NONYA LIFE: CNY

Showing posts with label CNY. Show all posts

Thursday, February 19, 2026

Time for Reunion Again!

How quickly the months go by and it was time again for our Reunion Dinner! My aunt, now 88, was the host and we were a table of 12 at the CRC Restaurant last Sunday evening. It was good to catch up with my cousins, most of whom I only meet once a year as they don't live in Penang! Everybody still looks the same despite another year added on, I guess our family has good genes, even my aunt looks more like in her 70's than in the 80's! Here are some pictures from the dinner - my aunt asked me to photograph every dish for her future reference!

Yee Sang - the first dish for the new year

My aunt (left) leading the Loh Hei ("Prosperity Toss")

Roast Suckling Pig

A combination of mushrooms, sea cucumber, vegetables

Steamed prawns with chilly sauce

Steamed Grouper

Seafood noodles

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the dessert which was sesame balls served with warm sweet lotus seed soup. It was a good dinner though I must say I always feel rather guilty when the roast suckling pig is served. It seems rather cruel to enjoy a baby pig which has given up its life for us, so I usually eat a small piece (and only one) to please my host.

I have still not managed to get a copy of the group photo we took before dinner. Hope my aunt remembers to send it to me.

Yay! Here's the group photo!

May I take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous Year of the Horse.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Wednesday, January 28, 2026

CNY Cookies are Back!

L to R: Cashew nut cookies, Potato crisps, Pineapple Tarts,
Butter cookies

Shelves and shelves of goodies (courtesy of Oloiya)

Chinese New Year cookies are here again! CNY cookies are essentials for the new year as they are symbolic treats of prosperity, unity and good fortune. The popular choices are pineapple tarts, peanut cookies, almond cookies, kuih bangkit and of course kuih kapit ("love letters"), all of which are mouth watering and hard to resist!

As we welcome the festive season, enjoy the celebrations but keep an eye on those sweet temptations! I don't mean to be a wet blanket but you can enjoy without the sugar crash - opt for high protein snacks or oven baked vege and fresh fruits.

Wishing everyone a joyful, balanced and healthy Chinese New Year!

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

A Sweet Ending

Bowls of sweet Bubur Cha Cha to end off the Chinese New Year.

Happy Chap Goh Meh and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous Year Ahead!

Thursday, January 30, 2025

Loh Hei - Tossing Up for Good Fortune

Organizing a reunion dinner can be very taxing and this year, my aunt who hosted the dinner, said she was stressed out making calls to the restaurant, checking their menu and reserving a private room. Thanks to her efforts, we had an early reunion dinner on 26th January (to accommodate her children and their busy schedules). My aunt had chosen a fairly new restaurant in town to try them out and we were not disappointed. The food was good and delectably presented.

We began with Loh Hei (tossing of yee sang) to the shouts of auspicious words which was fun and set the right mood for a reunion dinner. A relative took a video of us in action but unfortunately my aunt has not sent it to me yet.

Some pictures below:

We call it "Yee Sang". The restaurant's version is black truffle salad with whelk,
jelly fish, veg and mixed fruit

Roasted piglet

Braised South African 5-head Abalone with
mushroom and broccoli

Other dishes (not shown) included double boiled superior shark's fin soup with fish maw and scallop, steamed leopard coral fish with soya sauce and wolfberries and braised noodles with lobster and scallions. The dessert, chilled avocado with coconut and hashima ("snow jelly" ) was heavenly and to round up, we had new year "nian gao" with coconut shavings on top.

Our grateful thanks to our aunty for arranging this dinner and may she be blessed with added strength and stamina for next year's dinner! 😆😆

Friday, January 24, 2025

The Rush is On!

With Chinese New Year around the corner, the rush to get ready for the big event is on! I see dozens of people at the market and of course finding a place to park is a big headache. This makes me think back of the time when Mum was alive. It was amazing how much energy she had going to the market everyday before the advent of the new year and buying everything she needed from a to z, (mainly for the altar at home). Here are some pictures of her hard work in decorating the items for worship. But she enjoyed every minute of it because to her, the Gods deserve the best! I miss you, Mum!

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

CNY Cookies Are Back - 2

I finally found time to visit one of my favourite shops selling CNY cookies and as you can see, they have rows and rows of cookies for you to choose from! In addition, they also have special CNY gift packs with a variety of goodies inside. I settled for Potato chips and Almond Green Bean Cookies (made with mung bean flour) in the end. The recipe for the latter originates from Macau and each little round cookie melts in your mouth, that's why they are so special . Apart from cookies, the shop also sell nuts, local Chinese biscuits and snacks as well as "bak kwa" (dried meat, usually pork). More pictures below:

Special gift packs

Macau Almond Green Bean Cookies

Dried "bak kwa"

It's still early, that's why the shelves are still full, but if I were to come back say in a week's time, I don't think I'll find any cookies left!

