Two big days this weekend. On Saturday, Charlie and I were guests at the Singapore Gifts Association’s annual New Year’s Luncheon at ParkRoyal on Kitchener. The festivities kicked off with a traditional lion dance – a pair of red lions, animated by two young boys inside, one rear, one front – danced down the center aisle and onto the stage while another young fellow provided rhythm on a kettle drum. The lion’s goal is to chase away the evil spirits and the bad luck from the previous year. Then we tossed our salad. Yu sheng – translated raw fish – is a salad made of, as its name implies, raw fish (such as salmon), vegetables, and sauce. Each ingredient has an auspicious meaning – the raw fish is a wish for abundance, the plum sauce a wish for sweetness in life. After it is assembled in the center of the table, everyone takes their chopsticks and begins to toss while hollering “lo hei” – “lo” means “toss” and “hei” means “to rise.” So the higher we toss, the greater our fortunes. Then we ate it. Pretty tasty actually.Charlie had already participated in a tossing on Friday at the office. (photo above) Glad I didn’t have to clean up after that one.
On Sunday after church we were off to Little India. Thaipusam, a Hindu religious festival, was underway and we wanted to watch the procession. The participants, or devotees, pierce their tongues and checks and attach large decorative contraptions, kavadis (burdens), to their bodies with spikes and hooks. Their families travel beside them along the route from one temple to another. 
Then we hailed a cab and set off for home. That’s one of the things I like most about Singapore. Being a not-so-intrepid traveler, it’s nice to venture out a few kilometers from home and experience another world, and still return to my own bed before sunset.
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