Our World - Chinese New Year open house in Penang

We attended the Chinese New Year open house at the Han Chiang High School in George Town this morning. Having heard that the top South Korean pop star PSY is coming to town, we arrived for the event as early as 7 a.m. to be sure that we would be able to secure a good vantage point.


It wasn't too crowded when we first arrived but the crowd size certainly rose after 11 a.m.



A few hours before PSY and his entourage rocked the stage, the chinese orchestra celebrate the start of the prosperous Year of The Snake with lovely traditional music.



Several cultural dances of various races and a dragon and phoenix performance were also featured.



There were also local artists singing their hearts out with enthusiasm



Apart from that, politicians were in great spirits and all clad in hues of red, bringing festive joy to everyone


And after waiting with great anticipation, superstar PSY with his entourage finally turned up on stage and were greeted with a rousing welcome from the Penangites and tourists.



Just like everyone else, we were totally enthralled to say the least, and it didn't matter that the sun was scorching on our backs, because the superstar certainly had our full attention with his world famous 'Gangnam style' moves. Sadly the performance ended too soon but everyone left the venue turned on and satisfied.

Our World - Auspicious beginnings for Chinese New Year

This time of year, most shopping malls and homes are brimming with red lanterns and other red decorative items to welcome the Chinese New Year celebrations. With just a few days left before the festive season kicks in, I thought it would be nice to start off the week sharing some festive photos captured at Queensbay shopping mall in Penang.

Our World

Happy Chinese New Year!

May the year of water dragon brings you an abundance of health, wealth and prosperity.




Queensbay Mall Penang

Our World - Year of the Dragon

According to the chinese zodiac, the Year of the Dragon begins on 23rd January 2012 and ends on 9th February, 2013. This is also an auspicious year where a baby boom is expected in the year of dragon in anticipation of good luck.



In contrast to European dragons, which are considered evil, the chinese dragon is a symbol of power, great achievement and enormous wealth.



My son was born in the year of Dragon twelve years ago but it was just a cool coincidence. It was not an intentional pregnancy to join the dragon baby boom. I don't really pay much attention to any astrology predictions. While things like these are fun to read from time to time, they're not always accurate and I don't take them seriously. I like to believe that I'm the one who is in control of my life.

Our World

Wordless Wednesday - CNY colourful display @ Sunway Carnival Mall

Wordless Wednesday

Red Galore

This time of year, most Chinese decorate their homes and businesses with red lanterns and other auspicious items in preparation for the Chinese New Year. With just a few days left before the festive season kicks in, I'm putting up some photos of red decorations to share this moment with you.




Ruby Tuesday

That's My World

Festive Plants for Chinese New Year

With the Chinese New Year (CNY) fast approaching, streets and shops are filled to the brim with auspicious seasonal plants to usher in the Lunar Year of the Golden Rabbit. Most Chinese love to have live blooming plants to welcome the refreshing New Year and new growth.

Some of the popular plants would be pussy willows, cherry blossoms, lime plants, bamboo shoots and money trees.



A combination of plum and peonies blossoms symbolize good luck and good fortune



Lucky bamboos symbolize harmony and prosperity. They create positive energy and good balance to any room.



I'm not sure how true this is but it is believed that twisted bamboos will make a person’s luck changed from bad to a good one.



lime plants symbolize the arrival of good fortune and prosperity. These plants are usually displayed at the front door entrance to a Chinese home or office building.



Pussy willows are thought to symbolize goodwill and motherhood. They are also considered to represent protection for the home. We took these flowers while on one of our walks in Salzburg last year.

That's My World

Ruby Tuesday

RT/WW - Tossing Yee Sang for prosperity

I was invited to a series of luncheons and dinners hosted by friends and biz associates lately. Having 'yee sang', an auspicious salad, has been a long-standing tradition during Chinese New Year (CNY) that it's unlikely to start off any set meals without this delicacy.


In case you're wondering, the words yee sang literally means “raw fish” and signifies abundance, prosperity and longevity. It is usually eaten during the 7th day of CNY to celebrate the birthday of mankind, but the salad dish has become very popular that it is now eaten even before CNY begins. The dish combination includes freshly shredded vegetables, assorted pickles, ground peanuts, toasted sesame seeds and crunchy crisps in striking rainbow colours. The raw salmon slices are added together with a drizzle of oil and sweet plum sauce.


The fun begins as we mix and toss the colourful yee sang together, wishing loudly for good fortune and greater success as we say “loh hei!” and toss the shredded ingredients as high as possible to bring better luck in the year ahead.

There will be another dinner bash with one night leading to the next and last week yet another and not to mention tonight and also at the end of the week. I've been frantically eating lots of these scrumptious delights during this festive season. Seriously, it makes me wonder what my cholesterol rating reads today. Now I'm beginning to wish the CNY would end soon!

I hope everyone had a terrific time during the CNY season and another wonderful week ahead.






First Commenter - Rainfield

Happy Chinese New Year!

This year, by wonderful coincidence, Chinese New Year falls on the same day as Valentine's Day.


As the Year of the Tiger approaches, the streets are in festive mood with stretches of lanterns seen everywhere in every nook and corner of the city. Red is the dominant colour as it symbolise prosperity and good luck during this festive season. It has been a tradition to put up lanterns as they are believed to ward off evil spirits while brightening the atmosphere with an abundance of good fortune.


While doing my last minute shopping, the eye catching huge lanterns literally caught my attention and I just had to grab my camera. There were tons of different shapes, sizes and designs and these days, lanterns were made more attractive and appealing with running lights. As we are still mourning over the recent loss of my beloved father in law, red decorative items are not permitted in our home to avoid any inauspicious implications.

