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Time honored traditions to prepare for the Lunar New Year

Married life with his Chinese wife takes Benji on his first journey of ushering the Lunar New Year with his new family. Watch the comical interaction between Benji and his father-in-law, Uncle Chuan, as Benji gets shown the ropes in preparing the home before the Lunar New Year festivities.

“28th Day Eve of CNY, is the Day for Spring Cleaning”, dictates Uncle Chuan. The older generation know best how to lead by example when it comes to traditions. When the festivities hit, all barriers – language and cultural – can be broken by simply remembering that preparing for the Lunar New Year is a family affair that fosters family togetherness. This includes shopping for traditional decorations, buying new clothes, cooking up a storm, and of course, cleaning the home before the eve of the auspicious occasion. Traditional Spring Cleaning as part of the preparations The practice of spring cleaning goes back to the olden days in China, where people would give their homes a thorough cleaning on the day before New Year’s eve. Clearing away dust is symbolic of clearing old and bad luck of the previous year, in order to make room for new good luck to enter the home. Spring cleaning doesn’t have to be a pain. With the right tools and family along to help, scrub away and renew your home with ease! Gather the right tools you need Ready your household cleaning agents for efficient, effective cleaning. As Uncle Chuan knows, covering the basics – laundry, scrubbing the floor, cleaning the bathrooms and ensuring you have clean dishes for all your visiting guests – can be done with minimal effort if you have the right cleaning agents to help you along. Doing the laundry at this time of year usually means truckloads of bed linen, curtains and clothes, and chances are there will be a few tough stains. Uncle Chuan chooses a detergent like Breeze, which contains enzymes to help break down the most stubborn of stains. Pair your detergent with a scoop of fabric softener like Comfort Ultra Concentrate Fabric Softener, to make your curtains and bed linens extra soft and less prone to wrinkling - it also adds a lovely fragrance that lasts up to 2 weeks, so your home smells lovely to all who visit. Scrubbing the floor and bathroom tiles around the home is usually backbreaking work. But it doesn't have to be with a reliable household cleaner like Cif Cream. Uncle Chuan’s choice for cleaning almost everything at home, Cif Cream saves you the trouble of buying multiple cleaners to use around the house as it removes tough stains from most surfaces, while still protecting them. Doing the dishes is one of the more tedious chores - especially if you don’t own a dishwasher. With guests visiting throughout the new year, piles of dirty dishes will seem to appear magically. Use a dishwashing liquid like Sunlight, with its active natural ingredients that helps degrease your dishes five times as quickly, so you get the spend more time with the ones you love instead of slaving away at the sink. Traditional Decorations for the finishing touch After you’re done with the cleaning, it’s time to to take out the decorations and get into the swing of things. Dressing a home for Chinese New Year is even more special when done with family.   As you fill the house with cherry blossoms and kumquats, hang the Chinese calligraphy and ready the house in red, don’t forget to stop and take a break every once in a while to admire with satisfaction your progress with the ones you love. Gong Xi Fa Cai!

