reflections of cny 2013

What joy - my eventful CNY this year was a far cry from my previous one where i was imprisoned in my own home through my struggles of The Great Confinement. -.-

Anyway, here're just little snippets of my CNY 2013 ...

Finally got the chance to dress our lil prince in this pearly white Chinese traditional wear that i bought from Hanoi sometime back. Well as you can see, the pants was way too long for him, but i loved the silk top though. Perfect for a first day of visiting the elderly....and collecting red packets, of course!

CNY is all about dressing up in RED, and all the better if Man Utd had won a match the night before.
Like father,...

...like son lor.

During great-grandma's house visitation, Darren is forced to go 'bottomless' as grandma beh-ta-han with the lengthy pants and just had to shorten the hem.

"shy-la"

Darren got to hang out with cousin Tristan.

Tristan got to hang out with cousin Darren.

Darren made a new friend by the name of Samuel, a cute talkative 5-year old nephew of my colleague, Jin. Much to his chagrin, Samuel was so hoping that Darren would jump out of this chair and run around with him. lol. Next year, Samuel.....next year.

Back in Malacca, it was nice to see Robert (friend of uncle's, from US) has come to visit again this year.
And let's not forget my nephew Dave who would never let a stranger carry him. Hence, you can see how precious this photo is, nevermind that no one was looking at the camera.

Everyone looks forward to the most important thing during CNY - the FOOD, glorious FOOD!
The eating frenzy starts right from the customary CNY eve reunion dinners......(if you don't count chowing down those CNY cookies even before CNY starts!)

My home-cooked reunion dinner at Imbi was so fanciful and complete, they even made a "Four-Season" platter. So cool or what?!

With so much meat going around, the words 'guilty' and 'glutton' just do not jive well with CNY - thank God i was wearing a stretchable dress!

By the way, i'm a sucker for fatt-choy (it's the dish below where you see those black moss shrouding the button mushrooms) so that's an A+ for dinner!

And of course, no one escapes the "Prosperity Toss" (lo-hei) of CNY. I may have tossed 7 times this year, but here were my fave 2 ......

from Ah Yat Abalone Forum 

from the House of Imbi (by invitation only) ..haha

This year, we did something we would never think of doing - buy an entire roast pig and a duck (as companion) for RM 228+ (promo), and dig into them with a dozen other mouths.

Food plays such an important role of bringing family and friends together. And start them from young too!

I see RED, i see good fortune and success!!

I see SNAKES. In fact,  i see a two-headed snake!
(waitaminute, none of us was in the pic,.....shucks, must have been occupied with Darren)

Rowdiest lou sang crowd ever! When you have 30-odd people trying to dig their chopsticks into the dish, you end up with layers of people dropping bits of yee-sang on your head!

CNY also marked a double celebration for those whose birthday falls during this auspicious period.
Like for a colleague of mine, Li Kuen....

the loveliest bunch of underwriters!

..and my big sista, Millie!
Dave's just practising blowing the candle for his soon-to-come 2nd birthday cake.

The very unique custom-made (or rather custom-arranged) birthday cake(s) ...

They're from Secret Recipe, of course!
How many of the 12 flavours do you recognise? ^^

Mind-boggling question after candle-blowing....

Trust me, it wasn't easy making sure everyone got to taste all 12 flavours of the cake!


CNY is a time when famous Chinese restaurants in town are bound to be fully packed.
This year, i brought Darren to Grand Imperial in Bangsar...

...for a gathering with some uni mates whom i've not seen in ages. It was simply awesome to be in touch again.

CNY draws to a close on its 15th day - which is considered as the Chinese Valentine's Day.
Gone are the long holidays - back to reality. Why do we always feel so tired after the CNY holidays, and that's even before starting work!

Even Darren is all worn out.

Till next year, here's to a robust Snake Year to all!