Ep 45: 21 Ways to celebrate Chinese New Year like a Pro
Hosts: Jade and Deniece
ABOUT THE EPISODE
Join Jade and Deniece on this episode as they highlight "21 Tips to Celebrate Chinese New Year Like A Pro" in anticipation of the CNY (Chinese New Year) celebrations coming soon.
A MILLENNIAL MESS
EPISODE 45 PODCAST SHOW NOTES
Episode Timeline:
[03:43] Today's topic is on how you can celebrate CNY like a Pro. Festive Seasons can be stressful generally depending on the setting and the planning.
[07:30] Jade and Deniece often got a lot of Angpaos as kids during the Chinese New Year festivities. Deniece got so much money in Angpaos that she could pay for a term in school. In no particular order, 21 tips will be shared to successfully celebrate Chinese New Year easily and memorably.
[09:57] To start with, get your nails or hair done earlier to avoid a surcharge. Another tip is to use Magnetic lashes instead of perm or normal lashes which won't last. It helps to pre-order your CNY goodies; Jade pre-orders it from the store about a month before.
[14:24] More tips: Grab food vouchers. Repurpose your CNY decor, rather than discarding them to get new ones every year. Prepare your CNY Tiger greetings; Deniece gives 3 examples of these. Another tip is to make reservations early so that you don't have any difficulty booking, but if that isn't possible you can pick a later time when the crowd in most places would be less.
[21:20] Some other tips: Avoid sensitive topics, do not ask if someone is pregnant, single, or seeing someone. Another important tip for this generation is to learn a family recipe because some of them come from 2 generations before us and will be gone very soon if not passed to the next generation.
Next, it would be helpful to pick out a day to do your other shopping a couple of days before the CNY celebration. We also need to keep in mind that when we visit people, we should engage with them and be in the moment rather than focus on our electronic devices. At work, you may need to finish your work earlier so your bosses don't disturb your rest; it's a very awkward thing to be at a dinner table where nobody wants to talk. Playing games can be very useful for bonding with people.
If you're not very familiar with Mahjong, take time to learn it so you can join in the game, or go along with games familiar to your age group. Queuing up movies to watch with people can also come in very handy.
[35:31] It is good to keep a list to note how much you get and give out as Angpao so you don't end up always giving lesser. Also, buy Angpaos that have your surname so you can use them for years, and you don't always have to go shopping for them.
For CNY decor, it is usually cheap one or two days before CNY. In addition, make use of all the weekends in February to celebrate, no need to cram everything into one weekend. Because of Covid-19 restrictions, we should not think of festive seasons as one day but a long celebration.
[43:11] Photos are good for memory, so plan for it by finding a good spot to place your camera at home so you don't forget to take pictures. Jade always tries to take multiple pictures.
To avoid the temptation of eating more food that may leave others with a shorter ration, Try to eat from home when going to visit people. Although Jade's family encourages people to eat more so this may depend on the setting. Don't pressure guests to eat, focus on the relationship, not the food.
[50:25] Feel free to save this episode and refresh your memory every year because these tips won't fade out.