Gong Xi! Gong Xi!

I know it’s pretty early for Chinese New Year wishes but hey, Guinness Malaysia kick-started the festivities as early as mid-January – and so will I! Talk about being excited, eh? Woots!

 Awesome festive decor that greeted me inside.

Tonight, we welcome the Year of the Goat in a bold and auspicious manner this festive season with GUINNESS®, Malaysia’s favourite stout.

Bringing the tradition back this year, brands and media (We are, after all like family & friends in the industry, right?) gather together  and partake in a ‘reunion dinner’ feast signifying longevity, harmony, peace, happiness, and prosperity for the year ahead.

In marking this auspicious time of year, GUINNESS® has teamed up with the Grand Imperial Group of restaurants to create a special GUINNESS® banquet menu, available at all 6 Grand Imperial restaurants across Malaysia.

I’ve personally been to a Grand Imperial restaurant before, for a friend’s wedding.

The food there? Top-notch, if I do say so myself.

 Festive decor fills the air in Grand Imperial, Bangsar Shopping Centre

Love all things festive!

Guinness’ media & VIP Chinese New Year dinner began with a speed Chinese calligraphy performance by a dear friend Haze.

So proud of her! Keep doing the artsy things you do, girl.

I had no idea you could write in Chinese! Okay, now I feel a tad inadequate. LOL

 Can anybody tell me what this means? 🙁

I assume it says Happy Chinese New Year?

 Guinness directors stamping a traditional Chinese seal, to complete the work of art.

 Official picture. Fantastic how everyone is dressed so aptly to suit the occasion!

Of course, I made sure I looked the part too.

Wore a Cheongsam top with a high waisted skirt and bright pink heels.

If you’re wondering why my Cheongsam top doesn’t look like a Cheongsam top, it was because my Mandarin collar’s button decided to snap a mere 3 hours before the event. 🙁 Drats.

 Let the Guinness festivities begin!

 With my mates, ready to celebrate CNY – Guinness style!

 But first let me take a selfie 😉 Bryna & I.

A brew rich, full, and flavoursome, GUINNESS® is the perfect beer to savour throughout the holiday period, accompanying good food and good times with friends and family.

Typically, Chinese New Year feasts are synonymous with a round table x red cloth combination. Here are my round table mates with fellow bloggers & media!

For our dining pleasure, 8 sumptuous courses are paired with GUINNESS® stout served in different ways to complement and bring out the full flavours of each dish, providing a tantalising sensation for the tastebuds befitting the spirit of prosperity and celebration of the New Year festivities.

With no surprise, let me introduce the starter of every Chinese New Year dinner!

 Yee Sang with Silver Fish!

 Toss it as high as you can for prosperity, longeivity & auspiciousness!

 Us ravaging the Yee Sang. Louuuu ahhhhh!!! 😀

Next up – Braised Bird’s Nest with Fresh Crab Meat.

I was so glad it wasn’t Shark Fin’s Soup!

It’s great that more and more restaurants are supporting the cause of shark-saving.

The soup was delicious and hearty! I finished it in a jiffy.

While waiting for the next dish to arrive, my fellow blogger buddies took the chance to catch up and of course, take selfies. 😉

The next dish that arrived was another popular dish in Chinese dinner banquets.

I apologize in advance to all my Muslim readers, as this is a non-halal dish.

Roasted Whole Suckling Pig.

Admittedly, while I’m not much of a pork-fan myself, my mates at the table loved it to bits. It’s crispy skin was much talked about.

Less man more share, eh? It’s a good thing I’m not eating it – more for you guys to savour! 😀 😀

Random selfie while everyone else gobbles down the piglet.

Accessories by The Wild Things. I’m also wearing their inspired Pandora charm bracelet.

You can’t see it in this picture but let’s see if you can spot it in the rest of my pictures!

P/S: Look them up for beautiful handmade fashion pieces.

The next dish made me a very happy girl.

Yup – Jessicat loves her fish!

Traditional Style Steamed Golden Pomfret

This is absolute love! I devoured this like a starved cat. LOL

As usual, pair everything with a glass of Guinness!

What came as the next meal certainly made an impression.

You may not notice it now but…

 Fresh Water King Prawn in Casserole

What’s so special and impressive about this dish, you ask?

Well… let’s just say, size DOES MATTER. 😉

 It was a big as my head… and mind you, I don’t have a tiny head.

Everyone was amazed at how sizable these King Prawns were.

What have they been feeding on? WOW. Two thumbs up!

The next dish looks vegetarian but it’s actually not.  Enter:

 Braised Sliced Abalone with Black Moss and Dried Oyster

I enjoy the way Grand Imperial finds ways to surprise us with their menu.

