Sinapour

The Republic of Singapore is a very interesting place because it has a lot of tourism and places of interest for several people. To get to this country you have to know where Singapore is.

Singapore is a republic that belongs to the continent of Asia. It contains sixty-three islands, its government is the parliamentary republic. Singapore has divided its territory into five community development councils. The capital of Singapore is the City of Singapore.

The Republic of Singapore is located between Malaysia and Indonesia, the former being its limit in the north and the latter its limit in the south. Singapore is made up of sixty-four islands and the best known of them is the main island of Singapore, called Pulau Ujong.

Singapore receives the title as the second city with the highest population density in the world. Among all these inhabitants there are Chinese, Indians, Malays, and also Europeans and Latin Americans.

The climate of Singapore is equatorial, there is no difference between seasons as temperatures and pressures are mostly uniform, likewise, humidity and rain are abundant.

Languages ​​or official languages ​​of Singapore

English

Tamil

Malay

Mandarin

The multicultural heritage of Singapore is manifested in its cuisine and is that, although the international spirit reigns in the streets, Chinese, Indian and Malaysian dishes are the star of many restaurants.

Some of the delights of Singapore cuisine are:

Crab: Whether it's pepper, chili or any other way, crab is the most typical dish in Singapore.

Satay: marinated skewers of chicken or pork with peanut sauce. It is the favorite dish for international tourists.

Char Kway Teow: Rice noodles with garlic, meat, prawns and various sauces.

Laksa: Noodle soup of different variants.

Rice with chicken Hainanese: Steamed chicken with rice and various sauces.

Roti Prata: Although it is an original dish from India, the roti has become a classic among Singaporeans. It is a pancake that can carry different ingredients inside.

Singapore offers you a moment full of poetry to celebrate this end of the year. On New Year's Eve, tradition dictates that people write on paper white lanterns a message to express their wishes, dreams and hopes for the new year, and do this from mid-November. In total, more than 20,000 luminous spheres, including perhaps yours, are released in the water of the Bay of Singapore.

While the messages float, you can enjoy concerts and shows to culminate and as a finishing touch, the magnificent fireworks that illuminate the Singapore sky for several minutes.

Preparations for the event begin to be seen well in advance. The streets are decorated with so characteristic red lanterns and stores start selling the corresponding paraphernalia.

In the Chinese calendar the years are based on the zodiac. Each year corresponds to an animal. This 2015 it's the turn of the goat. Next year will be the monkey and then the rooster. Every 12 years, it goes back to the beginning, the rat.

Only for the celebration of the Chinese New Year are illuminated and decorated temples and streets with red lanterns or similar. Goats (or the animal on duty) is represented everywhere and especially on shirts, hats, umbrellas ... etc. that are sold as souvenirs. In Singapore, where I spent a few weeks before the New Year, on New Bridge Road (one of the streets adjacent to Chinatown in Singapore) they have planted a crowd of goats that light up at night. She misses Heidi among so many goats, but it is still beautiful.

You can find all kinds of stuffed animals and goat dolls in the street stalls of Chinatown (the Chinatown of Singapore). Some really fun. Pineapples are also used to decorate houses and streets. It is a fruit that symbolizes fortune and is usually made of red and yellow paper (colors that also symbolize fortune) to reinforce its meaning. They also sell the ubiquitous golden cats that move the leg, huge piggy banks to save all year, pamphlets to hang on the doors and offerings to take to the temples.

On the other hand, in Penanag (northwest of Malaysia) is the Ke Lok Si temple, the largest Buddhist Chinese temple that exists outside of China. If in Singapore they illuminate their temples in a moderate and elegant way, on this island the Chinese - as in many other things - have gone out of their hands to enlighten.

In addition to food, Chinese families follow some of these traditions to welcome the new year and have a fortune:

In what would be our old night, after the family dinner, the children want to be awake as long as possible. It is believed that the longer you are awake, the more you bless the longevity of your parents.

The drums that accompany the traditional lion dance serve to ward off bad omens and welcome a safe and auspicious new year.

To prepare for the arrival of the new year, families stock up on food and products with words or phrases that have a positive meaning.

The biggest event of the Chinese New Year is the family dinner of the vigil night to start the year with prosperity.

The doors and windows are decorated with red paper with filigree and gold texts that mean a prosperous new year that arrives.

Spring cleaning: it is believed that before the end of the year, the house must be thoroughly cleaned. The cleaner and more orderly, the more wealth and good luck the new year will bring. Cleaning is usually done (they say) among the whole family.

The family members married, give the youngest and children, red envelopes with money as a form of blessing and thus eliminate aging and the problems of the coming year. This tradition is called Am Pow.

During the celebration of the Chinese New Year, Longan (lichies) is served, symbolizing health and strength like that of the dragon. Red tea is also consumed a lot. By its color it symbolizes good fortune and sweet blessings for the whole year.