CNY 2024 - Welcoming the Dragon

It's the end of CNY day 4 (technically start of 5, as it's past midnight), it was a school holiday today (as of the PH fell on a Saturday) and I took leave as well, so we've had 4 consecutive days of CNY celebration. Today we took it slow and attempted to revert to routine, for the benefit of the kids who have school tomorrow. The last few days were packed with visiting, the kids were spoilt with junk food e.g. chocolate coins, plenty of time with their cousins, had cat naps in the car and very late nights (which thankfully they're quite adaptable to); on the other hand us adults were highly fortunate to enjoy very sumptuous home-cooked food, catching up with relatives and were afforded considerable time at the gambling table too (for the kids+cousins are finally of age to do so together!). Despite that I do not visit my parental and materal relatives up north during this period anymore, I find huge joy and comfort in mingling with the large extended families of wifey's, the boisterious laughter, familiar chatter and galore of food add to the festivity - and these make me very happy and always looking forward to Chinese New Year every year.

While CNY this year was as enjoyable as I would have liked it to be, strangely I felt something different about it. Different not in a negative way, but different in my reflections of the celebrations. Let me try to articulate... Last times, I would be feeling extremely happy to see old faces and hearing CNY songs over the radio, excited to be placing bets, slight reluctance when leaving a house. On the contrary, this year, I found myself in a considerable state of calmness: 

- Not feeling time-rushed and having to be at where by when;

- Not worried that my kids need to nap / not having a place to do so;

- Didn't feel thrill when betting or drawing cards? Only did slightly when I upped my bet to $10 and even so, winning or losing that game felt of little significance to me.

Why ah?

In addition, I found myself to feel more thankful and appreciative of those who contributed noticeably all in the name and spirit of the festival and for family, they are (not in any particular order):

- My magic mom, who whipped up (with my sister's help) a plethora of festive dishes which turned out more than what we had expected. I don't think mom was ever not capable of this, but I don't think she needed to do so, still. I mean, just look at this spread:

And the night before:

A month ago we were planning for reunion meal and mom suggested that each of us siblings contribute a dish, for she did not have energy to prepare to the extent of previous years. I know that during food prep she accidentally cut her left hand but that did not stop her from washing, more cutting; she did not wince nor did she whine. My mom has a very high self-proclaimed threshold of pain and I believe she has an even higher level of selfless love for her family. Thank you, mama. And thank you sis for helping mom out. Next times, it's perfectly alright to not have so much on the table. 

- The other aunties (er kim, si kim, er gu) who hosted and churned up so much good food to feed the village. God knows how much dishes there were to wash (grateful for the helpers 🙏) , and how much more preparatory work prior, and the cleaning up after!!! And they do this, every single year without fail, without falling behind, without failing expectations, without drop in food quality. What are the men gonna do without them, these under appreciated heroes who toil so hard in the kitchen with untidy hair and aching calves. They deserve a picture with their creation:

Legendary oyster omelette!

Perhaps one of the reasons I feel CNY feels different this year is because of recency effect (that we gathered during Christmas) and technology/social media has decreased the gap; seeing one another's updates, pics and comments on our phones makes us feel that we haven't been apart for long. That said, take nothing away from my relief and nothing for granted that we were able to congregate with nary a worry, it wasn't too long ago there were COVID and the max visitor restrictions...

Wishing all a healthy and happy lunar Dragon new year! 

又是一年

年…

怎么过的这么快

 😞

CNY 2022

 新年来咯！！！

But but but... only 5 pax social gathering/visitors allowed this year =( Last CNY, we were at 8 pax. DAMN OMICRON!

Nonetheless, hope for really quality family time!

Happy Lunar New Year!

Yessssssssssssssssss my favourite season is here again!
Chinese New Year!!! Dong dong chianggg! Yx loves it too, she sings and claps very enthusiastically to cny music everytime, and requests to watch lion dance performance on YouTube!

 

Noobish attempt at creating a "dog" impression. Looks more like a mao mao lion dance.

Wishing everyone a healthy year, smile more and work hard, and enjoy the company of your family and friends! :)

CNY 2015 at Rengam

Long overdue post as the cousin holding on onto the SD card with his camera only just forwarded me the pictures last week, and only after my 3rd reminder.

Not more than 35 photos were taken in all.

Is this how future CNY at my maternal grandmother's is going to turn out? Underwhelming, numbers dwindling, uneventful?