When this dish first arrived, only the meats & vegetable portion came. We were wondering what dish this is supposed to be? As most restaurants, if not all, served their claypot rice in one giant bowl with the the rest of the ingredients.

A minute later, the claypot rice came! All in individual bowls, portioned perfectly.

 Claypot Rice with Chinese Sausage (Lap Cheong) & Dried Meat – Hong Kong Style

Like we did tonight, diners will experience GUINNESS® in ways in which they may not have tried before, unlocking the complex flavour profiles of the bold beer.

Surprisingly refreshing when served at sub-zero temperatures, moving to full and rich when served warm, the GUINNESS® Master Brewers and team of Grand Imperial chefs have painstakingly matched each course and serving style to create the perfect pairing.

My cute little bowl.

Hopped over to the next table to have a Guinness toast with my fellow blogger pals!

 I was really stuffed but hey, don’t we all have an extra stomach for dessert? 😉

We were served not one, but two desserts!

 Chilled Fresh Mango Puree with Sago & Pomelo.

 This was such a refreshing dessert!

It was smooth, sweet and bursting with the prominent taste of fresh mangoes!

Please sir, may I have some more? 😛

Deep Fried Nian Gao & Sweet Potato Pastries

I enjoyed the sweet potato pastries so much!

The pastry melted in my mouth upon contact and the aroma of sweet potato was an absolute delight.

Gong Xi Fa Chai to all!

You’ve made us extra happy (and extra prosperous LOL) & beyond satisfied tonight.

Tonight’s CNY dinner was definitely crafted to perfection.

As you can clearly see, each dish has been designed not only to match and enhance the accompanying GUINNESS®, but is imbued with meaning and tradition, symbolising longevity, harmony, peace, prosperity, and happiness in the coming year.

Thank you for having me, dear Guinness Malaysia & Grand Imperial!

You’ve set the bar high and made the first of many CNY feasts to come a pleasurable one.

Click on here where I visited the House of Guinness, the Phat Barrels in Publika KL.

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For more information on Guinness Malaysia & Grand Imperial Group of Restaurants:

Look them up on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/guinnessmalaysia

If you’re keen to celebrate your Chinese New Year reunion dinner with your friends, family or even with your colleagues for a company dinner, my CNY dinner tonight is called the Special Guinness New Year Banquet Menu and is priced at RM1888 nett.

Enjoy! And Gong Hei Fatt Choi to you and you and you! 😀

Hiya dear readers!

I know Chinese New Year isn’t exactly over yet because there are 15 days of it in total (much like the Twelve Days of Christmas!) but hey, it’s already the 11th Day of CNY so I might as well get started on this post.

You know how I am when I procrastinate LOL.

Also, you are now reading this post on the 16th February even though I began writing it on the 10th. So obviously, Chinese New Year is now over as we speak hence deeming the paragraph above irrelevant. See what I told you about procrastinating? Bleh.

So let’s get on with today’s post before I digress, shall we?

I took a day off from work, so Chinese New Year 2014 began with me jet-setting back home to Penang on the morning of CNY eve.

The 45 minute flight was tiresome. Can’t someone invent a teleporter already? 45 minutes always leave me hanging – too short a time to sleep, too long a time to do anything else when you’re not allowed to use the phone onboard.

Read, you say? I don’t like the edges of my book getting all ratty and folded up whenever I take it travelling. 

My CNY-themed nails I did the night before I departed KL. 

With prosperity and auspiciousness in the air, you can’t go wrong with red and gold for Chinese New Year!

 High in the sky at 9am.

Couldn’t get any sleep so I was snapping away on my camera instead.

Arrived home and I was initially thinking of heading out to spend some time with my friends back home since I wouldn’t be able to spend much time in Penang this CNY but somehow, my forty winks ended up in a long, deep sleep for four whole hours.

Drats. 

 But when I woke up to this, I cheered up instantly.  Pretty sure you would too.

This was how my family reunion dinner looked like – steamboat!

 Mom, Dad and I enjoying our steamboat dinner at the comfort of

our own home – all lit up flamboyantly with CNY decor no less!

That’s us playing with firecrackers and sparklers too.

Chinese New Year 2014 – Day One (大年初一) 

Woke up bright and early to loud CNY music resonating in my room all the way from the living room downstairs!

Daddy has a knack for blasting loud music during any festive season. Dolled up and made my way down to join the rest.

 Day One selfies!

Went into the living room to find mom and dad dressed similarly in traditional Chinese wear too.

