Huat n’ Happening 28 feasts, treats, events and outfits to check out this Chinese New Year 2017
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EDITOR’S NOTE
HUAT! AND HAPPENING Just when you thought you were done with feasting, shopping and partying a couple of weeks ago, the Year of the Rooster is upon us. For weeks we’ve been flooded with info on set lunches, dinners, gift baskets and everything else. But we figure: Chinese New Year traditions are no doubt second nature to those of you who celebrate—which is why we’re saving you the reunion tips and digging up only the coolest, prettiest, most unusual and most fun meals, events, getaways and gift ideas to choose from. Like something you see? Just click on the button and be taken straight to more info. Gong Xi Fa Cai, everyone!
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TABLE OF CONTENTS FASHION
TAKEAWAYS
The Happy Cheongsam
Antoinette
Ong Shunmugam
Candlenut
Zalora
Janice Wong
GIFTS
Kam’s Roast
Johnnie Walker Blue Label
Mitzo
Made Real
EVENTS
Scene Shang
Chye Seng Huat
TWG
DINNER & DRINKS Baba Chews db bistro and Oyster Bar
Dahlia Dreams at Gardens by the Bay Huayi Chinese Festival of the Arts
Labyrinth
YHFlea: Come Lepark Edition
Lime
Mulan the Musical
Me@OUE
Chinatown Light-Up
Nutmeg & Clove
Youth Eats @ Temple Street
Shisen Hanten
GETAWAYS Hotel Fort Canning Montigo Resorts Nongsa The Warehouse Hotel
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FASHION
1
Turn heads at the reunion
We’re drooling over Singaporean fashion house Ong Shunmugam’s resplendent red, blue and green Chinese New Year collection with traditional cheongsams mixed with the label’s signature peplum blouses, cold shoulder cuts, dramatic floral prints and lots of other head-turners.
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GIFT
2
Get a Chinoischic gift
A nice mix of traditional and Asian-hipster, Singaporean furniture label Scene Shang’s ceramic and silver-plated May Mug is a great gift for those who love good coffee and pretty things on their desks. Be extra seasonal and get the one that says yu, for fish, symbolizing plenitude.
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3
Shake up the old lo hei
FEAST
The city will be flooded with yu sheng options with all sorts of exciting special ingredients to address your lo hei needs. But the Pearls of Longevity Fruits yu sheng at Mitzo has a fun touch: the accompanying sauce is shaken up tableside in a cocktail shaker before being poured onto crispy salmon skin, Kanpachi fish and other goodness.
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EVENT
Stop and smell the flowers Take a break from all that face-stuffing for a change of pace. Gardens by the Bay is unveiling its first 2017 special begonia and dahlia display, Dahlia Dreams, to coincide with Chinese New Year. The bright flowers promise a festive mood, as do the tea appreciation classes and now-obligatory light projections. The display will be on Jan 20-Feb 19.
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TAKEAWAY
5
Update the traditional sweets
You already have your go-to places for classic confections, but your gift baskets are sure to stand out with these beautiful sweets from French bakery Antoinette. We’ve got our eye on The Queen’s Salted Egg Yolk Truffle (pictured) and the orange-flavored Mandarina macaron.
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TAKEAWAY
6
Bring along a Janice Wong creation Singapore’s celebrity dessert chef, who recently opened a flagship restaurant at the National Museum Singapore, is celebrating the Year of the Rooster with some beautiful original creations. There’s the barbecue bak kwa chocolate cookies and the mandarin wagashi special (pictured).
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7
Look adorable all weekend
FASHION
If you’re looking for reunion outfits that are a bit more affordable and casual than an Ong Shunmugam creation, check out The Happy Cheongsam, a homegrown online store that does light, cheerful dresses involving traditional prints and collars with some modern cuts and other little surprises.
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EVENT
8
Go snap-happy in Chinatown Orchard Road has its Christmas light-up, and Chinatown has its Lunar New Year equivalent, no less festive and no less Instagrammable. On Jan 7, the Chinatown precinct unveiled over 5,500 Golden Rooster lanterns to celebrate Chinese New Year. Go take some selfies and then hit the cocktail bars.