To be fair, it was only right (in a traditional Chinese manner) that the daughters (i.e. my aunties) spend the first 2 days of CNY with their spouses' family. Another of our cousins couldn't join us too as he was heavily involved in shooting for a production. But it was made up by a couple of new additions - my youngest Uncle had remarried and along with his life partner a well-behaved young girl was introduced into the family. Of course, not forgetting this is the first time that Cells finally got to see quaint old Rengam, the railway station and hear first hand from my dad about the town's history and their growing up years.

How could we forget the celebratory fireworks set off from the park just in front of the house - that just get bigger and more extravagant year on year - bursting into flowers, hearts and colourful shapes in so close proximity? That's one of Cell's favourites... reminiscent of that memorable last night at Darling Harbour! :)

Attendance alone does not equate directly to the meaning of CNY but it's simple that more people means more boisterous, laughter and food. Am glad that despite meeting so seldomly every year, the cousins and us seem no less unfamiliar with one another - indulging in the usual CNY goodies, gambling, or just plain chilling on the sofa (with eyes focused on their individual phones -_-). Feel more blessed that Grandma is healthy and her luck and aura at the mahjong table have not diminished a single bit!

Wishing for more members to join us for CNY! :) Grandma already warned me that she wants to distribute one more angbao to us next year...

CNY 2014

In what would be my last CNY receiving angbao, I took special effort to ‘living in the moment’ and observing my extended family members. Am very happy most relatives made the trip down to gather during this annual festival! :)

So the weekend allowed my family and I to spend 3 full days at my hometown with my favourite people. Here are some things I observed:

•  Everyone’s favourite activity upon reaching a new place – connecting to WiFi. Seriously?! 
• Delighted that the wives and daughter-in-laws are all great chefs and bakers! Really enjoyed every traditional CNY dish and CNY cookie!
• It’s really relaxing to let the grown-ups take over, from organizing of accommodation and cooking of meals, to driving and photo-taking 
• People look the most ecstatic when doing jump shots - Wu family members are all food lovers and one crazy bunch 
• Time passes really fast when you’re having fun 
• Bidding farewell is the hardest thing to do...

Missing the hearty laughter of my huge family. Looking forward to seeing everyone again really soon! JJ

.

Happy CNY!

Happy CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!

It's my favourite time of the year!

On facebook many friends commented that the 4-consecutive days holiday has gone by in a flash. Hmm. Yes, indeed. It's made worse by the fact that I have been down with cough, sore throat and flu over the past 5-6 days. Though it hasn't largely affected my appetite, my blocked nose discounted the taste, fragrance and aroma of the CNY dishes that I adore much.

Do you believe in zodiac forecasts? Hmm. I'm not a firm believer but what I've observed is that my luck at gambling has turned for the better! Or at least by my standards, I don't find myself losing as I always do. Haha. Hope to sustain this (though I don't gamble much, just the occasional leisure mahjong).


In line with the CNY celebration, strongly recommending this short but touching local production "The Reunion Dinner 回家過年" revolving around the traditional reunion dinner... I love it not only because of the cinematic and directing, but also because of the values one can easily link and be attached to - the family. The bonds and the love within the family are priceless and yet not everlasting, at the same time it is what all of us holds dear but so often takes for granted.

Another personal take-home message from the film is that it is not money that drives happiness... much less career (the males are barber and delivery man, as depicted in the film)... whereas it is intrinsic contentment - spending time with people whom you love, simply depicted by a father and son standing at the corridor gazing out, sharing a beer.

Was having a casual conversation with the former head of HR (Asia-Pac) of a globally renowned MNC... asked her what was the reason she left her job. Her reply was a good 15 minute biblography but her answer drives home my above point too. Unspoken-of politics, spending obscene hours at work, missing out on important events of your loved ones, insecurity and lack of inner fulfillment... sometimes, money does not equate to happiness. The question is: What do you value most?

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It's mid February. In a blinkling of an eye. Oh my goodness. Truth be told, I'm not yet started on my 2012 review, let alone setting resolutions/plans/goals for 2013. I will be doing it (soon). Well I'm kinda a happy-go-lucky person, motivated by short term goals and looking forward to events. Here's what I'm expecting to keep myself going:

March: Dinner and Dance!
April: Tokyo with buddies
June: Taiwan with family (still in discussions...)
July: Bonus payout, hahaha.
August: Mt. Ophir?? Hmm...

And I think this year's gonna pass by really quickly too...