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10 Must-Buys for Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is just a few weeks away – are you ready to celebrate? Follow this easy checklist and you’ll have everything you need to ring in good fortune with your loved ones… Chinese New Year Checklist: 1. Chinese New Year decorations Why you need it: After spring cleaning, it’s customary to hang up decorations around the home and office space to celebrate the festivities and as a symbol of prosperity. The most common decorations are couplets bearing auspicious characters, such as upside down ‘fu’ which represents the arrival of good fortune. Recommended: Paper decorations are easily available in Chinatown. You may also find them in specialty Chinese shops and most big supermarkets alongside Chinese New Year delicacies. 2. Sweet cakes and bak kwa Why you need it: These celebratory tidbits are everyone’s favourites and customary to serve guests as a welcome to the home during the New Year. Popular must-haves include pineapple tarts, nian gao (literally translates to “high year”, to symbolise reaching greater heights in the year ahead) and of course, bak kwa (delicious roast barbecue pork slices). Many also present friends and business associates with these as New Year gifts. Recommended: These treats are easily found in any supermarket or at numerous pop-up stores that appear in malls and neighbourhoods just before the New Year. Popular bak kwa brands have outlets around the city as well as in Chinatown, but be prepared to queue as these are immensely popular! 3. Mandarin Oranges Why you need it: These sweet citrus fruits are usually exchanged as a pair with friends, family and business associates. Mandarin oranges are also referred to as “kam”, which means gold in Cantonese, so exchanging them with friends is the symbolic equivalent of giving each other gold, and also mean the sharing of good luck and prosperity.   Recommended: These are easily available at any supermarket leading up to the New Year. 4. Dishwashing liquid Why you need it: The last thing you want is a pile of dirty dishes when you’re entertaining family and friends. A reliable dishwashing liquid makes all the difference when it can help you get your cutlery clean quickly and easily without feeling like a chore. Recommended: Sunlight dishwashing liquid has a refreshing citrusy scent and washes away grease effortlessly, so you’ll be done with the dishes in no time. 5. All-purpose cleaner Why you need it: This will do wonders during spring cleaning. An all-purpose cleaner that easily removes stains off most surfaces will save you time and effort: no need to buy many different cleaners, and no need to spend hours scrubbing. What we recommend: An effective all-purpose cleaner is Cif Cream, which easily wipes away hard-to-remove stains (such as burnt food residues, grease, and everyday bathroom scum) around the home – from bathroom tiles to kitchen countertops, floor tiles and tabletops. 6. New clothes Why you need it: Wearing a new set of clothes represents a fresh, new start to the year. The ‘prosperous’ colour for the New Year is red but if you prefer not to wear the bright shade from head to toe, it’s acceptable to opt for red accents or accessories instead. Avoid black, as some consider it bad luck. What we recommend: If you fancy going down the traditional route, many clothing labels offer updated versions of the traditional qipao, also known as cheongsam. Alternatively, you can craft your own designs with a tailor – just book early, as they get busy ahead of the New Year. 7. Laundry detergent Why you need it: Spring cleaning is a must before the New Year, and this usually involves washing all of the bed linens and curtains around the home. You’ll also need something that can remove stains effectively so that you can keep your clothes looking fresh during New Year visiting.   What we recommend: Make things easy with a brand that is gentle on different materials, yet effective on stubborn stains. Breeze contains enzymes that help to break down a wide variety of stains (for example, lipstick, oil, wine and grass). It’s also suitable to use for cold washes, so you don’t have to use hot water. 8. Fabric softener Why you need it: This is often overlooked, but will make your laundry and spring cleaning that much easier and more pleasant, not to mention help keep your new clothes in good quality and less wrinkle-prone. Recommended: It pays to get a good fabric softener, as its main purpose is to maintain the quality of your laundry. Comfort Ultra Concentrate Fabric Softener will leave your laundry smooth, soft and with a fragrance lasting up to two weeks post-wash. 9. Angbao (red packets) Why you need it: Angbaos signify good luck and never fail to bring a smile to the recipients! Traditionally, married couples give out angbaos, however in modern societies, angbaos are also presented by anyone who wishes to extend good luck. Recommended: Many banks, businesses and shops give out complimentary packs of angbaos during the festive period. You can easily request a pack from banks or purchase your own from specialty Chinese shops selling other traditional items. Even numbered amounts of money are recommended if you are giving angbaos, and any number ending with the number eight, is considered lucky. 10. Mahjong set Why you need it: This traditional Chinese game is a huge favourite among many – despite any gambling connotations, it’s also a fun way to bond with friends and family during the New Year, especially during visiting. Recommended: Have a walk with the family in Chinatown and you’ll find mahjong sets everywhere for sale. Get a travel size set if you’d like to take the fun on your journeys away.

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Is Your Home Ready for Chinese New Year?

Who has time for long, tedious chores? With these cleaning tips and tricks, you’ll be done with your Chinese New Year spring cleaning in no time. Spring Cleaning Hack 1: Use a fragrant fabric softener This barely takes any extra time or effort, and still yields amazing results. Fabric softeners will make sure your curtains and bed linens are much softer to the touch and less prone to forming wrinkles, so you don’t have to worry about a crumpled mess to deal with after the wash. Your sheets will also smell fresher and cleaner to visiting guests, and be a dream to sleep on. Tip: Fabric softeners should be added to the wash at the appropriate time during the spin cycle of the wash. If your washing machine has a fabric softener dispenser you can add it to that. Otherwise, dilute the fabric softener in water first to prevent softener “stains” on your clothes from oil and grease that could be in the product.

Try Comfort Ultra Concentrate Fabric Softener, which will leave your linens freshly scented for up to 2 weeks post-wash! Highly recommended for baby’s bed linens. Spring Cleaning Hack #2: Remove odors with baking soda or lemon Do you have problems getting rid of the musty smell in your cupboards or drawers no matter how much you dust or wipe? Try placing a little baking soda in these enclosed spaces (in little bags or in a small dish) to absorb any unwanted odors. Lemons are nature’s air-fresheners and will also work on hard-to-reach shelves that aren’t dusted very often. Tip: Halve some lemons and place them around the home for a refreshing scent that also doubles up as insect repellent.

