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Written by Shirley T
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Monday, 01 February 2010 09:50 |
Hello Everyone! Time flies. Today, we are welcoming the second month of 2010 - February. Last month in January, I loaded tonnes of wilderness stories from Big Bend National Park (Texas, USA) adventure. This month, let me steer our focus to be more in tune with what is going to happen in February, particularly the celebrations.
Around the globe, people are going to celebrate 14 February as Valentine's Day. For year 2010, this date is also the first day of Spring Festival or Lunar New Year. Big occasion which is observed as a major public holiday in the region with large Chinese ethnic population like China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. However in different countries, the same festival is perhaps called in different manner. For instance, Vietnamase celebrate it as Tết Nguyên Đán (or commonly refer as Tết), Koreans call it as 'Seollal' and Mongolians usually refer as 'Tsagaan Sar'. South East Asian Chinese that includes Malaysian, Singaporean, Indonesian or Thai also celebrated in elaborate manner and this auspicious day is well-known as Chinese New Year. The bottom line, all of them prepare for the same celebration. Custom or tradition does not differ much.
Guess this year on 14 February, we are going to have a battle between The Roaring Tiger (Chinese New Year horoscope for the coming new lunar year) and The Cupid (St Valentine's Day). That's the contrary but looking
at similarity, both occasions are heavily associated with the color of RED. Bingo!
In Austin (Texas, USA), the mood of Valentine's Day is prominent as the grocery stores and others like Dollar Tree, Michaels or Archiver's are heavily promoting the Valentine's gifts or probes. When I was at Chinatown Center in N. Lamar yesterday, there was nothing particularly exquisite at MT Supermarket except some Chinese New Year cookies and some candy at the entrance. And a red banner that reads 'Happy New Year'. Apparently, that's not about it. A poster on the sliding door indicates some kind of Lunar New Year celebration in Austin on 20 and 21 February 2010. Guess we are considered lucky that the first day of Chinese New Year falls on Sunday! Otherwise, one has to apply leave to celebrate Chinese New Year!
Back in my hometown - Penang, I bet Chinese New Year songs are played everywhere particularly at the hawker
centers, 'pasar malam' (night markets), shopping malls or even coffee shops. Shopping for new clothing is a challenge if you do not fancy red. Regardless what they are selling, every piece of red color collections would be showcased including the lingerie! And this is the atmosphere in Penang! I really miss that albeit I am not particular on getting everything new to welcome the lunar new year.
How are we going to celebrate Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day in Austin this year? Guess I am going to ransack the whole house and display everything that is red 
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14 February 2010 | The Battle of Chinese New Year Vs. Valentine Day
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