Another Surprise...

Phewww.......i can now officially CALL-OFF the CNY celebration except the upcoming Chap Goh Mei (the 15th/end of CNY). We just had another memorable weekends full of visitings, gatherings & eating of course!! Before i continue to torture your eyes reading more writings & viewing more photos on our CNY events, i can't wait to share with you another surprise i received yesterday evening. 2 old friends of mine came to my house for our annual CNY visiting as agreed earlier. Without giving any hint earlier, my heart went melting seeing them carrying a big secret recipe bag........instantly it knocked on my mind that my big day is soon approaching... actually the actual big day has yet to arrive... still another 2 & ahalf weeks to go lar....But then due to our busy & hectic schedules, it's sad to say we don't meet that often. And that's why they took this opportunity to celebrate my big day in advance with all our family members!

Here's the white chocolate macademia cakes

(so yumillicious...how can i say not when the heart was so happy, rite?)

It was no longer an annual practise to give each other a little pressie on b'day (like we used to do), and in replace we could just give each other an eating treat BUT this year, it was so so so thoughtful of them to get me this lil crystal pendant. I have to admit that irrespective of what our age could be, it is always grateful, wonderful & happy to receive a gift out of care/love, wouldn't you agree more?
so sweet hor......

You see...until i so shy to be rendered the b'day song, hahahaha

Frankly speaking, how many closely-knitted friends that you are still able to keep close contact with after schools? Many would have shifted their friendship to their colleagues after joining the workforce as these are the people that they would be meeting at least 8 hours a day. Well, I don't have many and i really mean it..... that i could actually count with my 10 fingers so those that i'd managed to keep close contact until today would be assured of my sincere & high appreciation over the friendship that we'd built!

Thank you.....my dear friends !!!

After the simple cake-cutting ceremony, we had some bites of the cakes, cookies & chatted before we proceeded to a dinner at a nearby restaurant. It was the lousiest CNY dinner we had so far & the rocketed price had scared us off until we had to curse that they will soon be "closed"/'chap lap' !!!

Scot, Zen Lee & Sean

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Back to a little updates on our CNY visitings......

We chanced upon a visit to KEN II Damansara Condo located at SS2 as huby's friend owned a unit there & invited us to their open house. Could anyone give a guess how much it costs considering the high ranking location? Well, i could hardly believe it....for a 1500sq.ft. nest, one has to pay a whopping price close-to RM400k!!! No doubt, the amenities, environment & atmosphere were superb plus the security was very tight & save BUT still both huby & I wouldn't thought it was worth! Anyway, good to know the price though....

Here they are.........

SCOT, JASON & SEAN at playground

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Next i would like to showcase how lucky this man was. He used to be an ex-colleague of mine who like to tease & disturb me so much (very itchy type).....back then when i was still not married. But now he called me 'aunty' already........yeah, as if he's not 'ah pek', haha

The coincidence thing was that we both had 'TWINS'.........hahaha

But why i said he was so lucky????

Coz he has "loong foong thoi" i.e. twins of 1boy & 1girl!

When he told me that his wife was conceiving twins, he mentioned very confidently that it will be a pair of 1B 1G twins and i challenged him that he will not be so lucky wan........................

"mana tau", ahhh i so 'jeles' !!

Daniel (in green) & Gracial...not sure correct spelling coz i forgot (in pink)!

One thing i reckon, though they were of different gender but they still looked so alike, rite?

My boys love this dude so much coz he was like a mr. clown to the kids! He insisted my boys call him bryan ko-ko !!

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Next highlight was a relationship with the in-law family. We paid our annual visit to my 3rd sis, MIC's house in Damansara Jaya. She was staying with her in-law(Mr&Mrs Yee). The Yee family was small with only a son (my BIL) & a daughter so i bet their house could be pretty quiet & lonely at times. But with our visit on that day (my parents, 5 of us siblings together with the husbands & children=all in 15 of us), i believe they would not hesitate to welcome us again & again. We really ransacked their house, brought so much laughter & cheers to their family. We walloped so much foods & drinks as Mrs.Yee asam laksa was just toooo fabulous... slurppp slurppp man!! Now, wouldn't it kind of rare to find 2 'chan kar' families so close? How i wish mine could be of the same but i suppose rel/ship of this nature was very much fated so no point 'dreaming', hahaha !!

