CNY 09 and such (Part 1)

HELLO HELLO!!! How’re you doing peeps? Had a good CNY? Any luck on the gambling table? I’m gonna summarize the activities that have been keeping me busy all along or rather during the past 3 weeks. Warning : long post ahead.

I got back from abu Dhabi just in time for the CNY reunion dinner with my family. Oh wait, had some time before that to go do some really last minute shopping with SY @ 1 Utama. Mom went through all the hassle in preparing a scrumptious steamboat dinner. Our dinner table was stacked with so many plates that some were literally on the verge of falling off the table. As expected, the food was awesome and it has been a while since the entire Lim family had last sit down together for a decent meal. Younger bro, Shaun, attached with BAT is now based in Penang. Leftovers were abundant but no matter, we were able to store them for future re-consumption. *wink*

On the first day of CNY, the Lims went to church and just like every other year, we were presented with oranges and red packets after the mass. Breakfast with other relatives was held at Di Kayu Restaurant @ Chow Yang. I satisfied my craving for some good ol’ nasi lemak there. Yea bebeh!!!

After that, I paid SY’s family a visit and presented them with some CNY goodies. It was a nice li’ll hamper wrapped up very pretty with Chinese delicacies and good fortune bearing ornaments. SY got the same thing for my family too. That way, all of us could savour the offerings. Yum Yum!!!

Brought SY to my grandma’s place soon after and we caught up with the rest of my extended relatives. Four generations were present in total, so you could imagine all the hoo haas going on. So much noise from so many people but I reckon there’s no better way to welcome the Lunar New Year. :) We chatted, laughed, played and ate till our hearts’ content.

Day 2 of the CNY saw my family heading down south to Malacca ... my kampung of sorts. The only difference was that this time around, SY came along since there was a special request by my relatives to bring my fiancée for them to meet for the first time. Traffic was a breeze and we had a simple lunch in a truly vintage kampung wooden house with its zinc attap roof and all. So many new ‘additions’ to the family this time around with cousins’ babies etc. By late afternoon, we were on our way back to KL only to be greeted with a massive traffic jam. Totally forgot that today marks the end of the CNY holiday and almost every other person were making their way home too. We finally reached home after 3 hours to join SY’s family for another ‘big’ dinner. By now you can imagine how much we were eating. Food were leaking out of our ears I tell ya.

The next day, we took it slow ... woke up late and had a relaxing day till dinner time where I brought SY to meet up with some of my uni mates whom she had not previously met. The gathering was held at Yong Woon’s place @ Old Klang Road and her family was just so welcoming. It was like a mini casino there with a number of tables set up for games such as Black Jack, ‘chor tai dee’ and a few others. I was also fun to watch YW with her fiancé, Rob acting as Black Jack dealers since Rob was learning to play the game the ‘Malaysian style’. Catching up with my buddies after so long was fun.

We spent some quality time alone on Day 4, hitting the gym, caught Bride Wars @ GSC Pavilion, browsed through bridal magazines and planning our up coming wedding. We’re both getting more excited about it as the date drew closer. Of course the planning process was stressful especially when you try to please everyone but I think we’re getting the hang of it and are managing rather well. Dinner was at Imperial Palace with the gang and the food was oh-so-delish. Had our first ‘lou sang’ of the year there too. The restaurant even had a ‘Choi San Yeh’ or God of Fortune greeting every table and handing out oranges as tokens of luck and prosperity. With our bellies filled to the brim, we adjourned to my friend’s place @ Glenmarie Court for some Blackjack action. SY and I ended up being RM11 richer. *woot*.

Day 5 started out lazily too or at least till evening time where I did a Body Combat class at Jaya 33. It felt so good to be on stage teaching again after being away from the action for so long. For dinner, SY and I took my family to Unique Seafood, SS3 and we had their famous salted egg crab there. Other dishes ordered were black peppered venison, stir fried asparagus with spicy shrimp paste, yam basket, another portion of ‘yee sang’, some veg and noodles. The night did not end there as we went over to grandma’s for a round of Black Jack.

Day 6 was a ‘big day’ for SY and I. At precisely 12:30pm, both our families were seated down at Imperial Palace (again) for lunch ... well, not just any ordinary lunch. Our families were discussing our wedding ... from the ‘kwo tai lai’ to the dowry etc. It was nerve wrecking for both SY and I but you know what, it was pointless since our families got along well and the conclusion by the end of the day was that as long as SY and I were happy, then that was all that mattered. Haha. Apparently the lunch set we ordered was pretty good but I guess my nervousness caused my tastebuds’ failure in registering anything. :p

Day 7 saw us heading to SY’s place for a home cooked meal by YJ and his gf, CT. We had ‘yee sang’ again ... completely made from scratch by CT and I must say that it was the best I ever had. SY and her family concurred too. :) Apart from the must-have ‘yee sang’, on the menu were various other dishes what sent my pallet into a tantalizing frenzy. So much good food of late contributed dangerously to our expanding waistline ... luckily we had gym to balance out the situation. Why the need to watch our diet ... well, you’ll soon find out. :p

I guess it’s enough this time around and I shall carry on from here in the next entry. To be continued ...