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TheJessicat - Extractions of a Disoriented Mind
  • Entertainment
    • Film & Movies
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    • Local Artists
    • Music Festivals/Rave Parties
    • Nightlife/Parties
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  • Fashion
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  • Beauty
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Flashback: Celebrating Chinese New Year 2013. Hiss hiss. My zodiac year of the snake!

July 11, 2013 by thejessicat
 

 

Today's post is all about the celebration, the culture and the family amidst the Chinese New Year festivity.

Uh-huh. Though I'm fully aware that we've already come to the middle of the year, I'm adamant on posting this despite being half a year late!

 

Because it's MY YEAR. wink

 

Ever since the inception of this blog, it has since became imperative for me to write something about Chinese New Year (CNY), every year without fail. Ergo, I can't and won't let this year go by without a word – especially since it's my own zodiac year!

This is also especially for some of my family members and close family friends who have been waiting for this post and non-local readers who wanted to see how I celebrated my CNY. Sorry I'm late! crying

So bear with me while I (try) to VERY briefly write and characterize my CNY 2013 as succinctly as I can.

 

Mandarin Oranges. 

 

Angpows.

 

Chinese New Year cookies – pity they only come once a year, right? frown

 

MORE CHINESE NEW YEAR SNACKS.

 

GONG XI FA CHAI! First day of Chinese New Year.

 

The Lion Dance troupe performing in the middle of the night just outside my house.

 

The Lion Dance troupe up close

 

Standing by the CNY decorations at the foyer of my home.

 

Ladies helping out and making preparations for our family steamboat dinner!

(while daddy does the prayer stuff and takes a nap LOL)

 

Steamboat dinner with my immediate family.

 

 

The smallest of what a family can comprise is what we have always been. Granted, we are a close-knit one!

Shall we cue the happy family pictures already? heart

 

Mom, dad and I makes the family I'm speaking of heart

 

Hugs galore!

 

The man of the house, Mr. Daddy and his bitches girls.

 

After our family steamboat dinner, we had relatives come over.

 

I went visiting my buddies next day!

 

With Mr. BFF Vincent!

 

Annual CNY gathering with the buddies

 

Boo!

 

Cue the Jagerbombs and CNY gambling!

 

 

After the alcohol kicked in LOL

 

Random selfie while I took a break from gambling with the boys.

 

Mom and I grabbing a quick breakfast the next day

 

Brought out babyChivas

 

Jumped into the car.

 

Roadtrip time! Guess where we are going?

 

Two hours down south, we arrived Ipoh. Look who greeted us happily! wink

 

My dearest popoh giving me my angpows!

Why does she look more excited than I am?

 

Lion Dance troupe invasion!!!

 

Our (very brown) lunch.

Trust me, it tasted ten times better than it looks! cheeky

 

A compulsory photo with the God of Prosperity plushie 

and a bowl of ancient money from China.

 

Hello smiley

 

Three generations: Popoh, mom and I.

The fourth one will have to wait, okay? Uh-huh. No pressure alright. *rolls eyes*

 

En route to the big reunion dinner with the extended family!

 

Headed to one of our favorite Chinese restaurants in town, Restoran Kok Thai!

 

All decorated for a night of family Chinese banquet dinners!

 

Camlovin' with Uncle Mikey.

 

With the (fairy) godmother and popoh

 

This one is a prized photo with the cousin, as it is one of the

rare photos we snap together whilst not drunk/in a club/at a party/at a rave.

 

Mommy dearest and Uncle Mikey

 

I think I must've spread the love for camwhoring to her. Whoooops! 

 

With Auntie Karen and Uncle Philip

 

With the two sisters – granny and grand aunt.

I think this should be a foresight of how I would look 50 years later?

 

And it begins! The Chinese tradition of to lou our yee-sang.

(For my non-Chinese readers, it means to toss this dish about haphazardly as a symbol of prosperity)

I know right, us Chinese are all about being prosperous LOL

 

Just some traditional Chinese dishes in our 8-course dinner:

Braised cerbal chicken with mushrooms

 

Steamed brocolli, scallops and mushrooms

 

Mom, couzie Shaun and I helping ourselves to the dish

 

Pork Trotters with dumplings

 

GIGANTIC steamed prawns!

 

Cue the red wine.

 

Kochabi – a traditional local Chinese dessert (a very frozen ice-cream texture)

which means 'the taste of old times' in literal translation.

 

We entertained ourselves to fireworks and firecrackers at night

 

I had my fair share of fun too!

 

Mom and I flanking kakak heart

 

Cue more alcohol. Yummy.

 

Thanks Uncle Mike, for this lovely photo!