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FEATURED
Usher in prosperity with bountiful gift sets Let DEAN & DELUCA tantalise your taste buds with traditional Lunar New Year favourites, featuring Pineapple Tarts and Almond Cookies, beautifully packed in Harmony, Abundance and Treasure Gift Sets. Send your loved ones these perfect gifts via pre-orders online or e-catalogue, available till Feb 11.
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FEAST
Do CNY the Nyonya way Last year, the old Joo Chiat Police Station became the Hotel Indigo, with in-house Peranakan restaurant Baba Chews dishing out delicious breakfast, lunch and dinner. For their first CNY, they’re serving set menus with dishes like pork knuckle pongteh, udong masak lemak and itek sio.
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DRINK
10
Get a bak kwainspired cocktail
Singapore-inspired cocktail bar Nutmeg & Clove has rolled out three, all-new cocktails just for Chinese New Year: try the Huat Ah!, a Campari-based tipple influenced by the mandarin orange, or the Bacardi Cara Branca-laced Prosperity Flip, a riff on pineapple tarts. For something really boozy, get the porky Chinatown, involving bak kwa-infused bourbon, sweet vermouth and shao xing wine.
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MARKET
11 FASHION
Shop and eat in the streets The lantern light-up is not the only hot thing happening for CNY in Chinatown. Check out the Festive Street Bazaar and the Youth Eats @ Temple Street, which runs through Jan 27. Good old Lepark is also teaming up with Young Hungry Free for a 100-vendor flea and car boot market on Jan 14-15.
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Freak out over florals Cheongsam not your thing? No problem. Online fashion retailer Zalora has put together an exciting, contemporary selection for Chinese New Year, available across six Asian markets. Expect lots of chiffon, pastels, flared sleeves and florals. We’re particularly excited about the pastel prints from Something Borrowed.
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FEAST
Have a double-Michelin-starred reunion
For an early start on the festive feasting, there’s the two Michelin-starred and perennial SG Top Tables favorite Sichuan restaurant, Shisen Hanten. On Jan 13, Chef Kentaro is teaming up with Robert Parker for a lavish six-course feast, paired with wine and cognac. The braised Okinawa agu pork, for example, comes with Hennesy XO.
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14 Book Here
Sleep with Singapore history If you’re staying in town for the long weekend staycation at The Warehouse Hotel, a brand new 37-room heritage hotel by Lo & Behold Group housed in refurbished warehouses along Robertson Quay. Their sexy rooms start at $295, and there’s a stocked minibar and a rooftop infinity pool. Willin Low had a hand in in-house restaurant, Po.
STAYCATION
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TAKEAWAY
Celebrate with Malcolm Lee’s sugee cake In case you missed it, Candlenut became the first Peranakan restaurant with a Michelin star in the inaugural Singapore edition of the guide. For Chinese New Year, our local celebrity chef is whipping up sugee cake, kuih bingka ubi and for whose without a sweet tooth, a trio of sambal—all perfect for those house visits.
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16
Give CNY the molecular treatment
Easily the most underrated genius in Singapore, chef Han Liguang has been deconstructing and rehashing Singaporean flavors and ingredients to thrilling effect at Labyrinth for over two years now, and if you think reunion dinners can be a bit samey, look no further than his set menu of pen cai risotto, the abalone with spinach tuile, pineapple three ways and other dishes, on offer Feb 3-14.
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FEAST
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TAKEAWAY
17
Serve Hong Kong’s finest roast meats
There was a minor hullabaloo when HK’s Michelin-starred roast goose place Kam’s Roast opened up at Pacific Plaza, resulting in mad lines, despite the fact that there was no goose on the menu. But who cares: their pork and duck are so good, you’ll want to serve some at your house dinner. Order online until Jan 22 and pick up on Jan 27. No lines!
