When everyone starts to toss the yee sang, there's a lot going on!
Chinese New Year basically means big family reunions, one after another - sorta like if you're passing the baton to yourself in one of those pass-the-baton races. :P
House Visit #1: CNY Eve = Reunion Dinner
The Reunion Dinner is when everyone connected directly on the father's side of their families comes and has dinner together. It's on the eve of Chinese New Year, every year. :) I don't know if that's how other Chinese families do it, but that's my family's tradition.
This year, Uncle Astley and Aunt Sylvia played host to the family reunion.
Set in a more contemporary location (i.e. my youngest uncle and his wife's new home in Puchong) this time around, we had the luxury of air-conditioning (thank goodness!) and IKEA furniture. :D
My cousin Theodore, Daddy, and Grandfather on the IKEA sofa.
Playing with wee little Theodore is so fun, despite the fact that I'm a whole 20-ish years older than him! It's kind of horrifying knowing that by the time he's 20, I'll be 40. Gah! But if it helps, he's my youngest cousin (SO FAR :P I suspect I will have one or two more cousins soon). And I'm also the oldest grandchild on my father's side (and my mother's side, hahaha). Numero uno! :D So I guess that means I have to get married first. If any of my cousins beat me to the knot-tying ceremonies, I'm gonna be peeved! :P
Nineteen months old and super duper cute! :D Theodore Pung!
I said, "Smile for the camera!" and he went all "kayu" and leaned forward to peer into the lens. LOL. Btw, my cousin has toys that I couldn't have even dreamed of when I was his age! He even has one of those cars that you have pay RM10 for 5 minutes to ride on in shopping malls. :P My uncle (his father) controls it via remote control, while my cousin thinks he's driving it. Hahahaha! So... both boys get to play. :P
House Visit #2: CNY First Day = The Big Gathering
Time to collect angpows! :D This is the day when all the relatives that I recognise come in from all parts of Malaysia, and gather in one place (Uncle Astley and Aunt Sylvia's home again). My troop of second cousins will also be there, but I don't even say anything to them other than "Hi!" and "Gong Hei Fatt Choi". When we were younger, we were less antisocial ... and then we kinda divided into different cliques. Awww. :P Me and my first cousins, them and their own first cousins. This year, my favourite first cousins didn't show up (booooooo!) so I was bored out of my mind.
Look at my second uncle's camera! I know his photos are gonna be so much better than mine, LOL!
Everyone say Cheeeeese!
My dad's cousin (my 2nd uncle) is a professional photographer/photography lecturer. So, naturally, he has that uber cool camera that I want a simpler version of! :P I don't want to have to close one eye and squint like he's doing, hahahahahhaa.
I like this photo coz everyone is laughing. :D
I told you there's always yee sang. :P
House Visit #3: CNY 2nd Day = The other big gathering!
The second day is the gathering at my mum's side (the first day is my dad's side). In the daytime we were all hanging out at my Grandma's house (where she cooked my favourite dishes, yummmmmehh! I love Hakka food!), and then everyone came to my house. And then for dinner, everyone went to an overpriced Chinese restaurant for some outstandingly mediocre food. :)
I also got tossed to the kids' table! LOL!
There were fourteen adults at the big table, and then the six "kids" got isolated to the "kids' table". :P Hahaha! I thought it was the funniest thing. So it was me, Ashley, Hayley, Auntie Fong's two kids, and Sun. I'm calling my cousin "Sun" because I don't know how to spell his full name. LOL. Horrible right.
Thankfully, though, the night turned out to be pretty fun! :D Ashley and Hayley are 15 and 17, so it was really easy to talk to them. :D Apparently, Robbert Pattinson and Twilight are universal conversation-starters. And Sun was the oldest tonight (a year older than me) so he had to serve us with the tea and stuff. :P LOL.
And the kid at the next table (we don't know him!) spent the whole night watching my cousins play with their Gameboy/Playstation thingy! Adorable much? :P
My only successful outfit this CNY. :D
Old people like to say that youth is shallow, so therefore I equate the success of an outfit by the number of compliments or emulations it provokes. :D So because I wore four different outfits for CNY so far but only this one generated compliments, this one gets immortalised in my vain little blog's vanity parlour! :D
My latest hobby - Chinese New Year photo frames. :D
Tomorrow onwards, I'm visiting family friends and friends. :D Cookie time!!! I haven't had any CNY cookies yet! The horror, haha! Anyway - Happy Chinese New Year, you! ;)
PS: 22 years later, I still have relatives who think my name is SHIRLEY.
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