Dances with Lions
Is 2018 raining cats and dogs? I see the big kitty cats are out to play. Here's a special dedication to those beautiful lions, dancing gracefully to the beat of the tanggu (堂鼓) drums and clanging cymbals. If you like to catch weekly updates just visit my facebook page or get the links to my facebook album here.
While iflix orange lion head is accompanied by the Chinese fan and lanterns in 2D, which really has a great feel and touch, Mika is gifting us more than just cakes and cookies this lunar year, their two big, bold and beautiful pet lions are delivering us plentiful of fortune and blessing... keen for more? Just step into the future of Mika's lion here.
Health Lane has always managed to surprise me with their designs and this year is no exception. I love those playful lions at the front, the Chinese painting at the back and finally the lion's mouth & paws on the flap. Also having a purple piece in their 3pc set is Jin Ye Ye with two little lion dancing joyfully, a set that took me more than half a year to complete... wonder if they have learnt their lesson this year or still believe that giving out incomplete sets to not only their customers but contest winners is the right strategy? ╮ (. ❛ _ ❛.) ╭
Freeport A'Famosa Outlet did not use any purple in their 3pc set, instead they used pink to match their blossom piece, red for their lion dance and orange for the lanterns. Launched in January 2016, the FAO outlet is set in an open air mall featuring a lake, fountains, carousel and windmill with architecture loosely themed on Melaka’s Dutch heritage. I haven't visited this outlet, as a matter of fact I haven't visited the other two (Genting and Johor) as well (grin). Below is the 4-Star hotel Aloft with a two pieces set, one with a bunch of colorful firecrackers and the other has a big lion dance face carrying blessing in it's mouth just like the following set from Acer.
Here comes the eight lion dance heads from Thunder Match Acer all carrying a different blessing in their mouth. How I wish they were all in different colors, would most likely be one of the hot cakes for collectors to chase after if so (grin).
A lion dance team of four from Sushi King above, as well as from Oishi with their fortune kitties teaming up to bless the new year. View more from Oishi over at my Baby & Friends corner (click here). Below is Kadokawa delightful lion and dragon dancing team cheering the new year with a die-cut effect 3pc set.
WefluenZ is a quite a fun set with their five color lion dance head in front and it's body (and tail) at the back of the packet delivering a colorful and cheerful CNY to the public and it was pretty easy to get them too, just download their app and redeem these lions at their participating outlets. Here comes the lion dance pair from the noodle house, Auntie Lora has theirs slurping up those delicious noodles while Face to Face presented theirs just as vibrantly.
Sangkaya is a delightful set of four big and four small with a clever idea of using the word KAYA from their brand name which means rich or fortune in Malay language. Each letter is then matched with the auspicious koi fish, fu lantern, lion dance head and traditional floral print respectively using four different color tone. Eureka is by far the smallest in size that I have collected in 2018, was caught by surprise how small it was when I got them from a recent trade. Having said that the quality is quite good and the colors are beautiful too, just a little mini maybe? (grin) Oh did you spot the lion dance in this mini-five?
Lion dance is a traditional dance in Chinese culture in which performers mimic a lion's movements in a lion costume accompanied by the music of beating drums, clashing cymbals, and resounding gongs to bring good luck and fortune. Mister Potato is opening their front doors and showing off their back door with lanterns while Wyeth S26 four color doors are showing us the family warmth. Looney Tunes and Follow Me both with sunset theme; fireworks background from Looney Tunes and Follow Me with their beautiful ancient Chinese buildings backdrop, the kids dancing, playing (fireworks) and of course the lion dancing.
GSK has a bigger party with reunion dinner, more fireworks as well as firecrackers and of course the lion dancing with drums and cymbals! Bigger party, bigger set with a folding screen (click here to view under my FB album) together with an added theme of what the 15 days celebration is all about...
