Preparations start as early as five days before
By Patrick Lim Fernandez
Preparation is the key to starting anything right, and it is this same attitude that will bring in a good year for you. Bid goodbye to the Year of the Tiger and welcome the Year of the Rabbit with these easy-to-follow preparation tips that start on January 17.
Five days before - January 17
This is a good day to renew your typical self. This would include shopping for new clothes, underwear and footwear for the New Year’s Day and getting a haircut, too.
Four days before - January 18
Put the finishing touches on the cleaning and decluttering of your surroundings and house. Discard household items that are broken and appliances that are busted. Donate things that you have never gotten around to using. Necessary maintenance work should have been finished.
Three days before - January 19
In order to start the new year right, settle all unfinished issues and resolve misunderstandings and conflicts with family and friends. Face the new year with a clean slate.
Two days before - January 20
Check the lucky and unlucky directions of your house and office or business establishment based on the Flying Chart of the Year of the Water Rabbit 2023.
If significant areas of your house and office or business establishment are affected, then guard them with appropriate cures and the knowledge of its proper use. Directions to watch out for this year are East, Northwest, Northeast and Southeast).
Prepare and clean all Feng Shui cures and enhancers ready for turn around on Feb. 4, 2023.
One day before - January 21
Fill the home with flowers and blooming plants.
Before we set the table on New Year’s Eve, let us not forget to fill our rice bins to the brim and put an “ang pao” containing the P168 in mixed denominations inside.
Offer in your altar at home two candles, incense, four pieces of fruit, “huat ke” or mamon, candy, flowers and “tikoy.”
Prepare your dining table with a platter of fruits like pomelo, pineapple, orange, apple, and grapes (except pear), peanuts, sweet candies, cake, “tikoy”, raddish cake, flowers, watermelon seeds, pistachio, “ang paos,” and sumptuous meal with lucky food such as lechon or roast goose or chicken, Chinese lumpia, noodles, dumplings, whole fish, crabs, etc.
Bathe in pomelo water to remove all the bad luck and welcome the good fortunes of the year to come.
Dress in new clothes, new underwear, and new shoes in bright colors, preferably red, to promote luck and good fortune.
Ring in the New Year with noisemakers and firecrackers to drive away negative energy.
Gather your family and friends for a Chinese New Year’s Eve meal to imbibe positive Ch’i celebrating the coming in of the Water Rabbit Year this 2023.
At the stroke of midnight, try to make sure everyone in the family is together to promote a strong family bond into the New Year. Time to welcome in the New Year!
A traditional custom is to give children and unmarried relatives “ang paos” filled with money. Giving out “ang paos” during Chinese New Year is a symbol of luck and wealth to the person who receives it. This is considered to be a form of blessing and is known as “lucky money” to be kept for one year. It does not matter how much you put in them, it is the act that is important. When you receive red packets, you normally do not say thank you but greet the elders and wish them with auspicious greetings.
Chinese New Year’s Day - January 22
Enjoy a festive meal of Lucky Dishes for the first day by joining us for lunch at the New World Makati Hotel. Celebrate with a Dragon and Lion Dance and a wide array of ceremonies and rituals to enhance your luck for wealth, relationships, and health.
Good luck and Gong Xi Fa Cai!
Happy New Year!