2013 CHINESE NEW YEAR

Family reunion during CNY eve is a tradition in chinese families and as parents, we think this is a great tradition and need to intentionally keep it going.  This is getting more difficult for many families as children settled off in different places.  Expenses for travel and time off to be back home has to be budgeted and planned ahead to make it happen.  We are glad so far our children have been able to make it this far.  Though I find preparation for CNY getting more challenging with age, I seem to look more forward to it as family togetherness is getting more and more difficult.

Here are pictures to hold and treasure these memories....

Sheerah and Joanna arrived home few days earlier to help out in the preparation....mostly cleaning work.  Extra hands and energy is sure a great help for aging parents :) So grateful for their effort.

CNY is a time of looking forward to seeing our children arriving home.

CNY EVE - 9 FEB (Sat)
After dinner, we had a time of fire crackers.

Joanna bought some crafting materials.  Tiffany and Ivan were trying to do the craft and Joanna had to guide them in the making...hahaha...following the tutorial guide online.  They were some kind of Japanese stuff and edible too.  We tried not because they tasted good but because they were edible.

Then we waited for the fireworks to start in our neighborhood, which usually started around 15min to 12midnight.

We could easily watch and enjoy the brightened up sky of fireworks from our balcony.

Every year, it is our usual pattern on Day 1 of CNY when we go visiting as a family.   PoPo's house should be the first one where we gathered to have our breakfast before going off visiting relatives and close friends together.  We managed to visit only a few.


















Then we would take some family shots together.

Teo got to attend a reunion dinner with his class/school mates in Kuching on the 4th day of CNY.  I joined him two days later when Marcus n Chris went back to KL.  Sheerah extended her stay to accompany PoPo till we got back from Kuching.

A couple friends joined us for a short vacation in Kuching.  We had a time of  more shopping than visiting though :)  Well, it was a good reunion with Kuching relatives anyway...havent been there for 3 years.

We came home to a nice surprise....our wall decorated with cards and family pics, with our latest family pic right at the top center, designed by Sheerah.   I love it!

It was a lot of eating since CNY eve, which lasted over several weekends after, as we gathered to have dinner at different friends' houses.  So I gathered weight along with all the dinners....and now life is back to a quiet mode...time to cut off the extra weight gained.

The best thing is yet to come.....

MY 2013 CHINESE NEW YEAR MENU

This is a late late blogging...but anyway better late than never.

2013 started off great.  I got to clean and wash and rearrange things in my kitchen and enjoyed cooking few things to freeze up for the Chinese New Year period.  We have two fridges but both freezer compartments were fully packed.  I had forgotten that my hubby had bought so much dabai (local olive) to store up for consumption when our children get back home, especially for Chris, our daughter in law.  So I had a challenging time sorting out space for my cooked food.

Since last year I notice the strong smell in pork that I hesitate to make any CHILLED PIG LEG.  However, towards CNY I still decided to try buying from a different source and make one.

It turned out to be ok.  You can refer to my previous posting for details.

Then I got a recipe online and cook a BLACK VINEGAR PIG TROTTER.  Here is the link... or copy and paste this to your browser...http://annieliciousfood.blogspot.com/2012/10/mdm-chais-pig-trotter-in-vinegar-with.html

And I tried Niko's Kitchen recipe....CHINESE PORK BELLY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03nnQbz3yJ0

And of course CHICKEN FEET is not to be missed.

Then there was the PICKLE GINGER and NGO HIANG (I used pork paste instead of fish paste to mix in with the ingredients). 

I also tried a recipe of chicken rolls but it didnt turn out nice.

There was the TOM YAM FISH which I forgot about taking pics.  I used TEAN'S Tom Yam paste and it is nice.  I will post up details next round of my cooking :) 

There is the PIG STOMACH cooked by Sheerah.  I tried to post up short video clips during dinner but they seem to take too long to upload.

As parents, we get to enjoy our children's thoughtfulness as they are grown ups and having their own earnings.  They would come back with gifts for us and our close family friends.  

This year's gift packs of bak gua :) 

The coffee beans are for me of course...love them lots.

Hope you all have had a HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!  We did :)