'Tung Tung Chiang'

What's with my title ? it's the typical Chinese New Year song, an old one that can't and can really get you sick of hearing it repeatedly literally everywhere during this time of the year . That phrase is also being uttered as in a jargon in any conversation to signifies it's Chinese New Year (CNY). A week or so before the festivity began, greetings of  "Gong Xi Fa Cai" or Happy New Year  are being exchanged by people from all walks of life and races and will go on until "Chap Goh Mei" ie. it's the fifteen day of the CNY which marks the end the festivity and that last day falls on Saturday, 11 of February.

GONG XI FA CAI

A few symbolic must have or must do of have for the house during the Chinese New Year

By my tradition I was brought up in,  coming from the Northern part of the Peninsula, that's where my country is located on the map,  it's very important to have the 'cai' . It's a red banner over the door or entrance to the home during the Chinese New Year.

It has to be red, the color of auspiciousness and 'ong' (luck)

Like this, no this not my main door. I haven't got a good photo of my main door to show, but it look something like that.  Just imagine the door is brown, because that's the color of my main door.

One can also choose to decorate with the Chinese New Year Couplet Blessings like below.

I prefer my 'cai

(photos : google search)

Nian Gao - Sticky cakes made from glutinous rice are eaten during the Chinese New Year because its name "nian gao", when translated  from Mandarin to English as "year cake," it also sounds like the phrase "higher each year" . The idea  it symbolized is brought to meant  "raising oneself higher each year" like a promotion.

The 'nian gao' can be made into savory or sweet snacks; the savory version are usually fried sandwich with sweet potatoes and yam, the other served with some grated coconut after steaming it soft. Either way, both made a delicious snack.

A bowl of  'Kam' , Mandarin Oranges - the pronunciation literally resonate to 'gold'

and their bright orange resembles mounds of gold, ushering in good fortune. Families visiting relatives bring these citrus fruits along with them when visiting friends and family, and it is customary to present a pair while wishing them good fortune, and receive a pair in return. Better still if the fruits have their stems and leaves because leaves represent longevity, but we never get the leaves or even stems as these came in boxes or crates all the way from China

Candy boxes, often called a Tray of Togetherness containing several sweet treats will also be set out to entertain the guests. My grandmother's time, common components of the box included candied dried lotus root and seeds, candied dried winter melon, roasted watermelon seeds, sunflower seeds and dried coconut, each with a symbolic meaning from wishing for increased fertility to stronger family ties, but with the changing times, anything goes especially family favorites.

The eve of Chinese New Year, the entire family members far and near are to returned to the ancestral home if there is one or to the  oldest living immediate family's residence. My case that person is my MIL for the reunion  dinner feast on the eve.  It's quite a norm these days to have the dinner at a restaurant rather than having the entire women  gathering in the kitchen sweating it out for a dinner of 10 or 20 and some 30 to 50 members. Imagined  the amount of gossiping and story telling from the women folks  until dinner time. I remembered during my mother's time, their chatting and giggles and laughter's  in the kitchen can be heard up to the front porch  and it bonds these women together eliminating whatever disputes they might have in the months that has passed. I guessed that's something that is being missed today. The women folk of today's generation are too busy with life to sweat it out in the kitchen.

It's quite the norm too for the married women to have an earlier reunion dinner with their mothers.  I had mine with Mom two nights before the eve.

2nd Day - dinner was a bit chaotic on the 2nd day of the gathering all because it was a steamboat dinner. It's simply a simmering hot pot broth  with a varieties of ingredients of meat and vegetables added into the simmering hot pot which gives the soup a distinctive flavor of it's own. Everyone just fish out whatever they like from the pot.

The 7th day is known as People's (Human) Birthday.

Apparently human began life on this day. A latter craze had people celebrated this day with a plater of the colorful of Yee Sang. No doubt the Yee Sang had been very commercialized. I started work on this day. Since it's an unofficial day of work where we just go to the office to collect "angpow"( red packet) from the bosses and business associates and then treated to a lunch by the boss. Thereafter it's off for the rest of the day until Monday, the official day of work. So dinner is just family with mom and consists of fried noodles for longevity, a pot of curry chicken and a plate of mixed vegetables with oysters and shitaki mushrooms.

The 9th day  belongs to the Jade Emperor, He is the Havenly God and his birthday falls on the 9th day but preparations began on the eve with a lavish feast offerings of five kinds of fruits, five kinds of meat and five kinds of vegetarian food and five kinds of dessert which we called' kueh' . Each dish must contained symbolic good wishes or blessings 

Offering Red Tortoise steamed buns is a must on this day, it's a hands-me-down tradition

My first trial of two tortoise buns.  This is the better looking one as the other tortoise deflated after I colored the tortoise before steaming. Lesson learnt.

It felt like only yesterday when the weeks slowly became chaotic as the days draws nearer to the eve of the festivity.  Rushing back from work and going out shopping for the essentials stuff and the worries if I have missed out the needs.  Like always I have MIL's list to fulfilled besides my home.

With the blink of an eye, the fifteen days came and gone and the New Year is over and done with.

Life should be back to normal until February 2018

On another note, my chatter box Diane flew off on an exchange to land of the Oz

It's been two weeks today she has left, sniff..sniff...heartbreak for mommy as it's like I have lost a companion though it's only a short term but still it's such a long way from home unlike when she goes off to her uni/hostel it's only a 30minutes drive to see her. Well, she has been sending lots of photos and snapchat. A big change of culture and environment but she's adjusting to the weather and exploring quite a bit for now . Studies should begin in a couple of days.

Thank you all for your visits and leaving me your comments in my last post.

I should be picking up the phase of life and getting back to life as it is and coming back to my stitching and crafting and to my blog rounds again.

Wishing all a very good week.