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GIFT
18
Mail healthy CNY hampers
Admit it: receiving yet another hamper full of cookies and tarts only amps up your caloric anxiety over CNY. Well, healthy snack subscription service Made Real is rolling out a healthy CNY hamper, with black sesame granola cookies, five-spice nut mix, Eastern trail mix and more. And you can send them around the region.
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19 More Here
Take a break from the reunions If you just want to let loose with a beer before the back-to-back family gatherings, head over to Chye Seng Huat. The Lavender hood’s coolest cafe-meets-beer bar is throwing a Happy New Beer party on Jan 14, to celebrate CNY and the launch of a new coffee stout, a collab between Papa Palheta and Innocence Brewing.
PARTY
FEAST
20 Book Here
Find new uses for bak kwa You’re probably getting so much bak kwa this festive period, you never want to see another dehydrated-grilled pork slice ever again. Well, it’s time to reconsider, with many places come up with creative uses for the thing. We’re intrigued by the CNY buffet at Lime, where during Jan 27-30, they will be serving traditional and fusion festive dishes including the bak kwa and pork floss pizza.
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GETAWAY
21
Escape to Batam
Who says your reunions have to be around a dinner table? Batam’s family-friendly and affordable Montigo Resorts Nongsa boasts one-, two-, threeand four-bedroom villas, so you can gather up the uncles, aunties and cousins and head over for a weekend blowout. There will be a lo hei, fireworks and a beachside dance party—all under an hour away from Singapore.
EVENT
© RESORTS WORLD SENTOSA
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22
Relive the glory of your favorite female warrior
If the arts festival sounds a bit too deep for you, there’s a lighter production happening over at RWS. Mulan the Musical is a Taiwanese comedy based on the legend of Hua Mulan, who disguises herself as a man to join the army. Expect plenty of laughs, suspense, romance and music. The show runs till Feb 5.
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FEAST
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24
The city is awash in yu sheng of all shapes, sizes, special ingredients and price points. One that is standing out to us right now is the one on offer at Me@OUE. The Japanese-French-Chinese open-concept kitchen is serving a platter for parties of four to eight people, full of salmon trout sashimi, hokkigai and Hokkaido ikura, topoed with black winter truffle shavings. Yum!
See some Chinese theater
If RWS’s ongoing musical adaptation of Mulan is a bit too young for you, fear not, the annual Huayi Chinese Festival of the Arts is just around the corner, happening Feb 3-12 at Esplanade. Highlights include a Hong Kong adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (pictured) and Golden Horse Award-winner Yeo Yann Yann’s one woman show, Actor, Forty.
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© BENNY LUEY
23
Put some black truffle in your yu sheng
EVENTS
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25
FEAST
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Have a reunion feast with a French flair Everyone and their mom is rolling out a special CNY-themed menu, but we thought this one at db Bistro at MBS is particularly exciting, packed with both traditional touches and enough intriguing surprises. The festive menu here (Jan 27-29) includes the chili crab supreme, with mustard greens and brioche mantou buns. Other highlights include the lotus leaf-wrapped red snapper and the suckling pig.
STAYCATION
26
Hide out from the bustle at Fort Canning
Another great staycation idea is right in the heart of the city, at Hotel Fort Canning, just a stone’s throw from the Orchard action, but secluded enough for when you are ready to rest. Rooms start at $268 and come with Nespresso machines, Poltrana Frau furniture and mineral pools. Step out for Aperitif Hour at the Private Lounge. The offer runs Jan 14-Feb 12.
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27
Get some seasonal teas from TWG
GIFT
Like clockwork, homegrown tea empire TWG is marking the festive season with a special tea blend that is both bold and prettily packaged for those hampers and gift bags. Morning Rooster Tea comes in a rich green can and is a blend of black and green tea leaves, with hints of morning rose, jasmine and orchard fruit.
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GIFT
28
Wow with these special edition whisky bottles The fancy Johnnie Walker Blue Label gets even fancier with three special edition Chinese New Year bottle designs, including our favorite, the Chinese ceramics-inspired Keep Walking China. All bottles are available in limited quantities through Diageo’s private client service.
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