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Yet another new year! Happy Lunar New Year of the Golden Pig!

We're back in HK after a simply delightful CNY break in Malaysia. It was an amazing holiday (albeit a tad exhausting), and when we got back home to our apartment yesterday evening, CN could feel Monday blues looming over him; I thought it was more a case of post-holiday blues. Didn't have time to feel bluesy today though - so much work to be done!

Anyway, the highlights of our hectic hectic trip (hopefully it won't turn into a long roundup).

We left HK on Friday the 16th on the return leg of the ticket we bought to fly here in July after the wedding. Good thing we booked the date early: flights were so full around that time that we couldn't change it to an earlier date. It was soooo full that the airline could not seat us together! I think it's because nowadays you can choose your seats when you book your ticket, so arriving early at the check-in counter didn't help one bit.

The minute we got back to Kuala Lumpur and arrived home, we dumped all our luggage in our room (what lovely curtains!) and drove down to Jalan TAR for the much-missed chilli pan mee! Three bowls between the two of us was sufficient to guarantee a trembly tummy for the next three days! During the week leading up to our return, we had made a mental list of all the things we wanted to eat during our trip back, and bearing in mind it was CNY, we had to be strategic about our gastronomical outings or else we would be back in HK empty-handed (and empty-stomached). That evening CN's folks took us out for an Italian meal. Wise decision, in view of all the Chinese fare we were sure to partake over the next week.

On Saturday, CN's mom cooked lunch: a Chinese affair of steamed fish, leek, abalone and sea cucumber, steamed chicken, herbal soup and a whole plethora of other nutritious fare. I really enjoyed the lunch - it was the first non-Cantonese, Chinese home-cooked meal I've had in ages. Being the eve of CNY, it was customary for the family to depart for Bahau after lunch: a small, small town in Negeri Sembilan close to the Johor border, where CN's dad's relatives congregate for a huge family reunion dinner. This was the beginning of my 'adventure' - this being the first CNY since we got married, there was lots to observe (and probably, be observed :p). Traffic was a bit slow on the highway and trunk roads as the usual exodus took its course, but we got there in time for a very early dinner. Large tables laden with food (the pork crackling was divine) greeted us when we stepped into the kitchen-cum-dining area! CN's dad advised us not to overeat...

Oh, and as some of CN's dad's folks couldn't make it to our wedding last year, there was an impromptu tsam-cha conducted for the benefit of the missing family members! We also distributed our very first ang-pows (known as lai see in HK) - and this is already sounding like one of those typical festive-season-themed comprehension passages you get in secondary school.

We drove back to KL that very night, as we had to prepare for another long trip the next day, the first day of the Lunar New Year, this time to Penang where CN's mom is from. Apart from packing for the second trip, we spent some time cleaning a huge pile of ginkgo nuts in preparation for (what I learned was) the annual tong-sui breakfast in the morning of the new year. Just before we turned in that evening, we were reminded not to use any scissors or knives or cut anything the next day... :p

The first day of the new year dawned bright and early and very quietly. I guess you can't really set off a string of firecrackers at the stroke of midnight and hope to get away with it in KL these days. So for the first time in my life, I was able to sleep right through to the new year! In the past, I'd have my head under my pillow...

After a breakfast of longan and gingko nut tong sui (the results of our hard labour from the night before), we finished packing and idled around until it was lunchtime. We loaded our stuff into the car and went to a Chinese restaurant in SS2 for lunch. It must have been the only Chinese restaurant to open for business on the first day of CNY and it was packed! We had a light meal including a lou sang - which we won't get when we get back to HK as it's a purely Southeast-Asian thing.

Getting to Penang was easy: the roads were fairly clear as most travellers would have already completed their long-distance journeys. There was a jam on the Penang bridge which was odd; then we realised it was caused by vehicles slowing down to have a look at two cars parked on the road shoulder which were being summoned by traffic police. Welcome back to Malaysia! After a four hour journey, we arrived at CN's granny's home where all the other aunts and uncles were already waiting for us to arrive so that dinner could commence. It was a cosy gathering and conversations were conducted in Mandarin, Cantonese, Teochew and English! Ju-hoo-char and lo-bak were part of the menu (it is Penang after all) and there was a slightly out of place moist chocolate cake which, regrettably, we had no room for at the end of the meal. Nearby, we spotted an illegal makeshift fireworks stall. Moon rockets exploded in the vicinity while in the distance, the official Penang CNY celebrations got underway with pyrotechnics of a much larger, professional and lavish scale.