Now, i regret i didn't eat another bowl of this..........

See.....even my loukung also acted like a kid......haha

The cousins...WengYee, Sean, ShuetYee, TzeJiat, Scot

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Finally, was the LAI family annual gathering. To me, it was just another angpow distribution & eating session. There were all together 5 tables to accommodate the entire family members. I believe you would agree, as the number of family members are so huge, it is quite impossible to visit each & everyone's house. So since the passing of my late grandma, my dad's siblings chose to gather at the restaurant for a family eating session. My dad and his 2 brothers were obliged to pay the bill while the sisters were pampered along with the rest of the family members!

There are more photos here....

The HOKKIEN & their "TIN GONG" festival...

For all my life, all i know was that the Hokkien celebrates the festival but didn't bother to find out the history behind the celebration until i finally attended it for the FIRST TIME in my life yesterday!!

So....after witnessing many unbelievable rituals & rare obsessions, curiosity sets me in and there i went googled for an answer, which i copied & pasted below (just in case you are as blur as i am)


i copied the below from here

The Jade Emperor (玉 皇 大 帝, Yu Huang Da Di)

The Jade Emperor is the supreme ruler of Heavens, the hades and the protector of mankind according to Chinese folklore religion and the highest ranking deity of the Taoist pantheon.
From the ninth century onwards, he was the patron deity of the Chinese imperial family. The Jade Emperor presides over Heaven and Earth just as the earthly emperors once ruled over China.
Based on one account the Jade Emperor was originally the crown prince of the kingdom of Majestic Heavenly Lights and Ornaments. At birth he emitted a bright light that filled the entire kingdom. When he was young, he was benevolent, intelligent and wise. He devoted his entire childhood to helping the needy (the poor and suffering, the deserted and single, the hungry and disabled). Furthermore, he showed respect and benevolence to both men and creatures. After his father died, he ascended the throne. He made sure that everyone in his kingdom found peace and contentment, after that he told his ministers that he wished to cultivate Dao in a mountain cave and cultivate. After 1,750 trials, each trial lasting for 120,976 years, he attained Immortality. After another a hundred million years of cultivation, he finally became the Jade Emperor.
The Jade Emperor is usually depicted seated on a throne in imperial robes, his flat-topped crown embedded with strings of pearls that dangle from the front. He holds a short, flat tablet in clasped in both hands before his chest.He looks very majestic with his flowing beard.
His birthday is celebrated on the ninth day of the Lunar New Year commonly known as “Tian Gong Dan” (天 公 誕 Festival of the Heavenly God). It is an important festival to the Taoists and Chinese community. Taoist temples throughout the world held gathering and prayers together to worship him. To beseech him to grant peace, prosperity, protection from calamities for the entire year, favorable weather conditions, and abundant harvest.
Most people are not aware that the Jade Emperor is the protector of the Buddha dharma in Buddhism. He’s called Lord Sakra or Indra or in the Shurangama Mantra (楞 嚴 咒) his name is recited as “Namo Yin Two La Ye” (南 無 因 陀 羅 耶).
According to Buddhist text he resides in “Trayastrimsa Heaven” as in Sanksrit and means "Heaven of the Thirty-three'. The Lord of the Heaven of the Thirty-three resides above our heads. There are eight heavens in the east, eight in the west, eight in the north, and eight in the south, making thirty-two; the thirty-third is located in the center of the others and is at the peak of Mount Sumeru.
'Trayastrimsa, "Heaven of the Thirty-Three", is not thirty-third in a vertical arrangement of heavens. Vertically it occupies the second position among eighteen heavens. Its name is taken from the fact that it is the central one among a group of heavens located on the same plane, with eight heavens on each of its four sides.
The lord of the central heaven, the thirty-third, is named Sakra or Indra, and in Buddhism he is a protector of the Buddha's Dharma.The Heaven of the Thirty-Three is eighty thousand yojanas high, and its city, the City of Good View, is made of the seven precious materials and is sixty thousand yojanas high. In the center of that city is Sakra's palace, which is made of the most exquisite and valuable gems.
In the past at the time of Kashyapa Buddha, Sakra was a very ordinary and a poor woman who saw a temple in ruins and vowed to restore it. Soliciting friends and relatives, she gradually gathered a group of thirty-two women. She herself was the thirty-third. Each of the thirty-three gave as much support as she could muster and with their collective effort they repaired the ruined temple. When each one died she ascended to the heavens and became ruler of her own heaven. The heaven in which Sakra, the former leader of the women, lives, is called the Trayastrimsa Heaven....

