Chinese New Year celebrations are a children's delight but an adult's ever greater delight! Sure, we burn some big holes in our wallets over the ang pows, mandarin oranges, dried big mushrooms packs, abalone & the good stuff in cans, bah gua and some good ol' Ngan Yin or Shandong groundnuts packs but those things simply can't beat the gathering of family members, a good walk down memory lane of fun, building/mending relationships and having a good crack at the food stuff. Every year we do this "ritual" yearly and honestly, I am never tired of this - can be quite taxing and physically draining at times but I'll survive. I guess, as your age progressively move along with the whitening of your hair, you tend to cherish days like this. Hahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.............
What I like most is Chinese New Year eve dinner. To me, I like being able to sit together with the family and have a great meal together. Don't get me wrong, I really do enjoy restaurant food at times but on special day like this, I would rather have mom's cooking. I count myself blessed in every way for having a mom who could dish out great dishes. In many ways, it seemed like so much hard work but I have always told my mom to prepare the food that we know best from our childhood days and which we usually have during our CNY eve makan. No need the extravagant ( abalone, sea asparagus, prawns, fish etc.etc which had become extremely over-priced at this time of the year! ) or overly pompous dishes but simple & good tasting dishes. This year , mom did just that and I get to sample the simple but meaningful food fares. Six good plain dishes which we are all comfortable with during our early days - Hainanese chicken, braised duck, mixed vegetables, pork stomach soup with fish ball & meat balls, pork & mushroom fare and some fried fish cakes.
As I sat at the table having dinner with mom, I missed the presence of my sister, Lee Lee who was won't be back until the 3rd day of CNY and also, the presence of my dad. Yeah, I sorely miss him on days like this but he's close to my heart always. Seeing mom smile as we enjoy our food that night together amidst our jokes and antics made me happy. In many ways, it was good being able to have some time of fellowship, laughter and discussion along the way. Chinese New Year also brought along the long lost cousin, nephews, aunties and relatives from far and near. I have practically seen some of cousin grow from boys to men and from girl to women. Indeed, they have grown so much and it is always good to remain humble to the fact that as they grow from children to adulthood, we will all grow older someday. Spending time with Wei, Jade, mom-in-law, Ryan & Ashley too had been wonderful. Those tiny tots get so witty and stronger. So much fun with them and it was certainly a good time.
SLing managed to catch up with some of her cousins and relatives.As my sister and her husband, Tee came back on the 3rd day, it was makan days all over again. Thank God for Lee Lee, my sister, who could cook as good as my mom. Her prawn sambal was hot , spicy and good while her pork rolls, nasi lemak, belacan fried chicken and her other wonderful food fares were mouth-watering and good indeed! She has taken up a lot of mom's trades in cooking and made it good.
So all in all, it was a really a good and sane Chinese New Year celebrations. The only thing I am really annoyed is those blundering idiots who kept shooting up firecrackers and missiles way into the night which sometimes land at our front yard causing an unnecessary loud bang. I guess, some traditions are die hard,man. The next round of firecrackers would be the prayer days and Chap Goh Mei day. Well, I just wanna catch on some sleep and enjoy some movies during the free time. Hope to catch some serene times and enjoy my cup of Chinese tea blends. So, Gong Xi Fa Cai and have great days ahead!~
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