Speaking of coincidence! This year is the first year I’ve actually donned a traditional outfit for Chinese New Year. Usually, I’d just throw on a red top or a red dress. So to see my parents dressed likewise was really a pleasant surprise! 

Daddy-O and I.

Mummykins and I.

 Definitely a member of the family too, after 12 years with us. Kakak and I!

Took another selfie with the red-hot ladies of the house.

Daddy then called us all over for angbao time. 

So as tradition goes, we are to greet each other and give a spiel of wishes and blessings unto the other. I’m bad at this, so I usually just go Gong Xi Fa Chai and some of the other sayings (which are so cool it rhymes!) that granny used to teach me.

Angbao moments. There’s one for everyone!

Time for family portraits!

I didn’t want to bombard this page with the innumerable family portraits we took, so here’s my favorite one.

 Love it so much I’m even considering developing this and putting it up in a frame!

 Not-so-formal family portrait – SELFIE STYLE!

Before the sun set, we made our way onto the North-South Highway for a road trip down south to spend the rest of our CNY Day One with my extended family. It was lucky that we were driving against the ridiculous traffic of the festive season! 

It was an insane gridlock on the highway north-bound. We could see it from our side of the road. Phew!

 Setting up the dinner table.

 Firing up the grill for our barbeque!

 Uncle Mike was the mastermind behind the whole barbeque party and with his minions in the kitchen, we were fed with a scrumptious home-made feast straight from the grill!

Food placements on the table with red wine for everyone!

 No, this doesn’t include Penny our Silky Terrier in the background.

  A shot of some of the other food we made

Giant salad bowl, some kind of pork (I didn’t eat a single one), flower crabs,

Thai noodles, rice and sausages wrapped with bacon with potato wedges.

 Snapped from my seat.

 Group photo of all of us! Family + long-time family friends. 

We had a wonderful time! Long conversations, so much fun and catching up.

 When darkness descended, we started to play with paper lanterns, also known as Kuomintang to the Chinese folk.

 I wrote my well-wishes on it before I lit it up and set it to fly to above and beyond.

 Prepare for take-off!

 Firing the blazing ember!

 Looks like we’re ready.

 One for the road!

 Up, up and awaaayy!!

We watched it with glee as it drifted slowly away from our line of vision before fading into the darkness.

And that was pretty much how CNY Day One was like for me. Moving on… 

Chinese New Year 2014 – Day Two (大年初二)

I woke up pretty late due to the late night before. But not too late to doll up for our family luncheon at Casuarina Hotel in Meru. Wanna take a look at what they have to offer? Read on. 

Today,  I wore something oriental again. It was the traditional Chinese Cheongsam!

 Selfies!

Proper full-length outfit of the day shot!

 Group selfie! The boys at the back were still busy with the food LOL

 Part of the Yee Sang dish on the buffet spread

 Wit the chef at the carving station.

Take a look at the well-plated and colourful spread of roast beef, chicken and lamb!

Only downside though, most of the cuts were cold as the roast station didn’t

come with the spotlight heat lamp.

 At the cold cut table. There was quite a number of food on the hot food area and it was very widely spread apart so I didn’t bother taking a photo (this isn’t one of my food review ads anyway)

 Chinese New Year cookies and cake were part of the selection too.

Sweet treats like pies, cakes, tarts and ice-cream were abundant.

 Fancy a healthier alternative? Here, have some fruits for dessert instead. 

We thought the buffet spread was decently palatable and it was satisfying lunch buffet. Could do with lots of room for improvement but seeing as it is a hotel newly constructed in the area, it was a fairly good attempt! 

Check out some family photos we snapped after lunch.

When we were just about done, I began exploring all around the hotel and its vicinity. 

Found a pretty place full of Chinese New Year decor for more photo ops! 

 Test shot.  Okay, I’m loving this podium area already!

Was busy taking selfies when Uncle Mike appeared like a wild fox out of the blue

and stuffed this Mandarin Orange into my mouth. Hey, can’t you see I’m busy? 😛 😛

Got mom to take a couple of shots for me while waiting for the whole motley crew to arrive.

How pretty is the decor, right?

Spent every day of my childhood years with these two women in my life.

Mommy & kakak.

 Flanked by my homeboys, couzzies Shaun & Meng!

Shaun had a random idea to flex our biceps for the camera LOL.

We’ve got the powaaaahh! Say what?

CNY 2014 family photo! It’s a shame daddy didn’t join us for the dinner though;

it would be complete otherwise!

My beloved Popoh and I. Or MeeMaw. Or Gran. Or Gramma. Or Granny.

Or however you wanna call it.