Spring Cleaning Hack #3: Save money by using multi-usable cleaning agents As mums would know, there are tons of cleaning agents out in the supermarkets for your household cleaning needs, each one as promising the other. Instead of buying bottle after bottle to serve one need each, use a cleaning agent that you can use to clean not only the bathrooms or kitchens, but also refuse tough stains on walls or floor tiles. Not only does this saves on money, your storage cabinets won’t overflow. Tip: Cif Cream, a household name in cleaning agents, cuts down on the amount of products you use because this one smooth-textured cream is enough for lifting dirt effectively anywhere in your home while being kind to your surfaces. A marvel at cleaning away tough stains on stoves (including burnt food residue) or mouldy bathroom tiles, you can rely on Cif Cream to cover your stain-removal problems. Spring Cleaning Hack #4: Stain removal made easy Dealing with laundry means encountering all sorts of stains. This could include anything from grass stains on the kids’ clothes to wine on your favourite dress. If you can’t tell what the stain is, try mixing a teaspoon of 3% hydrogen peroxide together with some non-gel toothpaste and rub the paste on the stain with a soft cloth. White vinegar is also a great stain remover for pretty much any stain you can think of. For easy application on small stains, use a toothbrush or a sponge dipped in white vinegar. Tip: Complete your stain removal process by using an enzyme detergent to wash the clothes after you’ve applied your chosen stain removers on them. Enzyme detergents contain proteins that help to break down difficult stains in the wash. Consider using Breeze, with its range of powder and liquid enzyme detergents that work well to treat a wide variety of stains such as wine, makeup, cooking oils, mud and coffee. Get the family involved in cleaning the house and with a little effort, you too can look forward to receiving your guests in a clean and fresh-smelling home this Lunar New Year.

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What Will You Be Wearing This New Year?

So you’ve done the spring cleaning, got the bak kwa ready and filled in the hong baos...all that’s left is to get a brand new outfit and you’re ready to usher in the Lunar New Year in style! Step 1: Pick Your Colour You can’t go wrong with the traditional red, which represents good fortune in Chinese culture. But if you want to break away from red this year, consider green or brown shades instead. 2015 is the Year of the Wooden Sheep in the Chinese zodiac, and these earthy tones are recommended to keep your “energy” aligned to the Wood element. Tip: Refresh before the New Year New clothes represent fresh beginnings – so do the same for your hair style! Time your haircuts to happen before the New Year, otherwise it’s considered bad luck, as you’d be “snipping” away at prosperity and “cutting” off good luck. Step 2: Maximise your comfort Generally, you should wash all new clothes before wearing them (as long as you don’t wash them on the first day of Chinese New Year together with all your good luck) – off-the-rack clothing often contain chemical or bacterial residue, either before it reaches the display racks or off somebody else who’s tried them before you, so when you think about it, washing before wearing is a must. Another reason to give the clothes a spin in the washing machine is to help prevent the colours from “bleeding”, or transferring, to your skin or other surfaces. This is more likely to happen for bright colours like red, orange or pink, which are favourite colour choices for the auspicious occasion. Tip: Add an extra-soft touch A small amount of fabric softener does wonders. Your clothes smell great, feel soft to wear and less wrinkle-prone. For an extra soft touch, try Comfort Ultra Concentrate Fabric Softener, which adds a subtle yet fresh fragrance that can last up to 2 weeks! (plus it works equally well on the bed linens and curtains) Step 3: Make it a favourite outfit for years to come How often do you pull out your fancy Chinese New Year’s outfit, other than during the celebrations? There’s no reason to wear your brand new outfit only once a year, especially if the New Year marks an extra special milestone for you. Make use of the outfit more than once instead of relegating it to the back of the closet after the visits with family and friends are done. With all the visiting (not to mention eating and drinking) you might be doing, chances are you might end up with a tough-to-remove stain on your new clothes, but luckily, there are ways around this. Tip: Get rid of extra-stubborn stains in a breeze For stubborn stains like coffee or wine, or even grass stains from playing around in the garden with the kids, try a washing detergent such as Breeze, which contains enzymes that help break down difficult stains. Enzyme detergents are especially effective when used in warm water temperatures (e.g. 30-40°C) so rest assured that your clothes will be as good as new in no time! By washing according to the laundry instructions on the label, using a fabric softener, and storing them in well-ventilated areas, you can keep your favourite outfit in great condition for use all year round. Look your best as you celebrate Chinese New Year with your loved ones this year. Gong Xi Fa Cai!