Both huby & I attended the Tin Gong celebrations yesterday but at separate locations. He was invited to his customer's place who happened to be his hometown folk so he actually had a good time bumping into many Alor Setarians !!

And I brought my boys to a good friend's family celebration. Sabrina was considered my childhood school friend as this year marked our 20 years of friendship. I think we met when we were in Form1 or Form2. After secondary school, we parted our ways with me furthering my tertiary education & she pursued her skills & followed by work. Yet we managed to keep our friendship on-going with occassional meet-ups. We used to hang out in pubs & disco back then and i can safely say our interests went along well. Not long after.... marriages followed suit with both our children came on board yet we still keep in touch.

Sabrina came from a super-holy HOKKIEN family but despite the long friendship, i never show any interest prior to this in joining their 'Tin Gong' festival. The other reason i wasn't keen was because the celebration started very late in the night as the praying session only begin at 12 midnight of the 9th day of CNY. But yesterday nite after huby went out, the boys were still very active & excited. We were reluctant to call the day off so knowing that Sabrina celebrates it, i called her up to find out what was up over her place. She excitedly told me that her parents have shifted to her eldest brother's NEW BIG MANSION........and that made me more thrilled !!

So in no time, i agreed to hop over her place. It was already 9pm so i quickly got my boys & myself changed & headed on. It was only about 15 mins drive from my house.

As expected, the interior & exterior designs of the new bungalow didn't failed to impress me!!!

Arghhh.....guess it will forever remain a dream to own a house like this heh ???

Now....... i'm already swaying out of topic. Back to the festival of the Heavenly God. If not from what i witnessed with my own eyes, i wouldn't believe how exagerate the preparations for the prayers & the festival can be. Believe me, i've never seen such obsession before as far as worshiping is concerned. And of course over at Sabrina's place, the big celebration was due to the financial capability of the family. The same festival could be celebrated moderately in other average family. So, let me share with you some of the exaggerations that i mentioned.

Here's on food........

'FATT KOU'/Cakes and noodles

BUNS made into the shape of tortoises

Cute little piggy 'kuih'

What impressed me most with the above was the fact that they were all HOME MADE by Sabrina's mom......what an effort, heh....i simply can't believe it !!!

' Tong Yuen'/Glutinous rice balls

LIVE CRABS are use to worship the God

As the family invited many relatives & friends over for the festival, the long table below was to serve buffet supper!!

Next would be the "OFFERINGS" to the God that were eventually being burn with the believe that they will be received by the God! And the amount of "GOLD" money (papers in any shapes & sizes) that were specially 'FOLDED' were truly amazing !!

Below was the mansion that was offered to the God! According to aunty, it costs about RM300+

There were many necessities accompanying the festival. One important one was of course the JOSS stick BUT for the first time in my life, i saw such a HUGE & LONG type....a 10 feet long!!

A pair of sugar cane is also a must-have.

Then there was also the barbeque of a whole lamb as well as 2 big roast pigs.......yes, u hear me right, 2 whole roast pig !!! On a usual account, others were seen offering a single roast pig (which is common) but the family being exceptionally well-doing, they have to offer their thankgivings in double the quantities i guess..... But i didn't take a photo of it because the pigs were wrapped up until the strike of 12 midnight & prayers started, the pigs will be served to all the guests.

