What a Goat Year - Feb 2015

It's Chinese New Year. Year 2015 is the Year of Goat or Sheep or Ram, whatever. One of the things we enjoy, not sure it's a tradition or not, is making crafts for decoration. Paper cuts is a popular Chinese handicraft. It's good for training the motor skills as well. Learning some simple designs from Youtube  and the techniques of cutting can be tricky. We've some visitors this CNY, so we put up more decorations in the house than usual. The red crafts sure made our house looked cheerful and festive. 


Another tradition we enjoy is meeting up with our family members and friends. Especially those who come back from afar. We do not reside overseas so we do not feel the anticipation of travelling far for family gatherings. Most of the gatherings revolved around eating, and eating and eating. The kids enjoyed throwing the Pop-pop at each other, and the more daring ones played the firecrackers. Think the boys have outgrown the mild sparklers.



 Visit from my Myanmar students. It's their first time visiting during CNY. Well, there're many firsts, as I explained to them some of the traditions, the CNY cookies and goodies and ang pows. It's good to have a break from a normal lesson and did something different. Sure they'd agree too.


Visit to Farm in the City with our relatives. It's a very nice, cooling place and small in comparison to a zoo. Suitable for younger kids. They've some rare species of tortoise, birds and reptiles. Kids can get close to touch and feed the docile animals. Like in all other parks in Malaysia, this place can be better - if only it's well-maintained.


CNY can be a drag - doing the same thing over and over - gatherings, eating and be merry. Maybe I have reached mid-life transition, but I am counting my blessings each year for the time together with loved ones.

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