The next day (Chor Yee), we were up early and the extended family met for breakfast at Mcallister Road: I had half a plate of char kway teow, CN had Hokkien Mee (ie prawn noodles, not the black hokkien noodles that we are fond of, further south), and our wonton mee never arrived. Later, we ordered more char kway teow from a stall near CN's granny's home (drat, it wasn't as nice as the first one) before it was time to leave for Bayan Lepas Airport: we had a flight to Johor Bahru to catch!

JB was quiet and peaceful, and we got some much deserved rest during this time! Mom surprised us with steamboat for dinner on the first day and two bottles of red wine. We nearly finished all the steamboat (especially the home-made chilli sauce) and of course, all the wine. I was glad to see that I wasn't the reddest at the table...

The next day we visited my grandmother in Kulai, a small small town about 30km north of JB. My aunts and one cousin were there too, and we had dinner at a restaurant that would seriously give all HK restaurants a run for their money. Not so much for the taste of the food (although it was not bad) but for the speed in which the dishes were served. In about forty minutes, all eight courses were served, and near the end, dessert was even served before one of the other savoury dishes. It was typical of all Chinese restaurants: diners bellowing at the top of their voices and fencing with their cutlery to result in that sort of metallic din played out in THX! We went back to my grandma's place after dinner and had a good chit-chat (generally in English with smatterings of Teochew and Mandarin on my part) with my grandma and my aunts before we called it a night and went home.

Our flight back to KL was early the next morning (Wednesday!) and we got back to KL somewhat rested and looking forward to our evening meetup with TA, Lynn, ET and the cheese platter (CS, ML and Lisa) at the Rib Shop. We had a nice time catching up and indulging in a bit of carnivorous activity (one of the rib dishes ordered was called the Barbarian) and wine and that was how we ended the fourth day of CNY. The Barbarian may have been the cause of some next-day tummy upsets :(

Here's when time really started zipping by. On Thursday we woke up early to seek out a kopitiam breakfast at a coffeeshop in Taman Tun, but it was still closed. So we had breakfast in PJ state instead (that coffeeshop with the wonton mee and porridge): and the quality of food simply didn't come up to scratch. Maybe the regular cooks are still on CNY holidays? After breakfast we went our separate ways to meet friends. CN met up with a couple of really good friends of his from his schooldays while I had a four hour brunch-lunch-tea thing with LA at 1-U. Didn't think I could eat any dinner after that but we did go to Pizza Uno for some stodgy carbonara, pizza and stuffed mushrooms. The scales are heaving already. Then it was late night drinks at the Vintry (back in the area again!) with Mr & Mrs Fatboybakes, Mr & Mrs Pits and Mr Nokia, which we enjoyed very much. Needless to say, a very good night's sleep resulted thereafter.

We couldn't believe it was already Friday when we woke up the next morning. And soon we would have to go back to HK! Determined to eat some proper hawker food, we sought out the Tmn Tun coffeeshop again and it was open - it was already the 6th day of CNY and apparently a good day to reopen for business. The chee cheong fun stall was still closed, so we had to content ourselves with pork noodles, curry mee and chicken rice. I went for an aromatherapy facial after that while CN met up with an ex-boss. Then it was another full day ahead of us: meeting up with Annie for lunch, Mr Alfa for tea and drinks at the Vintry (again!) later that evening with more of CN's friends. This time we stayed till closing - it's the latest I've been out for ages and ages and I really yearned for the comfort of my bed! But nevermind, we're on holiday, right?

Saturday arrived with a heavy heart (T-1 days to departure). Ran some errands and did some banking and found out that the bank had put my savings-cum-current account on dormant just because I hadn't performed any transactions with it for six months. Got such thing one ah? Couldn't even deposit money. They had to call up my branch and ask them to fax my signature across to reactivate it. At least they open 7 days a week. But how can? Next time we're back, I'm closing all these accounts.

The last social activity of our CNY Malaysia calendar was in the afternoon: I went to Jess's CNY open house after a huge lunch with TA (CN had a high school gathering to attend) and we braved the rain to Cheras. When we arrived we were greeted with a huge crowd of present and former CCFers (outside, we bumped into Fatboy who was leaving) and their offspring: babies and toddlers who'd been babies when we left for HK.. okay lah, it wasn't that long ago! Most of the crowd dispersed by about five pm - we stayed till about six and said our goodbyes. Got a lift home from 'Datin Leong', crawling through a mini Cheras jam when we missed the turn leading to the Federal Highway. Then it was back home, dinner with CN's parents and sister, and then I started packing up for HK.

It's been a fantastic trip back - we arrived back in HK on Sunday afternoon missing the 'fresh' air in KL, the company of old friends and the hustly-bustly of CNY. It's truly been one of the best holidays we've had, packed with activity, good food and fellowship. We're grateful to God for a simply amazing and refreshing past week. As expected, it was a real hectic ride (particularly the interstate travelling) but definitely an exhilirating one!