Unfortunately we can't stay up until so late. I just hang around until 11pm ++. According to Sabrina, there will even be a display of fireworks & fire crackers but of course we were not able to have a glimpse of that as well.....what a miss !! Though my boys were not showing any sign of sleepiness, i had a feeling of fear thinking of the driving journey all alone in the late night, so leaving earlier gave me a hugh sigh of relief..... afterall i have already had a good encountering participating in the Tin Gong festival this year !!

Our Visitings BEGIN......

After back from our 'kampung' last Sunday, i immediately started work albeit a reluctantly one....... again bcoz of the postponed reporting deadline as a result of CNY!! So the visiting among my side of the family members had yet to begin !! So today after work, sis MIC and in-law visited mom and we proceeded to a dinner outside. After dinner, they dropped by my house for a little ransack. At least now the CNY feel came back......

OOH.......look at him (my nephew), just can't resist hugging, cuddling, pinching & kissing him again n again..... he has no choice....being the youngest in the family, everyone was after him. Isn't it good to have a little one around........ahem, ahem.....you smell something in the air, hehe ????

Anyway.......back to the point, we are going to race our time with visitings starting tomorrow, Saturday and the run down of the schedules has already been full for the whole of 2 days until the end of Sunday...... gosh!! No choice..... as this weekend is the ONLY weekend left after being back to the city plus Chap Goh Mei (last day of CNY) falls on the coming Thursday!!

SAT

- 10am - huby's friend Vincent's open house;

- 12pm - my siblings gathering at sis MIC's house, Mrs Yee is going to pamper us with her favourite asam laksa;

- if time permits continue at sis MAG's house;

- the ANNUAL LAI family members gathering at a restaurant in Shah Alam, usually there will be 5 tables to accomodate the entire group (as dad has 9 siblings).

SUN

- visit hub's aunt in Kepong/Mark family (depends on availability);

- lunch with former neighbours (the bunch where we used to reside together in Sri Kesidang Apartment years ago)

- 5pm, 2 of my buddies with family came over for catch-up & proceed for dinner outside (table booked at Jui Mui Heen restaurant)

Well, is gonna be exhausting yet both huby & I look forward to it so much........

Here are our GIFTS.....we are ready to go, how about you ???!!!

Happy Valentine's Day

I was surprised this morning the moment i stepped down the staircase from our room as i saw this on the dining table..........

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Since 2-3 years ago, i have already decided & conveyed to huby my decision of abolishing the celebration for Valentine's Day! Over the years after marriage & in particular after having children, the mounting of celebrations were slowly but obviously felt and we began to feel the taxing of keeping the celebrations on-going........

wedding anniversary.....3 birthdays.....mom's birthday.....dad's birthday.....mother's day.....father's day.....christmas.....CNY.....aren't that enough to torture your earnings?

As much as i would like to acknowledge the importance of these dates, i can't deny the fact that they are all cash-consumption events thus they should be kept reasonably & valid. So to me.... probably due to catching-up of the age, Valentine's is now meant for young & unmarried couple where the love was still hot burning in the air!! Well, safe for me to say that i don't feel it as meaningful & as important as back then.....

But now can u imagine a 30 somethg woman receiving a valentine's gift from a 40 years... old man, cute hor??!!

I no longer expect my huby to remember this date which i have already mentioned to him years ago BUT maybe being a FORGETFUL person he used to be and could it be due to his recent 'wrong-doings'.....he SURPRISED me with a little gift full of thoughtfulness !! Still hard to believe this.........hahaha. No wonder yesterday night before we retired, he greeted me happy valentine's day while i was still as 'sotong'/blur as ever !!

It was cheap and yet it managed to lit up the light of our marriage....so no harm doing it & surprise your love ones.....thou only once in a blue moon!! And it happened to be something i reckoned very suitable to our home.....though the handwritten card.....oh no it was 'A4 paper' was errr....., ahhh....., don't want say lah!

