Monkeying around to celebrate CNY

Posted by Xian Wei

Gong Xi Fa Cai!
This year's CNY might be one of the most prosperous CNY for me. I get to visit my cousins again, and eat and talk with them. Also, we had the reunion with some of my parents' friends. 

The Yusheng. The only dish that did not vary in the reunion dinner during our visits and stays. So if you can't escape from it, just eat it.

During the CNY, animals(sugar glider [right]) and insects(cicada [left]) also wanted to visit us. They were quite a company. Ming's buddies showing off their martial arts skills, all enjoying the festive CNY. And of course, the famous movie "Ola-Bola", a Malaysian production. This is, by far, the best movie made by Malaysians. A truly heart-warming movie that is about not only football, but also about the hardship of Malaysians in the 80s. Watch it if you are truly a Malaysian!


 We stayed with our cousins during CNY. All the cooking smells from kitchen preparing for the reunion dinner really made us hungry. So we made some snacks like sushi and TC wraps (Tomato and Cheese Wraps). We had an enjoyable time preparing and eating the food.


 Besides eating, we also played with firecrackers, 'pop-pop', UNO and soccer. We enjoyed watching the lion dances. It seems that the lions had their genes mutated because now, they are acrobatics. The cheeky monkey also came with the lions, dancing about happily, glad that this year is the Year of the Monkey. 
I've always enjoyed celebrating CNY with people. It is a wonderful festival that we Chinese should be proud of. So, have fun monkeying around in the Year of the Monkey! :) 
新年快乐!(Happy New Year!)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Spilling the Beans in Ipoh - 6 Apr 2012

Image
Ipoh's familiar specialty - Nga Choy Kai or the Taugeh (Bean Sprouts) Chicken. What else to accompany the poached chicken than the fresh, fat and crunchy Ipoh famous bean sprouts!! The bean sprouts are served blanched, with a dash of sesame oil, white pepper and soy sauce. Ipoh is a well-known food haven in Malaysia, and most will agree that Ipoh's bean sprout is the best in Malaysia. The premium-grade bean sprouts come from the Buntong New Village, which is also my husband's hometown. Growing bean sprout requires only water and more importantly, watering techniques. Madam Toon told us that there were at least 8 operators in Buntong. They were all family-owned businesses, and the three Toon brothers have been growing bean sprouts for more than 70 years.  Bean sprouts are grown from black mung beans imported from Myanmar. The beans need to be watered every 4 hours throughout the day for 5 days, no shortcut, otherwise they will be not be fat and juicy. At
Read more

Al-Attas Garden in Janda Baik - 4 August 2012

Image
Besides being a well-known contentious writer, little do we know that Syed Hussein Alattas is also a self-taught gardener and an architect. He had built Taman Hana in Janda Baik from scratch and named after his wife.  Taman Hana sits on a 8-acre plot of land in the quiet village of Janda Baik. It boasts a collection of 1,000 species of plants including fruit trees, more than 700 big flower pots and five buildings that include the home of the Alattas family.  The good news is that it is open to visitors every day.  As we made our way past the entrance, this place appeared unkempt. It was well beyond its heyday (in 2008) but still showing off its faded beauty. Some parts were badly neglected, which was so unfortunate, because it originally was to be a quiet kampung retreat. A mix of traditional Malay, Peranakan, Indonesian and colonial British architecture and a Minangkabau styled roof. Syed Hussein had actually started building the structures in 1982 and he spent a lot of time
Read more

Sungai Besar Fishing Town - 12 Jan 2014

Image
I have no clue where is Sg Besar before the trip.  I thot it couldn't be that far cos it's still in Selangor. Together with my boys, I went with my friends to their hometown.  It's a small, quiet fishing town, home to mostly TeoChew fishermen.  The drive  on a Sunday morning  was  very relaxing and a good getaway after a crazy week.  Very scenic driving on the west coast and we passed by many small villages, paddy fields, interesting roadside stands and some cottage industries. There're familiar names like the Kuala Selangor town, Sekinchan, Tg Karang, and some homestays eg Kampung Haji Dorani in Sabak Bernam. I was worried by then cos we've not even reached Sg Besar, and it's already 150km! After another 15 minutes, and we're there! It took us about 2 hours in total. Fishing boat coming back with bountiful catch! Spending time at the jetty to watch fishing boats back in late morning.     Locals looking for bargains and fresh produce
Read more