,
Veron

Posted by Veron in Web Design category | Chinese New Year, eCard

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