I wish I didn't look so drunk though. indecision

 

Traditional Chinese mah-jong with the family

 

Third day of Chinese New Year. We went avisiting more friends and family!

 

More yee-sang and more homecooked meals. All thanks to granny and kakak, the masterchefs!

 

Time to toss it like a savage and ravage it like the last yee-sang on the phase of earth!

 

Hi again. Off to another reunion dinner

 

Came home bursting at my sides to this handsome furkid of mine on the bed

 

Couldn't help it. You'd be tempted to camwhore with this fluffy ball of love too.

 

After all the festivities with the family and friends back home is all over, it was time to head back to the city. 

Despite having15 days of Chinese New Year, work beckons! I returned to the office on the 5th day of CNY.

 

The lion dance troup invading our office!

 

With the colleagues 

 

At night, we headed off for our company's Chinese New Year dinner!

 

Baked cereal prawns

 

Steamed grouper fish

 

Baked chili crabs!

 

'nuff said.

 

And yes, you guessed it. Yee-sang again.

 

A quick shot before making a giant mess of the yee-sang!

I think I'm pretty good at this already LOL.

 

With my pretty girls, Carmen and Sheena.

 

I think that wraps up my Chinese New Year 2013. cool

Was that brief enough? Hahaha. Better a simple post than completely forgetting to have this up.

 

So what do you really like about CNY?

Just like every year, Chinese New Year consists of five most important F WORDs for me.surprise

Don't jump to conclusions just yet. Why F WORDs, you ask? They are:

 

FAMILY.

 

FRIENDS.

 

FOOD.

 

FLAMING FORMULAS.

 

FORTUNE. 

 

There you have it. You can stop bugging me for Chinese New Year photos now hahaha.

Sorry for the tardiness, though! frown

 

But this FORTUNE a.k.a angbao only applies if you are still single. YIPPEE! laugh

The married ones ain't gettin' nothing! 

 

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A month after Chinese New Year.. better late than never – GONG XI FA CAI!

February 24, 2012 by thejessicat

 

 

So after exactly a month, I've finally got round to finishing the batch editing of all the photos from my 2012 Chinese New Year!

Don't know why I didn't exactly take as much "proper photos" this CNY – all of the photos you are about to see today are all shot with sub-par phone/tablet camera quality. 

 

If I could sum up Chinese New Year for me every year (in no particular order), it  would be :

 

1. Family

2. Food

3. Hometown

4. Angpows! $$$

5. Red

 

So here's what I was up to this Chinese New Year – in photos!

 

So here we go… FAMILY!

Yup, that's my immediate family. Small, but complete nonetheless 😀

 

At 5'7", I believe I inherited my height from my dad.  Don't know if that's supposed to be a good thing, since I'm always b!tching about my height on Twitter. Heh. 

Anyway, roadtrip up North to Penang with my fellow Penangites! :D

 

Penang Bridge during sunset!

 

The moment I crossed the bridge, I felt a tinge of nostalgia sweeping up to me like a morning breeze.

Good ol' Penang; encompassing so much memories of growing up, life, love, friendships and more 

 

KOMTAR: Penang's tallest landmark heritage

 

Brought the boyfie home for CNY. 

Hahahaahah  what does High Expectations Asian Father have to say?

 

lololol just kidding! They got along pretty damn well 

 

Seafood dinner by the seaside with the parents & him for our early CNY reunion dinner. Being islanders, seafood is one of our staples amongst many others!

(Don't say rice. I will smack you) 

Look for cooking classes at www.OnlineCollegeClasses.org and you'll see that there is so much more to the cuisine than simply rice!

 

I daresay this was one of the best dinners I've ever had

 

We had so much delicious, freshly caught seafood on our table!

 

Teluk Kumbar Seafood is the name. 

And that's where you're gonna having your sunset seafood dinner when in Penang

 

Here are only 5 outta 8 dishes we ordered.

 

Where else did we go for our Chinese New Year reunion dinner?

 

To Kok Thai Chinese Restaurant for an 8-course Chinese Banquet dinner! 🙂

This photo doesn't do the food justice at all!

 

3 generations at a round table for dinner 

 

The boyfie stood out tonight; being the only white in an Asian restaurant on Chinese New Year

 

And that's not all..

 

In my family, food comes in abundance as the cooking never stops! 🙂

Delicous home-made reunion dinner meals & yee sang throughout the 1st week of Chinese New Year

 

Spent time with my maid who, if you didn't already know, 

was my nanny & helped to look after me when I was a 3 year old toddler – till now! 

