Chinese New Year Eve Celebrations!

It was the first time that we celebrated our Chinese new year outside of Singapore without our family. The feeling is different but it's not bad. One of the saving graces in celebrating Chinese New Year here in Chengdu was that we got to set off fireworks! (Which we are not able to do so in Singapore.)

Let me tell you, the feeling of having the fireworks set off right in front of you, in close proximity, is phenomenal! You have the cinders falling all over you, the explosion sounds are deafening and the effects are just BEAUTIFUL.

Usually the tradition is to set off the firecrackers and fireworks at the stroke of midnight on CNY eve, to welcome the new year. However, even before that, there were people setting off fireworks and firecrackers on Saturday already. So we decided to try a few of ours on CNY eve itself. We went down to the river bank just right across our compound, at about 1am on Sunday morning. 

 

This is me, setting off the rocket....

And here are our trial fireworks at 1am on Sunday morning, when it's freezing cold outside....

The fireworks display was awesome, mainly because we set it off and also because the display was so close, the sounds of the explosions were just crazy and cinders were falling all over us. It really sent our hearts pumping with adrenaline! It took us a while to fall asleep after we got back home.

On Chinese New year Eve, we were invited to dinner at a fellow Singaporean's house here in Chengdu. So I made Lavender cookies as a gift for the hosts. 

And I also made: 

broccoli quiche 

and mini chocolate cakes topped with raspberry cream and fresh strawberries.

Here's our lovely hosts who prepared such a great dinner for us. 

We had a great salad with Japanese seasoning mixed with sashimi marinated with soy sauce and wasabi and cream of mushroom soup for appetizers. Main course was lamp chops with mint sauce and spaghetti.

And we also had Bubur Pulut Hitam which reminded us of Singapore... 

After dinner, we went to set some more fireworks at a courtyard nearby.

The beautiful projectile of our rocket.. 

By the time we got back to their apartment, it was about half an hour to midnight. But the fireworks and firecrackers were intensifying outside. Just the sounds alone could scare the pants off anyone. We really felt like we were in the middle of a warzone area. 

And just a minute shy of midnight, we ran outside to catch magnificent displays of fireworks. It was a mad cacophony of explosions. When one side ended, another side started and it went on continuously for about 30 to 40 minutes! And some of the firework displays were just above us and cinders were falling all over us.

It's definitely an experience to be treasured! For more pictures, please click here.

A crazy Sunday!!

It was a Sunday long awaited for. Floraland (国色天香) is an amusement park with crazy rides and food and games galore! We had talked so much about visiting it in the summer when we arrived, and all through Autumn when we met people who had been there and they were raving about it. Finally, we made a date with 2 pretty gals, who are from Cat's dealership company here in Chengdu, to go Floraland. 

The weather was foggy, as it had been for the last few days, but nothing could dampen our enthusiasm. We arrived at about 10.15am and we were surprised to find it not as crowded as we expected it to be. Usually on weekends it will be packed and you have to queue for ages to get on a particular ride. We found out that day was the opening day of a new amusement park so we were very lucky.

Entrance to the amusement park. 

Posing with 2 pretty gals - 杨莹 on my right and 姗姗 on my left

Here i am, feeding the fishes with a milk bottle. You have to really hold on to the bottle because the fishes' mouths have such great suction power that if you don't hold tight enough, you may just lose the bottle.

Playing afool with some of the displays..

And having a crazy time on the rides.

For more pictures, click here.

Gary actually expected us to spend no more than 3 hours in the amusement park but we ended up spending almost the whole day there. We ate and we went for some rides, then we ate some more, and play some more. It was really fun, especially when you have such great company. But I was really dizzy and a little nauseous by the time we left.

We headed back towards the city at about 5.00pm where we met another friend for dinner at a hotpot restaurant. The 麻辣 soupbase is really nice but I killed myself by eating it. I was actually down with a cold and sore throat on Saturday and had not fully recovered yet, and my throat was hoarse from screaming throughout the day. So the hotpot made it worse as it agitated my sore throat. 

And it didn't help when we went for a singing session at a KTV (clean one - no hanky panky allowed). We sang till I lost my voice at the end of it. But it was really fun and we had a crazy time hanging out with these people. 

Unfortunately I suffered from indigestion that night - I couldn't sleep and I suffered from stomach pains, and I puked and I had diarrhea. It was terrible and I avoided hotpot for the next few days..

All that said and done, it was still the craziest day so far in our 6 months here in Chengdu.

Singapore updates

After such a long break in Singapore, it took me quite a while to come back to my blog. But here I am with some updates on what we did back home. 

We took a short break in Koh Samui and it was good.. The resort was beautiful and the service was excellent.

The main lobby is beautiful with a high ceiling and it has a very rustic feeling to the whole decor.

Lazing by the pool

Gary spotted his grilled chicken and he was sooo happy...

And we spotted our pineapple lady, which we promptly got 2 fresh and cold, PEELED pineapples. For more pictures, click here.

After we came back from our trip, we celebrated my niece's birthday. She turned 2 yrs old. She is such an adorable child.

Here she is, eating her satay.

and posing with my cousins..

When the party's over, she got to open her gifts!! Barney!!!

Look at her wide happy smile...

For more photos, click here.