What rhymes with Orange?!? Borange!

Ever since the Chinese New Year “season” began we’ve had an outpouring of oranges in my department from vendors and friends who want to make sure that their year will be prosperous and wealthy. I will definitely not get sick with flu or jaundice for many months to come. In the past three days alone I’ve had at least 3 oranges per day. Bring on Happiness around here!

Unfortunately, my New Year will not bring any Happiness to one aspect of my life—at least according to the Chinese Horoscope. As a Rooster, my “lovelife will be like plain water”. I discovered this today while going for lunch with Luis Rene and Alexander. We headed off to a chinese vegetarian place and walked along an open street with stalls selling Chinese New Year goodies. At the end of the stalls was a huge horoscope wheel with your horoscope for the year. Yes, quite interesting for me. Luis thinks that I should take some guys dancing to heat things up (boil the water per se). Yeah, when your horoscope reads “you will have a fulfilling lovelife”- I guess you are allowed to dish out advice! :P

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!

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Chinese Wedding

Chinese Wedding
Originally uploaded by melissatiro.

A colleague from work got married recently (on New Year's Day). This was my second Chinese wedding since I arrived in Singapore. These weddings have given me a glimpse into the Singaporean culture. The lavish occasion, many wedding attires, ten course meal and the Chinese wedding traditions.

For the Chinese culture, the wedding day is a coming together of two families. A celebration fit for royalty. There are of course Singaporean traditions that are embedded into the wedding including an interesting way that the groom on the wedding day enters the bride's house. He (along with his friends) must go through the bride's sisters and friends before reaching the bride herself. They will need to bribe the friends as well as perform interesting activities in order to get to the bride. These pictures are then shown during the wedding dinner. Really funny stuff.

For this particular occasion, Nacho and I decided to go all out- dressed up to the nines. Notice how very well coordinated we are-- his tie matching my dress! :)

Hanoi, Vietnam- JAN 2006

Mel, Jess & Adi on Ha Long Bay
Originally uploaded by melissatiro.

Thanks to the vigilant watch that Irina keeps on budget airlines, we had quite a steal on a trip to Hanoi last weekend. Armed with our visas and sweaters (it was cold!), the global village arrived in Hanoi (4 Romanians, 2 Canadians, 1 Indian and a Mexican). We spent 4 days literally eating our way through Hanoi- taking in the great scenery, the millions of motorbikes and fascinating streets.

Ha Long Bay (3 hours away from Hanoi) was the highlight of our trip (although some will beg to differ--see previous posting "Picture of the Day"). From the fantastic boat ride to exploring the caves (a first time for me!) it was such a great feeling. Definitely something to return to in warm weather.

Thanks to Aditi, Jessica, Luis, Pixi, Albert, Irina & Silviu for making this a memorable trip!

Picture of the Day

Picture of the Day with the Romanian Boys
Originally uploaded by melissatiro.

Our last day in Hanoi, Vietnam last weekend was spent walking around the lake (and since we stayed close to the lake, this was probably our 50th walk around the lake). Of course, each walk bring different surprises. This time around, it's a surprise for the Romanian boys-- girls dressed in pink. :)