Each year the crowd gets bigger at our village Chinese New Year celebrations. Our CEO, Chiou See, is a Chinese Singaporean so she knows how to party on this day. There were 250 guests, which included residents families and friends. Chiou See and her staff did an amazing job at preparing and cooking variety of Chinese dishes for 250 people. She also organised a Lion Dancers and treats for all the children.
There are two people operating the lion. The Lion Dance shouldn't be confused with the Dragon Dance where there are many dancers in a long dragon outfit.
Bill is the official videographer. His videos are posted on the Elements Retirement Living at Springwood Facebook Page.
The dancers are given a challenge of reaching a lettuce that is hanging from the ceiling. Plucking the greens brings good luck and fortune.
The crowd arrives we were greeted by a staff member offering spring rolls, prepared by 3 of the residents.
Our volunteer bar staff, Eric, Terry and Patrick.
Chiou See explains how to feed the lions with money in a little red envelope on the table.
Putting donations into the envelopes for the lion dancers.
The lion dancers perform the dance with Kung Fu movements to a vigorous drum beat. They are accompanied by the smiling Dai To Fut, who lures the lions with a fan.
After an energetic performance they dance among the audience to be fed with the envelopes.
They sometimes eat your head.
The lion munches the lettuce and spits it out to the audience for good luck.
The lettuce is flying through the air and the dancer's envelope rewards are bulging in his t-shirt.
The colourful fun dance ends and it's time for dinner.
We are encouraged to wear red at these celebrations. A good luck colour for the Chinese.
It is tradition for the eldest person at the party gives the children an envelope with money. So all the children lined up and were given ice cream and then their envelope.
How times flies, your second CNY at the village. I don't know or need to know what it costs to live there, but it seems MS See is an excellent CEO and it is great community. I really wish my mother would have moved to somewhere like this before she became too old to really enjoy such a place. It all looks like great fun.
ReplyDeleteI used to work with a lady of Chinese heritage who always cooked Chinese food on this day, but we didn't have such an elaborate celebration as you had there. It looks like a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful blog to share, gatherings, family and charity works. Everyone is happy and enjoying the occasion. Thanks for sharing, I'm restarting my blog, I still saw your on my blogroll so I came to visit.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.everydayasitcomes.com/
Apparently the Coronavirus hysterie hasn't hit Australia yet ! In China and in Europe all New Year's festivities were cancelled !! You see more and more people wearing masks ! As if every Chinese had this disease ! Crazy. A beautiful celebration you had !!
ReplyDeleteit looks like a very special night. great food and entertainment.
ReplyDeleteYour retirement village certainly knows how to party! It all looks great, the dancers, and the food :)
ReplyDeleteHello, what a fun event and festival. The costumes are beautiful. I am sure the food was delicious.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your day, wishing you a happy week ahead!
this post is a lot of fun and I can only imagine how much fun those dancers were in person...
ReplyDeleteFantastic celebration, so joyful! Thank you for sharing these lovely photos Diane. Always enjoyed :)
ReplyDeleteI always love seeing the photos of your Chinese New Year celebration. Both the food and the entertainment look spectacular. Your retirement village does some great parties and celebrations.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like lots of fun and great photos for us to join in with the celebration. Hope that all is well you. The weather sounds a real nightmare, from one extreme to another. T'other Diane
ReplyDeleteSo many lovely photos of wht looks to be a lovely day
ReplyDeleteHow cool is that! It looks like a lot of fun for everybody :)
ReplyDeleteFeel free to share at My Corner of the World
The celebration looks like a lot of fun. It also looks very festive with all the red colour.
ReplyDeleteFun had by all it would seem.
ReplyDeleteLovely red colour there..
That was a big party, it looks almost you live in China!
ReplyDeleteYou folks do know how to party. Love having so much fun and so sad for the Chinese at this time.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great way to usher in the new year! This looks as if everyone (including the lions) had a great time.
ReplyDeleteLooks like lots of fun Diane, I hope you were wearing red for luck 😊
ReplyDeleteEvery year you make my mouth water! I just love those colorful dancers and their costumes. It’s such a brilliant celebration.
ReplyDeleteFun, festive and vibrant!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos.
ReplyDeleteHow delightful...so colorful, informative and just plain fun!!
ReplyDeleteThe food looks like a fabulous banquet...
Thanks for sharing.
Sue
Happy (belated) New Year! It’s great to learn and celebrate at the same time. I’m impressed! Were there a lot of candidates for oldest person? We’d have quite a few close to that honor here n our resort!
ReplyDeleteYour celebration and all those red outfits were perfectly times for not only the New Year celebration but also Hearts Day (our term for Valentine's). What a wonderful assortment of entertainment and food.I really enjoy seeing all the fun at the parties!
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures of this fun celebration. Would have loved to see those lion dancers.
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