2009 Chinese New Year
January 29th, 2009 -- Posted in festive | No Comments »It’s been so long since I’ve updated the blog. There’s just nothing more interesting to tell except the anticipation of the baby… until now.
Yes, it’s time of the year once more. Chinese New Year… The first and most important ethnical holidays for my family and myself. It’s one of the few occasions of the year where we’d get to share happiness with everyone we know, including relatives and friends.
The night before New Year, like Christmas Eve for the west, is usually a time for a feast with the family. The ‘reunion dinner’ used to involve many relatives from Dad’s side until it was decided the greater family, having grown to the third generation, is too large to be done together. So we now hold our own reunion dinner within the immediate family.
Reunion dinner, traditionally prepared at home for family members who return from their work and lives away from home, usually include a hearty meal of ‘steam boat’, or more commonly known as ‘hot pot’ in some countries. I don’t remember the significance behind it but I think it’s the most practical way to serve a large family all at the same time.
After dinner, we did what we traditionally do… wait for midnight to pay the first new year respect to parents. Becky wasn’t feeling too well. She seemed to be recovering from a bad case of flu but it got worse. Good thing Jasper came by to pick her up so she could have a good rest before the big day tomorrow.
So ‘sharing happiness’ we did. I found out the next morning, when we reunited with relatives at the Tanglin house, that any of our relatives weren’t really informed of the baby’s coming. Some were even pleasantly surprised… “When did that happen?”
Not surprisingly, there are more kids this year than the last. The newcomers are Yongliang’s first daughter and Yongyi’s second. Sunsun and I kinda got ‘initiated’ as new members of the Young Parents Group side of the family. Young, indeed, huh… haha
It was great catching up with the greater family. Too bad Dad isn’t here this year. He decided to spend it in China with Dayan and 3rd Uncle. It was weird as it was the first time spending the new year without Dad. It was a fantastic time, nevertheless.
After the Tanglin house visit, we proceeded to visit the other greater family from Mom’s side. This year is a little different. Instead of visiting Tua-Gu, Mom’s eldest brother’s, house, we’re visiting Ji-Gu, second eldest uncle’s, place.
Last but not least, as an annual tradition, we visit Tua Kim’s house next. Though Tua Kim isn’t quite related to us by blood, she’s one of the most important elder to us. Not only was Tua Kim the eldest foster sister that Mom used to look up to, she actually spent more than a decade staying at our house to help bring up Annie in the absence of Mom after her passing. At her age, it was quite a task and I must admit we couldn’t have been better without her. Thanks, Tua Kim!
So that concluded the first day of Chinese New Year. Can’t wait for the next year when AiThim can join in the fun.
