Happy New Year and Kong Hei Fatt Choy! So much for making new year resolutions, I'm having difficulty keeping even the simplest one - blogging regularly. Let me just say that the good intentions were there. As we were sitting in the airport on New Year's Eve waiting to board our flight back to Hong Kong, I was busily "writing" my first entry for 2010 in my head. But alas, intentions don't always translate into actions! So here we are now well into the third month of the year and I am just completing the first post.
Growing up in Malaysia, Chinese New Year for us always began with a reunion dinner with my Aunt's family (dad's oldest sister) followed by a second dinner at Taman SEA with the Ong side of the family. Dinner would drag on late into the night, or rather early the next morning, with the adults busy around the mahjong table, or chit chatting over endless cups of coffee while the kids ran around creating havoc. Still we would wake up bright and early the next day eager to start the festivities which without fail always involved a fair amount of mouth exercises on "long yuk" (barbeque meat), "kuih bangkit" (tapioca cookies) and "kuah chi" (melon seeds) throughout the day! Even after all these years, I still can't get used to not having a house full of people during CNY. And it does make me a little sad that my kids will grow up without the kind of fond memories that I have of Chinese New Year.
We had our steam boat reunion dinner which was the perfect meal on a freezing cold night, at home with some close friends this year. The weather over the next few days was miserable, so wet and cold that we didn't really feel like taking the kids out. Somehow this year it felt really quiet probably because I could remember what it was like last year when we had a houseful of people. Mum and Dad and my in-laws flew over to spend CNY with us then since we were housebound because of Mia's arrival, and it was wonderful being surrounded by family. Anyway, we still had a great time this year over some lovely meals with friends while the kids had lots of fun running around and loved being scared to death by the lion dance. And luckily Mum sent over a pack of "yee sang" otherwise it really wouldn't have felt like Chinese New Year!
Predictions for the Tiger Year aren't looking too good, 'tumultuous' and 'turbulent' seem to be used over and over again in many of the feng sui predictions on the internet. Astrology.com says, "nothing will be done on a small, timid scale. Everything, good and bad, can and will be carried to extremes. Fortunes can be made and lost. If you take a chance, gamble for high stakes but understand that the odds are stacked against you." Rather worrying especially when we have two tigers in the home! Guess we'll just have to make our own luck :)
Protector of our home
Reunion dinner with the Yings
Boys and their gadgets - and a very curious little onlooker
Don't let that cute little face deceive you - this little thing can be as fierce as a tiger!
First Day of CNY - making them work for their angpows :)
It was a tug of war trying to get that cup out of Mia's hands!
Our family - a Tiger, a Tigress, a Rooster and a Rat
Lion dance at the AMC - these kids were freaked out by this white furry thing
Wonder who was more frightened? - the baby or the "lion" who probably lost his hearing after that ear piercing scream
Symbol of Chinese New Year - for me anyway :)
hehe.u just gave away your age! :D i didnt know shad and u were both tiger/gress. jin and i are bunnies ;) we miss you guys..take care ya!
ReplyDeleteYour description of Chinese New Years past made me sad. I miss those too and I often wonder whether we'll ever have them again. :*(
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