Chinese New Year has arrived!! The festivities started on Friday the 25th and will run until February 8th. Many of the local population is Chinese so the celebrations are really amazing!! Unfortunately, since it falls on a weekend this year, students will only get Monday off as an extra day for celebration. Many of the stores on campus and canteens (food courts) are closed so it is actually necessary to go into the city or off campus to eat. What better opportunity to explore for tourists than the biggest holiday for the country?? On the Eve of Chinese New Year (25th) some of my friends and I headed to Chinatown to explore the city and eat! Just walking around Chinatown I really was able to feel how special this time of the year is and restaurants were buzzing with families celebrating the Lunar New Year together! My friends and I actually ended up eating family style (which is traditional Chinese) for dinner and it was really amazing for them because they had never experienced it before. I’m really glad that we were all able to celebrate together and enjoy a meal even though we have only known each other a short time. The food was absolutely delicious and it was a nice break from the on-campus canteens. Afterwards, we spent some time just walking around and really exploring the local architecture and streets. There was a really interesting and beautiful Temple that we were able to see and actually got some desert from a local street food stall. Piece of advice: Red Velvet Waffle Ice Cream is absolutely amazing for anyone with a sweet tooth!!! After seeing all that Chinatown had to offer, we headed down to Hongbao River (across from Marina Bay Sands) to see the fireworks and ring in the New Year! We arrived earlier than midnight and there were local artists and performers on the stage! I really enjoyed watching the dances and local singers performing! As midnight rolled around, we began the countdown and the fireworks began! It was quite the show and it was such a beautiful sight with the Marina Bay as the backdrop. It was really exciting to ring in the New Year with friends and the fireworks were absolutely stunning. Happy Lunar New Year and warm wishes from Singapore! See ya soon 🙂
