Cherry Blossoms for real

Cherry blossoms for real. These ones are from Sunway Pyramid. The management must have flown it  all the way from China for the CNY decor. Haven't seen the real one before so I decided to take a picture of it. The flowers are much smaller in real life! Really pretty

Hokien New Year

Its the 9th day of CNY. Happy Garden area temporary turned into fairy land at the stroke of midnight.

Hokiens celebrating the new year with a loud bang!  Lots and lots of fireworks display.This is the view from our balcony.

No Gas and a sick child

The worse things that can happen during the chinese new year period is when you run out of gas to cook and  your child falls sick. Yes, we have been 'gasless' since the eve of chinese new year and have to resort to using a portable stove . It is the 6th day of CNY and the gas man is still on leave. Sigh...looks like we will have to rely on the mini stove until next week. As for Rachel....caught a really bad flu bug from somebody. The thing about going to the clinic during this time of the year is  having to pay the exorbitant price on consultation fees. I  cannot understand the need for them to hike up the price when the doctor is not even a chinese!

It is a total rip off. (RM50.00 just on consultation fee.....for normal GP). Worse of all, the medication doesn't even help. So, the best way to clear a congested  nose is nasal cleansing using  a NETI POT. It is very effective and works better than antihistamine.

Nasal cleansing an acient Ayurveda  method to help clear sinusus, flu and congestion.

http://www.neti-pot.com/neti-pots-sinucleanse/the-healing-power-of-neti.html

Seven in birthday suit

I stole a shot of my niece Seven in her birthday suit while taking a bath!! I call it the blackmail shot. Will come in handy in future!! LOL

Sorry Seven but this is too cute to pass!

Hey what are you looking at??

Chinese New Year 2010

It is the 4th day of Chinese New Year and I am totally exausted! We've been cooking, eating, drinking & entertaining guests and not to mention visiting relatives all over the place. Lots of snacks and cookies everywhere we went  and of course the very important part of CNY  is the'Ang Pao' packets which were given and received. Well ,it was good catching up with friends and relatives even though it is only a yearly affair there's always so much to talk and laugh about. Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Gong Xi Fa Cai 'Hoong Pau Na Lai' !

Simon with 'Khai Ma' (Godmother) who is 98yrs old and still going strong.

The 'Si' clan.  

Aunty Alethea with 'GiGi'. Poor Rachel got bitten while trying to pet the dog. Bad Gigi!!

Reunion dinner

It is the eve of Chinese New Year and as usual we went to have reunion dinner at my Father in law's house. The idea of chilling out did not materialise, I ended up slaving around the kitchen and whipping up 2 vegetarian dishes - Braised chinese mushroom with abalone & brocolli and fried mix vegetables. Dad and Simon also cooked up a storm. Kerisik prawns, acar, Orange sauce fish, Crabmeat soup and 'Nga ku' pork.  In the end, lots of  good food with 'Lou sang' compliments from Richard & May. (Bro & Sis in law)

"Lou Sang"

An array of delicious food.

'Chef 'Simon at work -kerisik prawns

CNY prep

In just a few days we will be celebrating the new lunar year. Most of the chinese community is busy gearing up for this special celebration. I have done my share of cleaning, scrubbing, dusting, moping , washing and even then, there's still much to do. It never seems to end! I am sure there are a few speck of dust here and there that still needs attention but hey...I'm not going to bother anymore. The house looks pretty decent to me and I think I can live with some fluff! I still haven't decided what to cook for the reunion  dinner. It's suppose to be pot luck & everyone is bringing a dish or two. Maybe this year, I'll just leave the cooking to the men (Aka- Simon and father- in - law) and just chill out !

May the year of the tiger bring us prosperity

peace & harmony

and good health.