Wishing you in advance a prosperous Year of the Snake filled with good fortune, health, and happiness!

(Pictures courtesy of "Oloiya")

Sunday, February 5, 2023

A Sweet and Exciting Ending

All good things must come to an end and so ended 15 days of the Chinese New Year on 5 Feb. But this year things were more exciting in that Chap Goh Meh coincided with Thaipusam! It was a blend of two age old cultures and the many colourful pictures that people posted online left me in awe. The crowd of devotees that turned up to witness the chariot procession was if anything unbelievable and even though there was some rain, it didn't dampen their spirits. This will be a much talked about topic for some time to come but for many of us in Penang, especially the older generation, we thought it best not to venture out but to eat our pengat (or bubur cha cha which it is also called today) in the safety of our homes for a sweet end to our Chinese New Year!

Good luck, good health and prosperity to all!

Friday, February 3, 2023

Let's "Loh Hei"!

It's Chinese New Year and it would be meaningless without Yee Sang! Our host this year, my kind and generous 6th aunt, squeezed the 14 of us (all family of course) into a room in a popular Chinese restaurant the evening before CNY eve and we were probably the noisiest as we plunged our chopsticks into the Yee Sang and tossed it with shouts of "Huat ah!", "Ong Ong", "Long Life", "Good Health" and other auspicious words! The Chinese believe that the higher you toss, the more luck you get! This "Prosperity Toss" is a super fun activity especially among the younger generation and I think there were at least three generations round the table that evening, the oldest being my aunt who will be 85 this year! So hopefully we shall all be blessed with good luck and abundance throughout the new year! Pictures are courtesy of my aunt - we look forward to "tossing" with her for many more years to come!

Gong Xi Fa Cai (恭喜发财)

Shen Ti Jian Kang (身体健康)

Wan Shi Ru Yi (万事如意)

Lou Hei

Huat Ahhhh!

Saturday, January 14, 2023

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Wishing all a happy, healthy and prosperous Year of the Rabbit!

GONG XI FA CAI

Monday, January 9, 2023

CNY Cookies are Back!

Yay, CNY cookies are back! I was at my favourite veg outlet this morning and saw to my delight that they have already stocked up on their CNY cookies! Gosh, so many varieties to choose from! My favourites are "Kuih Kapit" or "Love Letters", pineapple tarts or rolls, almond cookies and arrowhead chips (Chiku). As most people know, "Love Letters" got their name because lovers in the old days used to hide notes in-between these delicate crepes for their heartthrobs - it may be very romantic in those days but now with modern technology, I guess the young ones will probably think this is a crazy idea! As for pineapple rolls, they symbolise good fortune and good luck because pineapples in Hokkien are called "ong lai" which literally translates as "fortune come"! So get some for yourself!

Pineapple rolls

I will have to sit down now and make a list of the cookies I want. See you later, folks!

Monday, January 23, 2017

Pre CNY Lunch

Otak Otak

As a prelude to Chinese New Year, we recently had Nonya food at a popular Nonya restaurant nearby. We had (clockwise) Hong Bak, Sambal Goreng, Joo Hoo Char, Santan Potato Leaves and Otak Otak accompanied by Sambal and salad leaves. Most of us agreed that the food tasted better at the restaurant's old location in town before it moved to its present location but still it wasn't a bad meal in a traditional Baba Nonya setting. Reminded me of the old days when our amah used to cook all these dishes!

Thursday, February 20, 2014

An Evening of Lights

Every Chinese New Year, we Penangites have something to look forward to i.e. the Kek Lok Si Temple in Air Itam which is lighted up for a month following Chinese New Year. This amazing "Temple of Supreme Bliss" has been a major tourist attraction for the past many years and even locals, like ourselves, make it a point to visit the temple at this time of the year.

Like the other visitors, I took a number of pictures of the temple but somehow they never do justice to the spectacular sea of lights I see. Maybe it's time to change my camera and at the same time brush up my photography skills! We were determined to see all we could but climbing the steps from one section to another was a most tiring exercise! Our aching legs were a testimonial of our "old age"!

After we had finshed walking, we rested on a higher level just above the car park. It was most pleasant as there was a gentle hill breeze blowing. As we gazed around us, one must indeed give credit to the electricians who did the intricate job of installing the lights. It's no easy task, considering the height of the pagoda and the temple roofs. The job certainly calls for sturdy legs and a good head for heights!

We had been told that there are a few beautifully lit horses (this being the Year of the Horse) somewhere in the temple but could not locate them. Our tired legs would not permit us to go any further, so we sent our maid to explore and she came back with the photos we wanted! (Being young certainly is an advantage!) For those who want to know more about the temple, there are plenty of websites to browse through. Have fun!

View of the temple from the car park

View of another part of the temple

Lanterns galore (donated by well wishers)

Beautiful enclosure for Lord Buddha

The two lit horses in the prayer hall

Close up of one of the horses

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