 She’s the only grandparent I have left now so I’m holding on to her real tight! 

Every Chinese New Year, we celebrate her birthday.

I can’t recall a single CNY not celebrating Popoh’s birthday!

The rest of Chinese New Year Day Two was just spent lounging around at home, gambling with relatives and catching up. All I did at night was read a few magazines and curled up to watch The Big Bang Theory.

Okay, time for the next day! 

Chinese New Year 2014 – Day Three(大年初三)

 Selfies in the car!

Wearing another oriental top – this time in lime green with motifs of Chinese flowers.

I don’t exactly like the presence of children in general but I think I’m beginning to get the hang of it.

Meet my 9 year old cousin.

It was Yee Sang day for us today! LOUUUUU AHHHHH!

*insert Chinese quotes/wishes that rhyme here*

I should really memorize it and recite it with pride next year. It’ll be fun 

We headed out to the mall for some shopping and coffee. Coincidentally, there was a stage performance going on.

It was the Chinese New Year acrobatics troupe from China! Check them out. Their skills are pretty badass. Click the image to watch the short videoclip.

Watching the #Chinese #acrobatics troupe perform. OMG their balance, stability and flexibility are top notch!! #CNY

Wow so proud of our local #Chinese #acrobatics troupe! Why didn’t my parents send me to such classes when I was a nimble kid? So epic; I’m so impressed. I wanna do that too!!

When all was over and done with, I decided to adjourn back to KL on Monday.

Didn’t want to waste the extra leave I initially applied for as I may have plans to jet-set somewhere far away this year.  

Nothing concrete yet; just sketchy plans for a one-week vacay.

Maybe I should throw a dart on the world map and see where it lands hehe.

Goodbye shot. At the Ipoh Railway Station! 

My Chinese New Year 2014’s accessories are sponsored by Swarovski and The Wild Things.

Will be blogging about their amazing Pandora-inspired charm bracelet soon!

In the meantime, check them out and pick your favorites. 

That marks an end to my Chinese New Year this year.

Actually no it doesn’t. Since there’s 15 days in total after all, I spent the rest of my CNY celebrating it with good friends and colleagues back in KL.

But since this post is relatively long enough and my mug of coffee is already empty, I should leave Part Two for another day. 

 Oh here’s a snap of some of my bounty.

No I don’t have any of it left as I used it all to settle all my bills.

I am debt-free now! 

I shall end my Chinese New Year 2014 blog post with a picture of my favorite ang pow.

It may not be the biggest, but it is hands-down, the best angpow I’ve received this year.

Happy Lunar New Year everyone!

Here's to wishing all my readers, followers, friends, family, media associates, acquaintances and practically everyone reading this Gong Xi Fa Cai!

May this auspicious year see you prosper with abundant health, wealth, wisdom, strength, love & luck! 

This cycle, as you should know by now, is the year of the snake. 

It's my horoscope year – yup I'm born in the year of the snake. So it's my time to shine! *crosses fingers*

For starters, Chinese New Year so far has been great for my family and I.

So much eating ridiculous amounts of sumptuous homecooked food, visiting relatives and friends, gambling, reunion dinners, gift exchanging, collecting ang paos, eating all the Mandarin Oranges and CNY cookies, playing with firecrackers, enthusing over fireworks, tossing Yee Sang, watching Lion Dance troupes, dressing up in my new red CNY clothes and so much more the list goes on and on!

Chinese New Year Day 1

Chinese New Year Day 2

Chinese New Year Day 3

Will blog a full blog post on my Chinese New Year celebrations like I do every year, but for now, I've gotta run.

Heading home to Penang in a few hours from Ipoh and finally back to KL this weekend.

Also, thank you for supporting this blog and I all these years. 

Just a little announcement: TheJessicat.com will be having a new look/facelift soon!

It's been 3 years since the last makeover, so it's about time, ey?

Enjoy the rest of your holidays!

Love, Jessicat

Disregarding the fact that I constantly get bitten to death (well, almost) by mosquitoes and getting nagged my ears off whenever I come back home at wee hours of the morning, being back in Penang has never been better!

Why did I leave Penang in the first place? Guess it’s because the industry I’m in beckons me to the big city KL.

If not for that, I doubt I’ll ever leave this pretty little island.

Melancholy aside, I’m back. Not for good, but for this Chinese New Year. 

Took some time to watch the sunrise with buddies. We literally went crazy, crazy, crazy till we see the sun.

0615HRS

Waiting by the rocks at Gurney Drive

Would you rise already, dear sun?

I can see some beams coming from the distance already

0645HRS

Getting brighter and brighter by the minute!

