Happy Chinese New Year!

Hoping that all my Chinese friends had a wonderful reunion dinner with loved ones over the weekend! I joined in the festivities last Friday at Chinatown to take some shots of the bustling streets for our guest contribution over at Condé Nast Traveler's Instagram account at @cntraveler, to talk how Singapore celebrates this holiday..

As we walk down the bustling streets of Chinatown, the Bloesem Team shared with me stories of their own about celebrating Chinese New Year, along with the reasons behind the various interesting practices during this period. If you noticed all the monkey-related decorations around, it's because this year is also known as the Year of the Monkey! In Chinese folklore, the Jade Emperor in Heaven ordered that one animal will represent each year of the 12-year cycle in the Chinese Zodiac, to be decided by a simple race. With the monkey coming in ninth, we celebrate the Year of the Monkey once again this year. For the Chinese, the year of your birth also influences how smooth sailing the rest of the year goes. How completely fascinating!

You'll also find Chinatown to be dotted with many beautiful lanterns and paper cuttings, not to mention tons of yummy snacks and goodies lining the streets that your kids will definitely love! Think pineapple tarts, almond cookies, and glutinous rice cakes.. Speaking of food, the Prosperity Toss, better known as Yee Sang or Lo Hei is not to be missed during this time of year. Of course, we headed to my go-to Chinese restaurant in Singapore, Imperial Treasure! Like with all their other dishes, the Yee Sang definitely did not disappoint. A delicious combination of salmon slices, shredded vegetables and other ingredients drenched in a variety of sauces, tossing them high to represent wishes for a prosperous year ahead sure is the highlight (pun intended) of the dish. The experience is unforgettable.. The kids will surely love it!

Very honoured to have this opportunity to guest post on @cntraveler, and have the girls share with me more about this holiday. How interesting it is to learn about other cultures! I'm wishing them, and all those who celebrate, a fantastic year ahead. Gong Xi Fa Cai!

.. See our guest contribution over at @cntraveler
.. Condé Nast Traveler