"Puppy Love" (Chinese Year of the Dog + Valentine's Day)

This year, February 13th was Chinese New Year (AKA Spring Festival), the first day of the new Year of the Dog. The 14th, of course, was Valentines Day! 

Usually Bangkok is decorated for Valentine's, but since it fell during the Chinese New Year, red and gold was much more prevalent than pink. A few places though, like this department store that built a Japanese-style "power spot", were decorated for Valentine's Day.

Mostly, Bangkok is all dressed up for Chinese New Year, the 15-day  celebration of the end of winter and beginning of the new lunar year.

Bangkok and the south of Thailand both have large Chinese-Thai populations. In Bangkok, the festival is a bit more commercial and less traditional than in the south or in China, but it's a lot of fun.

People tend to dress up in red and gold Chinese-style shirts to honor their ancestry and Chinese heritage (many, if not most Bangkokians have some Chinese ancestry). There's all sorts of snacks available, and Chinatown comes alive with firecrackers and dragon dances.

Even in downtown, it's a party! Outside of Amarin Plaza, we stumbled  across a small Chinese street market with lots of yummy snacks for sale.

If we took a picture in front of the mall and shared it on social media, we could go inside and redeem a free Chinese paper fortune!

We took some photos with the dragon dance costumes.

And then we got our fortunes!

The one on the left says:  Wish you a most happy and prosperous year.

And the one on the right says: Bringing in wealth and treasure - a felicitous wish of making money.

The street market was lively, and there were lots of Chinese dishes and snacks for sale.

It's the Year of the Dog on the Chinese 12-year zodiac. It's supposed to be an unlucky year for Goats (like me!) but I don't think so. I have a feeling it's going to be a great year with lots of good things coming my way. But maybe I should be sure to wear red to ward off bad luck this year!

Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Year of the Dog!

I wish you all luck, peace, and happiness this year!

It's been a while since I've posted, but I've got lots of big things coming. Stay tuned, and thanks to all who  have been following my blog throughout the years. I've got lots to share soon! Yes, I really do believe it's going to be a lucky year for me!