Fish Tales

My life in Singapore Taipei. And then some.

Tiger decoration

Stuffed tiger decoration

The Chinese lunar calendar doesn’t always seem to be fair. That is, at least when it comes to the animal zodiac associations.

Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with the ox.

But, how much more awesome is the tiger?

A lot more.

Tiger may be my second favorite zodiac animal.

But, what could be better tiger?

Dragon.

For sure, dragon beats tiger.

Chinese Lunar New Year is just around the corner. And that means Chinatown is all decked out with fancy decorations.

Welcome, Year of the Tiger!

Old colonial building behind hanging lanters

Old colonial building behind hanging lanterns

Festive items & food sold in Chinatown

Festive items & food sold in Chinatown

Dried fruits

Dried fruits

Liquorice seeds

Liquorice-flavored melon seeds

Old man singing

Old man singing

For several weeks leading up to Chinese New Year, Singapore’s Chinatown bustles with festive activity. Colorful decorations, crowded streets and multitudes of shopkeepers selling holiday related goods embrace the celebratory atmosphere. Visitors buy everything from traditional Mandarin orange gifts to New Year charms to ornamental lanterns. It’s all really fun and interesting to see.

While visiting, one street vendor caught my eye… this temporary tattoo artist offered several CNY inspired designs. And at only five dollars I couldn’t resist asking him for the dragon tattoo. The application was simple: it involved a latex template and an airbrush to spray the temporary ink onto my skin. Much less painful than getting a real tattoo, I expect!

CNY Dragon Tattoo

CNY Dragon Tattoo

Tattoo in Chinatown

Just Outside Chinatown