Tag Archives: CNY

Happy Chinese New Year!

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Been so crazy busy with Chinese New Year prep and the four days of visiting all over the island. Finally have some time to sit down and look at the hundreds of photos taken over the long weekend. I love that we had four continuous days to visit friends and relatives and we were in a very festive mood throughout.

We had a very full schedule for the four days. On Day 1, we went to my grandma’s place in the morning, followed by Adrian’s grandparent’s home in the afternoon, and finally Adrian’s uncle’s place in the evening. Oh, we had an awesome kumquat bundt cake made by Alpha Bakes on Day 1! Day 2 was somewhat better. The older kids accompanied their Aunt Fifi to a relative’s house, and then we went to my aunt’s place and had a great time there with the cousins. Day 3 saw us at Anya’s schoolmate’s home and then we celebrated Juan/ Sam/ Dan’s birthday at Juan’s place. On Day 4, we went to the Lobos’ new house and we had steamboat for dinner. Phew!

I love getting the kids new outfits for Chinese New Year and this year, their clothes were from Elly and Missy Messy. I wore my new vermilion Lark & Peony cheongsam on the first day, a yellow polka-dotted one from Tong Tong Friendship Store (that has been in my wardrobe for a few years now) on the second day, and Our Bitsy Prints cheongsams on the third and fourth days.

Even though CNY is technically 15 days long, I think I’m all CNY-ed out after the long weekend and I’m just looking forward to a steamboat dinner on Chap Goh Meh!

spent a lot of time walking around with oranges!

spent a lot of time walking around with oranges!

the three of them in their Elly outfits

the three of them in their Elly outfits

attempted a family photo

attempted a family photo

looking for oranges

looking for oranges

yummy kumquat bundt cake made by Debs

yummy kumquat bundt cake made by Debs

walking around the garden

walking around the garden

another attempt at a family photo

another attempt at a family photo

Day 2 and another set of Elly outfits

Day 2 and another set of Elly outfits

harassing the wooden baby

harassing the wooden baby

one with all the cousins

one with all the cousins

love this tee!

love this tee!

Day 3 with matching cheongsam

Day 3 with matching cheongsam

with her friends

with her friends

CNY swim

CNY swim

with the gang

with the gang

Day 4 with at Lobo mansion

Day 4 with at Lobo mansion

homeless-looking children in Missy Messy

homeless-looking children in Missy Messy

water play!

water play!

they had a lot of fun

they had a lot of fun

sparklers

sparklers

Happy Family Paper Cutting

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I finally got a Chinese paper cutting (剪纸) of the family! I’d been wanting to get one since I spotted it in Chinatown 2 years ago before Chinese New Year but it was too crowded then. Last CNY, I was stuck at home (since it was my confinement period after delivering the baby) and couldn’t make the trip down to Chinatown. There’s less than a month to go before CNY but it’s not too crowded in Chinatown at the moment so it’s a good time to get the paper cutting done.

The stall I went to is near Pagoda St. After coming out from Exit A of Chinatown MRT, I walked straight then turned right into the first small lane. You choose the characters you like from the samples and give the man the names you want him to cut into the picture. You can have the name in English if you prefer. It’s $10 per family member and another $10 for the plain black frame. I didn’t have to wait very long, just about 15 minutes. I love the finished product!

choose the characters from the samples

choose the characters from the samples

cutting the names

cutting the names

a simple message about family

‘a harmonious family will prosper’

final product!

final product!

This is Home – Elly’s CNY 2015 Collection

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It feels like the year has just started but before you know it, it’s going to be Chinese New Year! I’m not particularly big on CNY traditions, but I do like to get the kids new clothes to wear for all the CNY visitations. I’m also slightly obsessed about dressing them in matching clothing especially since I can probably only get away with it for one or two more years before Anya puts her foot down and insists on wearing whatever she wants!

This year, we are dressing the kids in Elly’s Home collection. We are huge fans of Elly and have been for several years now. Anya posed for some pictures in their Horse Parade collection last year and there was a little reunion of sorts this year where they got some of the kids from the previous collections to come together for the Home photoshoot. I love the new collection and the heartfelt concept behind it so much.

I had a really hard time deciding on the matchy-matchy outfits for the kids because I adore EVERYTHING. After a lot of deliberation, I decided on the Japanese Fans and the Home fabrics for the kids. Anya will be wearing the Cheongsam in Japanese Fuchsia Fans while the boys will be in Mandarin-collared shirts in Japanese Blue Fans and Japanese Red Fans respectively. I am so crazy about the Home fabric that I’m getting Anya the Tinkerbell dress, Adam the Mandarin-collared shirt and David the shorts. I’m also getting Anya a sling bag and a clutch for myself in Home!

little ladies in cheongsams

little ladies in cheongsams

Anya and Noey in Lanterns

Anya and Noey in Lanterns (it’s completely sold out!!)

Fuchsia Fans

Japanese Fuchsia Fans

Red Fans

Japanese Red Fans

Blue Fans

Mandarin-collared shirt in Japanese Blue Fans and shorts in Home

Home

Mandarin-collared shirt in Home

Home

Tinkerbell dress in Home

Home

Sling bags in Home

clutch

clutches for the mummies

There are actually 8 different cheongsams, 3 dresses, 5 baby girl onesies and 8 outfits for boys (7 shirts and 1 pair of shorts) so you should check out their Facebook page for the full range and also for updates on the items that are sold out or limited. The Home collection is extremely popular!

