The Willis Family Adventures: CNY 2012

So, here I am 2 weeks later and only now doing my "official" post about Chinese New Year. Yes, time has gotten away from me and life is in full swing. It's hard you know, to live a life and have a hobby too. (And, honestly, I have way to many hobbies!) Someone asked me recently, what are you doing with your time there in Singapore. You would think that I would have LOTS of time. Honestly, it seems like I don't have enough. I told my friend that it took me all of my 6 months here to learn how to navigate the system. Grocery shopping, getting around, and cleaning. Yes, cleaning! Doesn't take a rocket scientist to clean, but here it takes everything I've got! Best of all, I now have a cleaning lady, she comes once a week and she is fabulous!! That gives me time to do all of the other stuff and still have a day for me. Laundry is still a pain in the you know what, but I think I have gotten it down to only taking 2 to 3 days. I know the grocery store now, but there is still the occasional ingredient that I need that I can't seem to find. The sticker shock is gone, so I don't panic about the cost anymore. Cooking is still challenging, but that is mostly due to the fact that I don't have a dishwasher. (Which I soon hope to remedy!) I am baking bread now and that makes me feel great! More to come on that later.

Chinese New Year was good! Very low key for our little family. The hubby got back in town after his "almost" 2 week business trip. We did go to Chinatown. It rained, which kept the crowds down. E fell asleep before we got to see much, but we did get to enjoy a couple of Tiger beers as we sat at a street side cafe over dinner - nice! Chinatown was full of red and gold and lots of tchotchkes as usual. I have yet to discover the authentic side to Chinatown here. I know there has to be one. All I have seen so far is lots of stuff I don't really need. Either way it was pretty with all of the colors and lights.

Sunday evening we went to the River Hongbo Festival. Lots of lanterns, cheap food, rides for the the kids and lots of Chinese New Year spirit. It rained again, but the views of the city after the rain were amazing!

BTW, everything closes on the actual new years day (Monday). We ran out of coffee, so I decided to go to the local mall/grocery store. EVERYTHING was closed; except for the grocery store. Good thing they were open! My taxi driver said that the New Year's Day and the day after were all about family. New Year's Day all of the children come home to their parent's home. The day after is for visiting other family members: Aunts, Uncles, Cousins etc. I guess we did just that. We spent a lot of time together as a family and enjoyed the time together!

Here are some pics for you to enjoy! Happy Lunar New Year!!!