… i think i have never actually devoted a post to Chinese New Year!
i have looked at the archives and have not found one post on this – which is strange considering how much i like the festivities of celebrating Chinese New Year. A celebration which traditionally lasts 15 days, but of course, in these modern fast-paced times, no one stops for that long to celebrate anymore.
When i was growing up, it was a huge thing. My mum started preparing 2 weeks ahead for Reunion Dinner (the eve of Chinese New Year), where all the extended family came to us for dinner. There is this special dish she makes only for Chinese New Year – Ayam Buah Keluak (Black Nut Chicken Curry) because you need to soak the nut for 2 weeks. Then crack a tiny slot in the hard shell, remove the flesh of the fruit, mix half of that with minced meat, stuff the mixture back into the nut and use the other half of the fruit-flesh to make the curry. So much work!
Then there is all the yummy Chinese New Year goodies – pineapple tarts (i LOVE these), Bak Kwa, Love Letters, Kueh Bangkit and so many other ones, along with all the mandarin oranges i could peel and eat as well as roasted peanuts, sunflower seeds and sweets. Also Yu Sheng – Fish Salad which we toss for good luck. Not to mention the kids all got red-packets (ang baos, filled with a small amount of cash).
We would spend 2 whole days visiting family and friends, exchanging greetings and blessings for the coming year. There are some people we only get to see during this festive season so it is indeed a special time.
Now that we have moved to a “western” country which doesn’t celebrate Chinese New Year and we no longer go back to Singapore for the celebrations (logistically not practical now with the school term), i miss them.
The dishes we had for Chinese New Year Dinner.
This year i decided maybe it’s time to highlight some traditions again, now that my boy is bigger and understands more. He really only remembers collecting the Ang Baos and not much beyond that cos he was so small when we did go back to celebrate with family.
So while i didn’t make Reunion Dinner, i did make a 1st Day of Chinese New Year dinner for the 3 of us. Cooking one of my favourite Nonya dishes – Chap Chye, and Cantonese Steam Fish as well as Stir-Fry Ginger Beef. It was a tiny affair but still…
And this year we also gave my boy an actual Ang Bao when normally it would just go to his bank account. He was glad about that cos now he gets to actually spend it, instead of mummy putting it into his bank.
So here i take the opportunity to wish one and all a very Blessed Happy Chinese New Year – it’s the Year of the Horse so may you gallop into peace and good fortune.
My parents are fantastic cooks and they taught me how to cook from as far back as i can remember. i remember standing on a stool, as a little girl, trying my best to fry the perfect sunny-side-up egg, which my dad says is the ultimate test of a good fryer 😉
So i continue the tradition and have introduced the kitchen to my little guy as soon as i could. He started here and sometimes cooked with Daddy too. He has made pizza, baked a mini cake and made beef-patties. And other times which i have not written about.
This time round he used his Stars Wars Cookbook and made for us Tie-Fighter Ties and Tusken Raider Taters.
Here he is in action:
From Left: Preparing the sausages, cutting the dough…From Left: wrapping the dough, before going into the oven…From Left: cutting potatoes, mashing potatoes…Finally! Cooking done! We can eat!
In case the pictures aren’t clear, dinner was sausage rolls, which look like tie fighters and mashed potatoes which represent the desert landscape where the tusken raiders lived 😉
i’m so glad that my little guy actually likes cooking 😀
Yep! It’s that time of the year again when i flood you with images of our trip back to our homeland, the tiny red dot, the island nation of Singapore 😉
This year, of course, we visited with family and friends and had a ball eating all the yummy foods we miss. But we did a whole lot more touristy things than previous years so i’ll be showing lots of places you can visit (whether you are local or foreign to SG).
The first place we visited was the S.E.A. Aquarium on the fun-filled island of Sentosa. The tickets are a little pricey but we thought the Aquarium was well done and worth the money. We were told to be prepared to queue even though we bought tickets online. But we chose a Monday and schools were already back in full swing so there was no crowd when we got there about 11am. However, it did start to get crowded later in the day. Your ticket enables you to enjoy the Maritime Experimential Museum as well which was good, but not very big. Tobias enjoyed it greatly as he loves all things ocean-related. If you wanted to cover the whole place thoroughly, i would advice giving it a whole day. We spent a little under 5 hours there, including lunch.
Tobias getting a henna tattoo of a scorpion at the Maritime Museum.Some of the many sea creatures we saw. The last picture shows Walter and Tobias at the touch pool.Left: The largest tank/window in the world. It was amazing to just sit there and watch. Right: At the celebrity restaurant, The Ocean Restaurant by Cat Cora.