The 15-Day Celebration of Chinese New Year starts with the reunion dinner on the eve of Chinese New Year, follow by the first day known as Yuan Dan (元旦) where family celebrates and pays respect to elders. The second day of the Chinese New Year, known as "beginning of the year" (开年), was when married daughters visited their birth parents, relatives and close friends. Seventh day is named renrì (人日), literally Human Day and is considered to be the birthday of men. The ninth day is a day to offer prayers to the Jade Emperor of Heaven. This day is called Ti Kong Dan (Hokkien: 天公诞) or Pai Ti Kong (Hokkien: 拜天公), is especially important to Hokkiens. Finally the fifteenth day of the new year is celebrated as "Yuanxiao Festival" (元宵节), also known as the Lantern Festival or Chap Goh Mei (十五暝). In China, Malaysia, and Singapore, this day is celebrated by individuals seeking a romantic partner, akin to Valentine's Day.
The 15-Day Celebration of Chinese New Year starts with the reunion dinner on the eve of Chinese New Year, follow by the first day known as Yuan Dan (元旦) where family celebrates and pays respect to elders. The second day of the Chinese New Year, known as "beginning of the year" (开年), was when married daughters visited their birth parents, relatives and close friends. Seventh day is named renrì (人日), literally Human Day and is considered to be the birthday of men. The ninth day is a day to offer prayers to the Jade Emperor of Heaven. This day is called Ti Kong Dan (Hokkien: 天公诞) or Pai Ti Kong (Hokkien: 拜天公), is especially important to Hokkiens. Finally the fifteenth day of the new year is celebrated as "Yuanxiao Festival" (元宵节), also known as the Lantern Festival or Chap Goh Mei (十五暝). In China, Malaysia, and Singapore, this day is celebrated by individuals seeking a romantic partner, akin to Valentine's Day.
2018 is a great year for Chinese tea drinking; From Tea Garden 古文茶 we have a colorful 6-pcs family set with vibrant traditional buildings while Wyeth S26 has given us a little bit of interior and exterior, both with their own rendition of lion dances. More small lion dancing can be seen at the background from Phoenix Design, DNA Lab, My News and Marigold below; Colorbar Hair Gallery also uses the same design as Phoenix Design but without the cover casing. You can view them both under my FB album together with the other packets that I was able to get from some of the FB giveaways and contests (click here), Almost every collectors got their Khind during the early months of CNY but I only get to trade them back year end! Better late than never, reunion is all year round ya!
Here we have more delightful lions dancing to the rhythm of the Chinese New Year celebration; Miaow Miaow, Tianje, Gong Cha, M3 and Prudential
all holding on to their lion heads gracefully.
all holding on to their lion heads gracefully.
F&N 100 Plus golden lions are wrapped in gold, glittering in style while Juice Works lion dance heads emerges from two different Chinese gate with a 2018 doggy head and tail.
Beautiful and graceful, varied and enchanting, small but approachable, butterflies lead you to the sunny side of life. And everyone deserves a little sunshine (by Jeffrey Glassberg)... in our case every collector deserves these gorgeous red packets from Sun Life l☀ve❤ Not forgetting those adorable lion dances that are just as beautiful and delightful! Another small size lion dance is from Munchy's Muzic with the same lions but different greetings on all four pieces. Next up is Super with their lovely "Fu" building on the cover casing follow by three pairs of kids on cymbal & drum, lion dances and tī jianzi (踢毽子) separately; quite a different style as compared to their rooster family in 2017 (click here to view).
Delica
Just as the year before they made it much easier for collectors again with a full set inclusive of the casing for every purchase of their coffee pack. However they have only given us 3pc set with individual casing compared to their 6pcs set in 2017. They also did not continue with their landscape theme instead just plain background with family members celebration using sycee (yuanbao), mandarin oranges and fire crackers separately in each of their three pieces. My vote goes to the balloons, which year is your pick? More lion dancing themes over at my Baby & Friends page (click here).
Puppies are nature's remedy for feeling unloved, so when you feel lousy, puppy therapy is indicated. A puppy is but a dog, plus high spirits, and minus common sense... Here comes the four healers from Purina Alpo puppies, they are truly playful both front and back with the lion dance flap. The next four adorable pups from Senmy Berciely are joyfully delivering their blessings for the new year while the two pups from I love Yoo is dancing side by side, one of them in the lion dance costume of course.