So pretty by the sea, ain’t it?

Keep rising!

And rising!

Almost there..

0700HRS

It has risen!

I also took some before and after panoramic photos of the sunrise.

Yay! I successfully stayed up till the morning light. 

Of course, that wouldn’t be possible without great company!

Myself & I by the rocks haha!

Surprised? Yeah there’s two of me.

After sunrise, it’s straight on to breakfast!

Headed to Toh Soon Cafe (多春茶座) located at the backlane of Campbell Street off Penang Road.

Campbell Street arch

The wait was long as it is a very popular spot for breakfast, patronized by both the young and old.

I didn’t mind waiting for a classic breakfast but one of the waitresses was so downright rude.

She raised her voice at me, snapped, gave me a dirty look, rushed through my orders before I knew what she was talking about and walked away before we knew what we were ordering.

What on earth? I don’t owe you anything, woman.

But apart from the dreadful service and the unpleasant atmosphere, we got what we wanted:

The charcoal-barrel burned buttered toast with softboiled eggs

Yeah I know it looks pretty easy to make, I can even do the same thing at home.

I reckon it’s the local popular culture that somehow made it a must to come here for breakfast.

We hopped to the next breakfast spot, ‘Ah Lai Cafe Under The Big Tree’ along Church Street Ghaut, just off Beach Street

How many traditional/authentic Chinese coffee shops with zinc roofs are quite like this anymore?

I guess its the novelty that people come for, apart from the classic breakfast sets

Buttered toast!

Their speciality! It was toast with a folded sunny side up egg, cheese & sliced sausages!

Dressed up, dolled up and I’m ready to go!

Went crazy on Chinese New Year clothes shopping this year.

I think I bought like <10 items? Can’t wait to wear ’em! 

Ended the long day with our favourite pints of Hoegaarden & Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc

at Eurodeli, Gurney Plaza

The next day! Clad in my favorite Jack Daniels baby tee

Headed to The Twelve Cups at The WhiteAways Arcade along Beach Street

Mr.BFF wanted to recommend me their mille crepe cakes seeing that I love cakes!

Ingenious decorations on their white-washed brick wall!

We had Hokkaido Chocolate and Coffee Chocolate

*Highly recommended*

I loved The Twelve Cups. It was very quiet, cosy and quaint. 

Admiring the local street murals/wall art

PSA much? 

Happy girl got her Milkshake Factory fix! I am easily pleased like that

For a healthy dinner, I recommend Nando’s half (or quarter!) Chicken with Fino Sides of Spinach & Potatoes

There are grilled vegetables, corn on the cob and others too which are just as healthy!

The daily grind at gym

Went about town gallivanting and enjoying the street art & murals

I bet this fella is wondering who I am riding pillion just like that. Sorry, bro!

One of Penang’s very popular iron/metal structures!

Outing with buddyKen at China House.

Chocolate Marquise! OMNOMNOMNOM

Chocolate Pistachio! OMNOMNOMNOM

Yes, if you didn’t know, my weakness is chocolate. Heh. Heh. Heh. Sinful, cocoa indulgence.

But ironically, I’m intolerant to it. Not many know about this, considering the copious amounts of chocolate I consume!

Back to KL I go!

Couldn’t help taking a photo of the wondrous Penang Bridge

So… why did I drive all the way back to KL only to return to Penang two days later? 

For an important event that I was invited to make my appearance – AS A ZOMBIE!

How could I refuse? 

I’m your worst nightmare

The very first instalment of the famed Zombie Run – Malaysian edition!

*Here the Link to the article*

Tired. Early morning breakfast at Old Town.

Excuse the zzz face I didn’t shower and just hopped into the car LOL don’t judge me

Lunch at DOME with a friend whom I’ve not seen in almost a decade

Random car shot LOL

BabyChivas takes the wheel!

Breakfast one morning with Mr.BFF at my usual brekkie spot, Antipodean in Bangsar!

Salmon Omelette for me and Big Breakfast for him!

OOTD! My new zombie apocalypse tee

Late dinner one day

Best part was, we were the last customers of the day! 

So it was easier to have my meatballs come with boiled potatoes and broccoli instead of the usual french fries.

Okay that’s all for this week! 

For those who are already on holidays, have an awesome long holiday! And for those who will be bracing the traffic back to your hometowns, drive safely!

Lastly, to the clever ones that are returning back home by plane… SO SMART AH? 

Much love,

Jessicat

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The Sunday Times is a weekly series; published every Sunday night to recap the highlights of my week, capture what piques my interest and to briefly highlight my recommendations for to-go and to-eat places!

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