Before I sign off, here's wishing my friends and fellow bloggers abundant blessings of luck, fortune and happiness in the Year of the Tiger and to the die-hard romantics, Happy Valentine's Day. Until my next post, have a great time and enjoy your festive break!

First Commenter - Echo

Happy Chap Goh Meh

Today is Chap Goh Meh or Chinese Valentine's Day. Chap Goh Meh literally means the fifteenth and final day of the Lunar New Year period as celebrated by Chinese worldwide. According to the custom that originated in Penang, it used to be the day when young maidens tossed mandarin oranges into the sea or river, together with a wish, in a hope for a Prince Charming. So for those single ladies, hope the orange you throw into the sea tonight will find its way to a good gentleman............ if you believe so. :)

We will be having a sumptuous feast to mark the end of the Chinese New Year in a short while.

HAPPY CHAP GOH MEH!

The Kek Lok Si Temple, Penang

The Kek lok Si Temple a.k.a. as the Temple of Supreme Bliss is one of Penang's icons. It stands majestically on a hilltop in the heart of Ayer Itam, Penang and this spot is a must visit location for tourists. The entire area was busy enough to keep your eyes rolling around it and capturing detail shots of the scenic views. The climb to the temple was not particularly strenuous, so everyone made it to the top. When I was a kid, I always looked forward to the souvenir shops leading up to the temple which offered good bargains. Those stalls sold an extensive range of almost everything, from Buddha statues to wall paintings, mugs to key chains, T-shirts to jewelleries and much more.

The best moment to visit Kek Lok Si Temple is during the Chinese New Year, where you will see lots of thousands of colourful lanterns lighting up the surroundings at night.

The entire place comes alive with a stunning display of colourful lights, dynamic colours and wondrous beauty

The Ten Thousand Buddhas Pagoda

This is one of the several large hall for assembly and prayer, where deities of various statues are being venerated.

Golden Buddha smiling for peace

The gigantic bronze statue of Goddess of Mercy or fondly named as Kuan Yin is undergoing restoration. It was anticipated that the RM40mil project is scheduled to be completed by the middle of the year. This is truly impressive and I bet it will look even more stunning when the statue is completed.

Chinese New Year breakfast

In Chinese culture, food symbolism plays an important role in Chinese New Year. Being a Hokkien, it's been a long standing tradition to take rice vermicelli noodles for breakfast on the first day of the festivity. The old folks believe that this meal is particularly prominent because it symbolize longevity. My need to continue with food traditions has always been relatively strong. I guess there is a part of me that secretly believes that I'll have an unlucky year ahead if I don't make this dish, but I know, it's not about observing in such practices as much as believing in myself.

This is what we had for breakfast on the first and second day of the ox-picious occasion. And yay, my hubby loves this tasteful traditional dish.

rice vermicelli noodles topped with egg, chicken drumstick, fish maw, fish balls

Reunion dinner

I've been over indulging on food lately, like there is no tomorrow. I guess during Chinese New Year, it is virtually impossible for all of us not to overeat and to avoid weight gain, right? But no matter how much I exercise, that bulging tummy seems determined to stay on me. DUH!

I was extremely busy preparing food for the CNY's eve. As always, I'd usually do all the cooking and my sister in law in the house would help. I've to confess I am pretty lazy when it comes to cooking, especially on a big day like CNY. But then, all relatives would gathered at my MIL's place for a steamboat reunion dinner on Chinese New Year's Eve. Here we are, it's that time of the year again where everyone enjoys a great get together and the children gleefully accepting angpows (the amount of money they get in red packets).

The fun part of having steamboat is when everyone digs in to fish out the ingredients of their choice from the bubbling stock. Somehow, it took us more than half a day to prepare the ingredients and cooking. The ingredients were easily available at the wet markets and supermarkets but the tasks of preparing them seemed to be laborious. The chicken stock entailed a lot of work with all the ingredients simmering in the pot for hours to get that rich and tasteful flavour. Some of the food items to savour include prawns, squids, clams, fillet chicken, fish, vegetables, fish maw, mushrooms, abalones, and some assorted fishballs. Yup, nothing beats having the fragrant aroma of the items sizzling hot from the wok. Emmm, yummy......

I hope everyone had a fabulous time during the CNY season and another great week ahead...

Happy Chinese New Year 2009

With a couple of days to Chinese New Year and it seems like everyone is already in a festive mood. Many have begun leaving for their hometowns for the festive period. It's that time of the year again to rekindle family ties and enjoy quality time together. I'm so looking forward to a great break, seeing outstation relatives and friends, reveling in the merry atmosphere. During this time, there will be an abundance of glorious food and cookies I'll be able to devour. Having said that, this is probably the only long weekend of this term where I can afford to relax and unwind. Aside from this, I believe many people will take the opportunity to go for a perfect getaway with their loved ones too.

So, here's wishing my friends and fellow bloggers abundant blessings of health, fortune and happiness in the Year of the Golden Ox.

Sweet desserts for Chinese New Year

I've always loved this delicacy since I was a kid and my mom made my all time favorite dessert last weekend. This is one of the quintessential Chinese ever popular dessert soups and often served at special events such as weddings and the Chinese new year. As we already know, the Chinese New Year is associated with common traditions and practices when it comes to food.

Not only is this dessert soup enticing it is actually good for general well-being as well. This recipe has been passed down for generations as a nutritious dessert. The old folks believe it is good for the complexion and boost your memory. Apparently, everyone has their own version of making this dessert. Most of the time, white fungus, ginkgo nuts, longans and sea coconuts are preferred in my mom's list of ingredients.

So, here's wishing everyone a sweet year with reasons to smile all year round!