Love it so much...thanks dear !!

Happy Valentine's Day !!

Ooh, btw Parliament has been dissolved yesterday to make way for the next 12th General Election (just in case if you have not wake up from sleep) so don't forget to fulfill your responsibility to VOTE !!

Happy Voting !

Our CNY Eve....

We headed for the hometown a day before EVE of CNY and thank god the traffic was smooth flowing, arriving as expected.....making suffice time for a dinner with my in-law. So the night was spent recovering.....

There were only 4 of us + my 2 in-law + my single bro-in-law participating in our re-union dinner so i think it's not so worthy to spend so much time & effort with the preparation. Thus, the way i looked at it (as compared to many others), our re-union dinner was rather simple & easy. Hence there were nothing much to showcase.

But this year, my MIL did an extra dish......the "chun kuen"/chinese sausage?? And i gave my helping hand with the wrapping process.........

Gee......i wonder how clean was the table but that was what my MIL instructed to do so i 'lantak' sajalah...

LOBAK for sale......eh sai boh ??

Then, for the teo chew, the main dish on the table for almost every other meal was none other than the STEAMBOAT !!! Well, save for the slice abalone, the rest of the ingredients were only those boring fish balls...balls...balls...and other family of the balls !!!

That's why no picture to show...

No, those were my FIL's fingers & not mine...... Initially, i reckon that having steamboat as the main dish on CNY was rather rare & unusual.....at least for my Cantonese family. For the past 27 years before i got married, i have never had any steamboat within my family during big day like CNY. But after browsing thru many updates from other bloggers around, i notice that it was in fact quite a common practise in many families to have steamboat during CNY and that obviously proved me wrong .............................. wrong for thinking that my in-law family was weird, hahaha!!

Besides the main dish, there were also :

- 'kampung' steam chicken (very authentic type);

- teo chew steam fish;

- stewed pork with yam (we paid the neighbour to cook this);

- mix vegies;

u see all steam ones...easy & healthy!

BUT

of course not without the following 2 important dishes;

CRAB (also steam what)

BIG SAMBAL PRAWN (the best of all...slurpp)

Sean enjoying his crab.........

And so was little Scot .....

It was more of the father v sons conversations/catch up thru out the whole dinner and in teo chew of course which i still can't fully understand so i just shut up & eat eat eat......

This year, my SIL was doing confinement at my in-law's place, her bb boy was only 3 weeks old and she brought along her maid so it was so delightful to have a maid helping with the house chores so i was even spared of washing the dishes after meal, hahaha.......

Here's Sean with the new addition to the family, Kendrick boy!

Once dinner was finished, it was time to get dressed up for the CNY eve mass at St. Michael Church.

Here's my little ah pek getting all ready.....

With cousins Kat & Karol, SIL elder daughters!

Due to the closer age gap, both my boys were fighting for this cousin (from wana hold her hands to wanting to sit beside her & etc etc) until the poor girl got so scared of them....

"Hopefully when they are grown up, they won't be fighting over the same girl too"

The 3 kepohchee/do-re-mi were such a disturb to the mass....

Finally, we seeked 'PEACE' & 'BLESSINGS' for the HENG family !!!

As the mass started at 10p.m. we had well prepared the kids with a good afternoon nap so they were all very energetic, lively & happy despite a slightly longer than the usual 1 hour mass. Additions to the routine were 'angpow' packets & mandarin oranges distribution to the kids as well as the commemoration of the ancestors session. Then after the service, there were even a little party thrown outside the church with various CNY cookies served to all. Also seen were in-law's old friends & other relatives that resided around the same area and they had a good catch up too.

Despite the clocking of the mid night, the kids were enjoying themselves savoring the oranges & junkies!

We were all tired & sleepy but it was well the worth as we experienced yet another warm CNY's eve again. I bet everyone retired the night as calmly & as gratifying as I am.