BK Soong & Ng little lion is dancing joyfully with the kids while Samsung has the whole family joining the celebration with plenty of fun and colors in their golden Note8 frame and stylus. More family reunion from their Raya set, this round promoting their Galaxy S9, both a beautiful matching 2P. Hong Qiao Deluxe Groups lion dance troupe is seen blessing their store. Their set of 3D effect building theme with windows that can be opened and a roof flap back in 2016 was a hit then followed by more pop ups with the interior of the house in 2017. Maintaining the paper quality with the same family characters in 2018, the set is now simpler with a closer view of their shop (buildings), front-back yard (house), place of worship and the reunion dinner.
Having a similar flavor of the olden days CNY theme like Hong Qiao 2016 above is Digi with a beautiful Chinese art painting of a reunion dinner with lots of lanterns, firecrackers and the big head buddha leading the lion dance. Although there is no more folding screen / box like the previous years, I do feel it's a beautiful set of four with good quality printing and paper. Speaking of good quality printing and paper, Maxis too has given us a lion dance theme with the classy velvety finishing that even my hubby was attracted to them and wanted to grab a few more sets during CNY.
Akisama Group Razak City is a lovely Hari Raya set that somehow gives me a resemblance of Digi CNY, maybe it's the "kampung" feel, maybe it's those lanterns, whether it's CNY or Raya both are festively heart warming. Their CNY design is nothing compared to this natural settings in the suburb or what we call countryside in this part of the world, hop over to my 2018 Dec 5 Property Post (click here) or 2018 Full CNY FB album (click here) to find the pair.
Adding on a few multi-festive packets with Maxis peacocks above embossed with a lovely touch and feel though the size is smallest among the three while Raya is slightly bigger than CNY with the "Ketupat" flaps; All three doesn't seem to have any similarity but still quite popular among the collectors. U-mobile has got lots going on in their set of four from lou sang to landmarks, phones and lion dancing, and of course their infinity logo in each piece. Here comes U-mobile 3P with their Raya green SDR and Deepavali purple packets, both retaining the same flavor from CNY, lots going on with the Malay and Indian new year celebration.
And yet another tel-co M Calls has a little lion dancing going in the house with a big happy family reunion theme. Did you also spot the twin towers in both M Calls and U-mobile? One Morning chooses to feature the older shops in KL in 2017 compared to their cheeky catchy Monkeys from 2016. They are back with the zodiac again in 2018; the happy doggie family with mummy the Big Head Buddha 大头佛, daddy on the drums, sister with the cymbal and brother the lion dancer! Still a cheerful and colorful delivery as before, which one is your favorite?
2018 Singles
Here comes the single designs with their cheery lions; Above is a series from Jenjarom that I have collected since 2015 and each year they have not only the zodiac but the lion and dragon dancing as well. Below we have a the horizontals from KFC in red and Lifejuice in yellow but with a unique blue lion illustration. The portrait ones from Lifebuoy and Bagan Specialist Centre Kidz Club with their stickers packet, Christine Beauty and SAM kids are happily lion dancing in their village, the peeping lion from Original Cake and the other dancing party from Baobei, Upstart the shih tzu, Hui Lau Shan the chubby duo, JellyBee the beagle, Zojirushi the elephant and u5fb Boat Noodle with their noodle bowls. From the grocers we have Cold Storage using fruits illustrated lion and Village Grocer with a more traditional lion both on the front and back. Latest addition to our single lion family is Moments, YuHua & Vitally. PS: There is another red packet set with stickers, any idea? Click here to find out.
For exchange / trade please visit my facebook album. Those available for exchange are noted in the individual red packets description. Happy browsing!
View the complete red packet albums in facebook by years:
2019 (SG), 2019 (MY), 2018 (MY), 2018 (SG), 2017 (MY) , 2017 (SG), 2016 (MY), 2016 (SG),
2015 (MY), 2015 (SG), 2015/2016 (HK), 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010,
2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2000-2004, 1990s
2019 (SG), 2019 (MY), 2018 (MY), 2018 (SG), 2017 (MY) , 2017 (SG), 2016 (MY), 2016 (SG),
2015 (MY), 2015 (SG), 2015/2016 (HK), 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010,
2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2000-2004, 1990s