 

Spent time with some friends over Barbeque Steamboat at

Town Steamboat along Macalister Road in the city

 

I was so full & didn't feel like talking. So I got bored. 

 

At Healy Mac's Irish Bar & Restaurant along Straits Quay!

Don't remember what I ordered, most likely along the lines of Kahlua, Baileys, 

Wild Turkey or some other form of coffe-cream liqueurs.

As always.

What's next?

 

It was Australia Day!

Fancy some shisha and a bit of Down Under spirit mate? 

 

Went to the famous Kek Lok Si Temple.

Translated from Penang Hokkien as 'Temple of Supreme Bliss'

 

Welcome to the largest Buddhist temple in South East Asia! 

 

Just for the record, I'm not Buddhist.

So… why exactly did we pay a visit to Kek Lok Si temple this Chinese New Year again?

 

To watch other people pray

 

For pretty lights!  

The elaborate decorations during the festive season were gorgeous!

 

To take photos with Buddha…

 

And take photos with a bigger Buddha…

 

and take photos with Buddha again…..

 

… not just ONE Buddha, but many many Buddhas all lined up in a row…

 

We also wanted to climb up and take photos with the massive Guan Yin (Goddess of Mercy) statue, but alas we were too late.

 

We had to go as soon as the gates began to shut.

Good lord, I felt as though I've just warped back from China for a second! :D

 

And last but not least….. gambling session with the buddies!

 

Listen up, lucky cat! Bring mommy some good luck aight? 😀 😀

 

Just so you know, he most certainly kicked some ass 🙂

Good job, son!  Black cats aren't harbingers of bad luck after all, in your case, BabyChivas!

 

We caused the banker to be bankrupt and yes, I won double the capital I put in!

 

 

Hope you had a smashing Chinese New Year celebration of the Black Water Dragon just like I did :D

A late post is better than none! There you go, my Chinese New Year this year!

 

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Gong Xi Fa Chai! Have a hoppin’ Lunar New Year of the rabbit, dear readers!

February 3, 2011 by thejessicat

 

Happy Chinese New Year!!!

I shouldn't be here blogging right now when thefockers are all together in merriment in the next room.

 

Will join them soon but first, how was your CNY celebrations so far?

It's the 2nd day of the lunar new year now and so far, my reunion dinners with both sides of the family went pretty swell!
 

 

Small, but close-knitted immediate family reunion dinner
 

 

And yes, my maid IS part of the family. She has practically helped mom raise me ever since I was a child of 3. No matter how small this family might seem, this is one that I'm proud to belong to and it has always been this way 😀

 

I had fun playing with firecrackers at my porch!
 

Dad bought back lotsa different types. I don't know if it's even legal but I reckon these are the harmless ones.

We played with sparklers, fizzy firecrackers, pop-pop and other variants of such.
 

It was fun to watch it fizzle and sparkle into flames!
 

 

Oh and dad burnt his finger cos he lighted one of the firecrackers up the wrong way.

What's really fun was that we played it with our opposite neighbour too, they were Indians by the way. 1 Malaysia celebrating in the spirit of Chinese New Year! Nice sight to see
 

 

With mom
 

 

And dad

(Pardon the narcissistic tee. It was a gift)

 

Still have lotsa 'bai nien' (visiting) at other relatives' houses, lotsa 'kam' (Mandarin Oranges) to stuff my face with, more lion dances to watch, more angpows (red packets) to collect, more CNY cookies to binge on, more gambling to play, more lou sang (some signature CNY dish which idk how to describe)… and the list goes on.
 

The BIG dinner with the rest of thefockers isn't until tomorrow where everyone can gather together. It's gonna be held in conjunction with granny's birthday too. So, no pictures yet till tomorrow night! 😀
 

 

Long yellow noodles to apparently symbolize longeveity
 

To sum it all up, Chinese New Year every year, just like Christmas, spells nothing to me but family

As I will be leaving my home to the land of Down Under for roughly half a year, I would miss nothing more than the comfort and warmth of my own loved ones. But as they say, every bird has gotta leave its nest for a while and my next scheme would be rockin' up Melbourne one day at a time.
 

Here's to hoping I don't get homesick.
 

with a Choy Sun (God of Prosperity) soft toy!
 

 

In the meantime, I can't wait for Sunday's CNY reunion dinner with thehomies in Tannie's house.

Cheers! Gong Xi Fa Chai 😀
 

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Oh, hello there!

Hi! Welcome to TheJessicat.com - an urban lifestyle blog established since 2005, written from the perspective of a Malaysian blogger. Discover the latest and all that the city has to offer! Do bear with her occasional rants & musings though. Happy reading! ❤

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