Galloping into the Year of the Horse.

I've had just enough time...   to gallop like a horse.

This is the Year of the Horse - galloping free!

This is the Year of the Wood Horse. Full of energy and high potential for conflicts. Here is wishing all of my friends and readers a vibrant year of galloping into good fortune and galloping away from troubles. 

Embossed red on gold ang pow 

Here are some of the “Ang Pow” I received this year. “Ang Pow” meant “red packet” in the Hokkien, one of the Chinese dialect. It is the tradition of the Chinese to give out red packet containing money during the Chinese New Year. It is given by the elders to unmarried relatives or visitors (whether those who visit you or whom you visit) during the New Year. Tough luck if you are married for you are now considered an adult. You can only receive from your parents or bosses but these are considered as “start work” ang pow for a good business start. 

A brightly coloured family coloured theme.

But if you are unmarried, you are still considered a child and thus eligible for ang pow no matter how old you are! However, I’m not sure if that is considered a blessing or not. You will receive a lot of reminders to get hitched along with the ang pow until you are sick of hearing it. On the other hand, as an encouragement, your children are eligible for ang pows so go forth and be bountiful so you can have bountiful harvest of ang pows too!

In the old days, all ang pows are red in colour hence the name. But these days, many of them are beautiful multi-coloured designs with various New Year theme. The Year of the particular animal such as horse this year, auspicious animals or birds, family gathering, lion dances, calligraphy wishes are popular themes. There are even some with the faces of celebrities. In this posts, you get to see some of the ang pows I received this year. “Huat! Ah!” (Prosper! Ah!”)

Wishing everyone a Happy Chinese New Year!