This year CNY is celebrated in Penang. We had bought the tickets 1 year before. FIL came along on this trip.
On CNY eve, Brother-In-Law touched down at Penang too. We visited Uncle Chai's house at Paya Terubong. As usual, we had the steamboat and prayers for Uncle Chai and ancestors. We played cards with my Uncles and Aunties. The children, especially Brayden was excited with the card games.
10 minutes before the clock strike 12 am, the loud bang and crackling sounds had started. Fireworks after fireworks started to lit the dark night sky. Bevlynn was awaken by the sound and she cried. But after awhile, all of us ran outside to get close-up view of the fireworks from the neighbours' houses and also played some at our home. The last fireworks ended around 12:40 am. That's how Penangite starts the celebration of CNY.
Day 1-2 CNY, we have the families coming over to my home. We cooked some traditional CNY meals; mengkuang char, mee suah, seafood, abalone broccoli, butter prawns, fish; and the family secret recipe of "chim chor" - prawn meat fried dumpling.
Mom could not cook because she accidentally cut her hand while preparing. Good thing, the rest of the family stepped in; Uncle Poh, 大姑 and Jaq all helped with the cooking.
At night, Mom wanted to go to Kek Lok Si. Max drove us there. It was really jam and Bev did not have her shoes with her. Bray did not bring along and gave me the "I don't know" how-this-happen-look. Max drove to Sunshine Farlim and bought new shoes for Bev. Before he arrived with the new shoes, we were walking about the base of Kek Lok Si, the old alley with the shops selling clothes. We explored the stairs and it led us to some old wooden houses. It felt like a memory from Salzburg (with the stairs) + Taiwan (of the houses). I was carrying Bev on my back, she is heavy but I am thinking to myself how much longer can I carry her like this. I loved it.
We rested at Heh Cafe for cakes, pasta and drinks. They have a nice view of the Kek Lok Si as the lights slowly turned on as the sun started to set. Their cakes were a-ma-zing~~~ Blueberry cheese cake and chocolate cake were my top favourite.
Day 3 CNY, we gathered at 小姑 home. They cooked and added a few more family dishes; chinese sausage rice and asam prawn.
HuiYing and I visited SL's home. I also dropped by at HY's house uninvited; had a good chat with uncle and aunty. I've always dropped by whenever I was at Dad's office, 1 minutes walk away. Such lovely families and homes.
Every year 3rd day CNY, we have a Georgian reunion dinner. It has been awhile since I came back for this night. We gathered at Flame Restaurant at Air Itam (on the roof of DeView Hotel). It was a nice dinner location overlooking Kek Lok Si - although a little jam going in during CNY. With glass view of the surrounding, the night view of Air Itam was different. I had stayed more than 15 years at Air Itam but I never got this view before; a nice local little town, mostly kampung vibe but lively. Definitely had a good rush of memories from the past when we go around the town for chores, to Dad's office, Sunshine Farlim for dim sum, night market, Kek Lok Si, climbling the hill behind us.
The Flame Restaurant had a nice presentation for dinner. There were dry ice & fire presentation and band singing. After a good catch-up and laugh with the girls, we took some photos together with Kek Lok Si as the background. To end the nice dinner, there was a fireworks from the neighbourhood nearby. It was a good choice of location for CNY and worth the money for the food and night view of well-lit Kek Lok Si (trick is not to park at the hotel but slightly further away so that we saved time from the jam).
