Happy Water Dragon Year 2012!
Can’t believe that it’s new year already! My gooodness! I’ve barely made proper and enough preparation for this CNY. In fact I decorated the whole house on Saturday and went marketing for reunion dinner on Saturday night! What a last minute person I am! Haha!
Speaking about reunion dinner, this year I cooked lesser dishes due to the fact that we’ve booked a pot of poon choy from Dragon-i. It’s not like I’m lazy or what – I’ve actually googled all 8 dishes’ recipes and totally looking forward to cook them! But then we’ve bought the voucher and the voucher valid up to 22nd January, by 2pm! Oh well, will be saving those recipes for next year reunion dinner then!
Yesterday we went up to granny’s place to pay respect to our ancestors. Right after the prayer we had to rush to Queensbays to get the poon choy. By the time we reached home, it was already 3pm and immediately we started the last minute house cleaning. Hung all the last minute decos, bathed Miilo and blew dry him, and mopped the floor, then off to the kitchen to work on the prawns and cutting the vegetables.
The yearly tradition started as early at 9 in the morning this year!
Purposely cut all the needed ingredients so that I wouldn’t have to start cooking that early. Little did I know when I took nap at 2.30pm due to terrible headache, mum woke up me an hour later asking me to start cooking!
Of course, I snoozed the ‘alarm’ until 4pm, lol!
I thought I would have enough time to kaotim everything myself, but I’m so wrong again. Again, help was needed in the kitchen. Mum, sis and even dad crowded the kitchen, helped stirring, frying and washing the plates.
By 7.30pm, dinner was served.
Baked scallop and bacon with honey mustard sauce; Garlic beer prawn; Thai style steamed fish.
Yearly tradition. 8 significant entrée. Eve of CNY. Aftermath : Bloated tummy.
This year I was abit late in listing down the recipes and going around looking for the ingredients. Didn’t know what stuff I got so busy with until almost neglected the most important Chinese culture. Lol.
I almost told my mum to just buy the ingredients for steamboat because I got ‘lazy’ just by thinking bout it! The agony of coming out with 8 entrée!
But then the tradition must go one – since it started by me. *sendiri cari pasal la* So, when the day came, I started chopping up the ingredients at 3.30pm as mum requested to eat earlier at 7pm.
Mum would drop by the kitchen, asking if I need her help. But thinking that I have plenty of time left, I told her that I’ll be fine on my own.
Little did I know, time really FLEW!
By 5.30pm, only 2 courses were done and I had to yell for my sister to help me in frying few things as I was busy preparing for the major dishes!

Bacon wrapped scallop