Lunar New Year Nostalgia All Around...

Every year just zips by...before we know it its Lunar New Year again ( yes, I say 'Lunar' not 'Chinese' cos its the new year of the Lunar calendar and besides not only the Chinese celebrates but the Japanese and Koreas also observes  the Lunar New Year) which brings back nostalgia, memories and a time for family to gather. I remember as a child it meant visiting relatives that we havent met for a whole year, stuffing our faces with new year cookies and sweets and (oh yeah!) collecting the good old hong pau (red packets) but the older I get, I realize its the gathering of people we hold dear and love, cos we never know when we'll next meet again...
One prominent ritual Lunar New Year reminds me of is how my mom has faithfully observe the 3 day lighting of joss stick (which is a pledge for one's family health, prosperity and happiness) since she was a teenager, my mom is in her 70's, this is what you call preseverence I guess, in a world today that want things done fast and gives up too easily. Remembering as a child I tried to keep her company but always falling asleep, to this last couple of years helping her to guard the joss stick and getting her to go to bed but somehow she has a built in alarm clock and there she is when the joss stick burns out!
I guess to her, her love ones health, happiness truly override her tiredness...so where are you this new year? Remember your love ones, cos work is never ending, we are always busy... but our love ones, they grow up and grow old so quickly...treasure them in our lives while we can.

This year also marks a different turn in my life, starting a all purpose shop with my friends, Lay Har and Ivy. All purpose cos its about us building a dream to reality, a shop that houses what we love...so for our New Year / Lunar New Year window display, I've decided to do something different, a magical fairy and dragonflies..a fairy to make all our wishes come true in the coming year and dragonflies in playing with the words 'dragon' and 'fly', the coming year being of the dragon and we hope to fly high!
So here's hoping everyone a magical fairy-able and dragon-fly-able New Year!

PS: thanks Koon for the beautiful wings!