Talking about the ocean, Tobias had great fun at this Sushi place which served your order on race cars (see picture below). We also did a nice long walk from Shenton Way (the financial center) to Marina Square, taking in the river-front sights and the Merlion Park. The place has certainly changed. See this post.
From Left to Right: At the Merlion Park, relaxing at the entrance of the Fullerton by the Bay Hotel, enjoying sushi delivered by race car 😉
Next we headed to the far remote end of the island, Jurong, where the Singapore Discovery Centre is located. As the name suggests, it allows you to discover Singapore, its history and quirks. It was quite interesting. The Military Museum was just next door so we walked around that too. There you can learn what National Service is, how it started and what’s it like now. These places are free for citizens to visit. The highlight for Tobias was getting to shoot a real pistol and a standard-issued army rifle.
Brush up on your Singlish!Shooting the pistol and playing local TV stars.Daddy showing the son what is known as the standard obstacle course (SOC) on a smaller scale. It is what all guys in Singapore go through in their National Service.
Singapore started as a little fishing village and for a long time people lived in villages, called kampongs. Now there is almost none left except a remote kampong on the mainland and on Pulau Ubin (Pulau means island in Malay). We decided Tobias needed to see/experience this kampong before it is gone too. So we spent a day cycling around the tiny island of Ubin. It was tiring but fun.
Tobias was so ready to ride at the start of the day. It took a whole ton of encouragement to get him to finish strong as he was starving by the end, even with small snacks in between.Won’t you like to live in such tranquility? The simple kampong life.Left: Walter trying to pet some of the wild boars. Right: my favourite – the mangroves. i’m fascinated by how they grow and root themselves and the creatures which live around them.
We went back again to the island of Sentosa, this time we went to Adventure Cove Waterpark. It is filled with water-rides of the thrilling sort and the lazing sort. i don’t have many pictures as it is a waterpark and i don’t have a waterproof camera. There weren’t too many people (we went on a weekday and it was school-term time) but still Tobias was put off after having to queue just under 30 minutes for his first thrilling ride which lasted less than a minute. So if you are planning to go, try to go during non-peak times like we did. Or else be prepared to queue much longer. We spent a fair amount of time on the Lazy River and in the Wave Pool. The attraction which Tobias loved and gladly queued again for was the Rainbow Reef where you could snorkel and see the ocean reef-fishes.
Left: Tobias all excited on the cable-car ride to Sentosa. Right: A view of the waterpark as we “flew” over it.Left: Tobias and my brother snorkling. Right: The overhead view of the empty and silent waterpark at the end of the day.
Our final tourist stop was the River Safari, showcasing all creatures which live along the major rivers of the world. This is not yet fully opened, one of the main rivers (the Amazon River) was closed, which was a shame as that was the only river which featured a boat ride. But ticket prices were reduced because of that so it was okay for us. Another main attraction here is the two Giant Pandas, KaiKai and JiaJia. A special enclosure in the middle of the Safari has been built for them and of course there were lots of Panda-themed merchandise and even food items you could get. Once again, Tobias enjoyed this as he loves water-creatures. However, because he has already watched so many documentaries about these creatures, he couldn’t be bothered to read more about them during this trip. So we finished walking around the whole Safari in less than 3 hours. But if you are going and if the Amazon River is open, then do plan for more time there. There are tickets you can buy which enables you to get entry into the Singapore Zoo, the River Safari as well as the Night Safari which are all next to each other. And if you are really into animals/birds, you can also get a ticket which would include the Bird Park (located in Jurong) as well.
Tobias really doesn’t like being made the centre of attention in photos.Some of the river creatures we saw.Top Left: Meekong River showcasing huge catfishes and kaps. Top Right: monkeys are actually quite at home near water. Bottom Left: The Red Panda. Bottom Right: a pair of Cranes.The Giant Pandas; KaiKai and JiaJia. Can you guess which one is KaiKai (male)?i thought the “dragon” boat was so funny. But it is apparently sea-worthy as it has a license number. The Safari is built onto a large river which already served the other attractions there.More furry creatures along the rivers.The Manatees!! Another highlight for me. Of course there were also scary fish such as the piranhas and this ancient fish with its gills on the outside (those white brushes).
Well, that was the touristy highlights of our trip this year. We would highly recommend that all the above be enjoyed in the great companion of family and friends. We loved our time with our family and friends, just enjoying each other and the food, of course 😉
trippingdifferently 