GIVEAWAY

In conjunction with Elly, we are giving away one Cheongsam in Japanese Fuchsia Fans to one lucky reader. This is available in sizes from 9 months to 6 years and is worth about $65.

To qualify, simply do the following by Friday, 16 January 2014, 2359H (Singapore time):
1. Like the ‘Elly‘ Facebook page.
2. Like the ‘In the Wee Hours’ Facebook page.
2. Like and comment on this Facebook post telling me your favourite CNY tradition and tag a friend.

You may also like to check out the shirt or shorts giveaway over at Beverly’s and the Emily dress in Swallows print giveaway by Life is in the Small Things!

Terms & Conditions: This giveaway is open to Singapore residents only. Winners will be contacted through Facebook message and will have 24 hours to respond, failing which a new winner will be drawn. All incomplete entries will be disqualified. All entries will be verified before the winners are announced. To be fair to our sponsors, please note that all fake Facebook accounts (e.g. accounts set up purely to take part in contests with no or very few real friends) will also be ineligible to win.

Third Day of Chinese New Year: Visiting the Zoo!

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I really appreciate the fact that Adrian is making the effort to take the kids out while I’m stuck at home during this confinement period. On the third day of CNY, he took them to the zoo! Adam has been going on and on for the longest time about wanting to take a ride on an elephant so that was the must-do for the day. And of course, they got to sit on ponies too! They look somewhat sulky in the pictures (it was really hot!) but I was told they had a lot of fun that day. There aren’t any photos of them on the elephant though!

in the wagon

in the wagon

with the zebras

with the zebras

and the giraffes

and the giraffes

scary wild animals

scary wild animals

posing with the orang utans

posing with the orang utans

Anya on the pony

Anya on the pony

being led around

being led around

Adam

Adam

trotting along

trotting along

saying hi to her brother

saying hi to her brother

Second Day of Chinese New Year

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I met up with my family at my aunt’s place. My cousins and their kids were all there so it was really nice to be able to hang out. Anya & Adam wore their matching goldfish print outfits from BabyPixie, and Asher & Ellery wore the shirts I got them for Elly and looked very spiffy!

transfixed by Transformers

transfixed by Transformers

buckethead

buckethead

Adam had fun playing with H

Adam had fun playing with H

fussing over their baby bro

fussing over their baby bro

lovely family of 3 (soon to be 4!)

lovely family of 3 (soon to be 4!)

we celebrated Jon's birthday

we celebrated Jon’s birthday

asking Aunty S to have another baby

asking Aunty S to have another baby

in their matching outfits

in their matching outfits

First Day of Chinese New Year

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My mum’s helping me out during this confinement period but was really busy before and on the first day of CNY so I hung out at her place and remained there while the older kids and Adrian continued on to his grandma’s place. It was nice to see most of the people wearing red but I wasn’t expecting to do any CNY visiting so I totally clashed in my pink dress! Anya wore her Bright Horses cheongsam and Adam his red mandarin collar shirt with Bright Horses berms from Elly‘s Horse Parade collection.

the cousins playing some card game

the cousins playing some card game

torturing Uncle Nick

torturing Uncle Nick

Debs with Aidan and Heather

Debs with Aidan and Heather

really hard to get a proper picture of two

really hard to get a proper picture of 2

even harder to take a picture of 3!

even harder to take a picture of 3!

my boys

my boys

Elly CNY Collection: The Horse Parade

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Elly is my favourite place to get clothes for the kids. I love the colourful fabrics they use for their dresses and shirts and the kids love wearing the clothes. The best thing about the clothes from Elly is that they don’t go out of shape in the wash (and I’m the sort who dumps all the clothes into the washing machine without bothering to put them in laundry bags) and the colours don’t fade! This is important because Anya wears her Elly dresses ALL THE TIME. I also like to dress the kids up in matching outfits while I can still get away with it. ;)

So I was delighted when Anya was chosen to be part of their CNY collection photoshoot. She was more than happy to lend Auntie Audrey a hand and to dress up in pretty clothes. Their beautiful CNY collection ‘The Horse Parade‘ will be launched tomorrow (Monday, 16 Dec 2013) at 6pm and there are 32 styles in 6 lovely fabric designs. The Horse Parade is available for reservation so you can with the design and size you want.

Some photos of Anya in the CNY collection. Check out the rest of the collection here!

Tinkerbell dress in White Horses

Tinkerbell dress in White Horses

also comes in a Lily style

also available in a Lily style (pictured), a cheongsam, a mandarin-collared shirt and bermudas

cheongsam in Red Horses

cheongsam in Red Horses

Red Horses

Red Horses as a mandarin collar shirt, a Twirly skirt and a Tinkerbell dress

Lily dress in Horse Parade

Lily dress in Horse Parade (Anya’s favourite)

also available as a cheongsam

also available as a cheongsam (pictured) and a Twirly skirt

rainbow horseshoe

girls’ shorts in Rainbow Horseshoe; also available as a cheongsam, Tinkerbell dress, Lily dress and Twirly skirt