No posts in January. What does this mean? Certainly not because there wasn't much going on in my life. Yeah, life is a bit hectic and busy, with the CNY preparation and what not. 2011 passed by fast, but January passed by even faster.
What happened in January? Can't really recall much but I knew that there were several times where I had wanted to blog but couldn't, either due to lack of Internet connectivity or just too busy to pen in my thoughts.
1. Did my first ribbon biscuits. Done all by myself. Thought I bought too much dough and was quite sleepy and tired by the time everything was done. Later I realized that the ribbon biscuits I did was slightly bigger than usual and there are still plenty of them at home at this time of writing. That's how much I did. But I also learnt that some people do single layer while some people do double layer of doughs.
Some people cut only a vertical line in the middle while some will cut 3 vertical lines so that it will come out nicer. Quantity of oil and its temperature play a very important role. Some said put some salt into the oil to maintain high frying temperature for the biscuit but I feel that it's not that important. With or without salt is still alright.
2. This year CNY I didn't bother to arrange any gathering, be it for friends or families. We just let the flow go as it is. And it works. No rushing here or there. No FFK. No waiting. I love the CNY feel this year. Everyone was busy talking to each other, getting each other's update. Of course I got angpows and the amount was roughly the same as last year. And of course, you can't avoid the "jackpot question" of BF, marriage etc at my age. Just smiled and brushed it off. Managed to meet up with some friends and chatted leisurely. This is the first year I got angpow from my peers.
We hired people to repaint the house since it had been almost 5 years plus. Even on CNY eve the repainting was still ongoing and house was still messy with lots of house chores to be done. Mom went berserk and succumbed to the stress she kept bottled up within herself. Then only all of us fast fast do all those pending stuffs. In the middle of the rush, I accidentally dropped a broken vase on my toe. Slight deep gash on CNY eve. Later at night, it was swollen and walking was painful as pressure was applied on the toe. That night, I slept early and missed the fireworks since I couldn't do much while the rest of the house was bustling with activities. But I was the freshest on CNY morning since I had sufficient sleep while the rest didn't. Blessing in disguise?
3. Asked JS to accompany me to Serdang to send hamper to my XXT foster family. The fried porridge was no longer as good as the first time I tried and again I am disappointed because there wasn't mango kerabu. The mango was substituted with apple instead. Other than that, everything is OK. Lucky there wasn't much crowd when we arrived. It was only after our dishes arrive that the restaurant was full with people. Talked quite long with aunt, uncle, and the sisters. Very cordial and felt close to heart. Nice to keep in touch with them. Obviously they were surprised to see JS and I didn't properly introduce him but I knew they got the idea.
4. Had CNY dinner with colleagues. This year we ate poon choy, yee sang with two side dishes and two bottles of red wine. And karaoke session! Simply whack the microphone and sang. Out of tune or not, that is another story. Important thing is we enjoyed it so much. It was a dinner well served. I must say I like this poon choy. This Kim Hee Restaurant, near Sunway Carnival definitely did a good job with the food. The karaoke facilities need some improvement though. It was worth the wait all along. We pooled RM10 / pax monthly for this. Already we were wondering what to have for next year. Someone mentioned yi pin guo, though I don't know what is that. Will know next year CNY...
And speaking about red wine, I had a sudden affection for it. So far had only tried red wine and not white ones. I am starting to learn to drink red wine. And of course I can only drink sip by sip. That is how it was meant to be drank I suppose since you will have those spicy sensation in your throat if you drink too fast. At least that's the case for me. I am lucky that I have several wine drinkers amongst my friends. In fact, I had red wine for my birthday as well. Even during CNY, we opened 2 bottles of red wine to be shared with relatives. Am I already addicted? Hmm...
5. Happened that mom's birthday falls on third day of CNY. I am talking about our Gregorian calendar birthday ah. I boiled two red hard boiled eggs for mom. Forgot to tell mom not to eat the egg yolk since her cholesterol level was slightly high. But I guessed mom was very happy to see my red eggs and finished them off. Friend asked, how come I celebrate according to Western calendar but the way I started it was so traditional and conventional? Just for fun ma. It's really the thought that matters, after all. And mom really enjoyed her birthday though we didn't really plan anything. In fact mom was the one making the preparation for the steamboat on her birthday.
Of course I helped out with the preparation la, but minor role only loh. Told mom about JS in the kitchen. I had been wanting to tell mom but don't know when. Especially since friends scolded me for not informing mom. JS said I had the tendency to break out special and spicy news on people's birthday. Now that he mentioned it, it was indeed true. Haha! I am not sure if mom was surprised or not but I can sense her happiness upon hearing the news.
6. All in all, this is one of my favourite CNY celebration. I didn't buy much CNY clothing but I make sure I had a red tee to wear for CNY. As traditional or 'lao tu' as I might sound, I still think that CNY should be in red and CNY songs should be blasted loudly in order to bring out the festive atmosphere.
7. Yesterday marked the end of the 15 days of CNY. Went to Esplanade to throw mandarins. Even asked JS to come along. It was more fun than last year in the sense that we watched the show. Last year we went back very early so perhaps we missed out the fun. Too bad we didn't get to watch the LED dragon dance and the fireworks display since we went back after few drops of rain. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it a lot. Both of us narrowly missed the baskets and 'plomp' went the mandarins into the sea. This was done symbolically only, as there is no way the gentlemen could 'fish' the mandarins unless they have a boat. I think most people just wrote down their wishes or drew some cute cartoons on the mandarins and threw it into the sea.
Pin said where got people bring BF to throw mandarins one? While Huei said I throw he pick lo. True also. Oh, they are so fun to hang out with seriously. Too bad that we are now all scattered in the north, central and south region of Malaysia. By the way, do you know that Chap Goh Meh is also known as Chinese Valentine's Day? And no, we didn't celebrate it. We were merely enjoying and soaking in the CNY atmosphere. I think as long as you spend time together, it is already considered Valentine's? Gosh, can't believe I am saying this! Power of love, haha!
Wuhoo, Dragon Year CNY is real fun. Hope next year Snake Year CNY is the same too.
Gong Xi Fa Cai to everyone!
1 comment:
power of love...i like this sentence...:)
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