Spring Cleaning

It's exactly 2 weeks to celebrating Chinese New Year! :D Most of us will be busy preparing for the Lunar New Year which fall on the 26th & 27th Jan this year (the first day of the first lunar month).

As traditions, days before celebrating CNY, the chinese families will give their home a through cleaning. It is believes the cleaning will wash away the bad luck of the preceding year and makes their homes ready for good luck. Brooms and dust pans are put away on the first day so that luck cannot be swept away. Some people give their homes, doors and window-frames a new coat of red paint. Homes are often decorated with paper cutouts of Chinese auspicious phrases (the most popular ones are 'fuk' or 'chun') and etc. Purchasing new clothing, shoes and receiving a hair-cut also symbolize a fresh start too.

Apart from that, we also decorated our home with red decoratives be it the red packets, new year greetings cards, auspicious charms, silver ignots, flowers, ribbons etc. I have not decide what to do yet for our living room as I've thrown away the Nian Hwa (we have been using it for almost 1 year). Well, I think this year we will decorate our home with some simple items but will give a cozy and comfort atmosphere to "our home sweet home" just like my sweety said this morning :)

When I was young, I still can remember I'm always looking forward to this day... because I can have more than 2 days of school holidays, eat lots of delicacies (noodles, chicken, roast pork etc.) during CNY especially sweets, wear nice & new dress, eating mandrain oranges (my fave), receiving ang pows, see my relatives and play fire crackers!!! :D But today, as I'm preparing for CNY, all the excitment when I was in childhood has gone... not as exciting as last time...

Nowadays, celebrating CNY is like a job more than having fun. You have to do the house cleaning all by yourself, prepare foods, buy clothes with your own pocket money, give ang pow instead receiving any pows, it's illegal to play fireworks now, eat less sweets and mandrain oranges (too yin for me), only hv 2 days holidays and eat less traditional delicacies like noodles and roast pork.

Anyway, I guess this is all part of growing up. Like I learnt from church on last Sunday, "Growth is the evidence of life."