Chinese New Year 2009!!!

It’s Chinese New Year and today is 'Ren Ri' which means it is the birthday of everyone in the Chinese tradition. I would like to wish everyone out there a great year ahead. Regardless of whether there is recession going on or not, life still goes on. Take good care of your health and the wealth will follow in eventually.

My Front Porch

The Backyard

I have not been celebrating Chinese New Year with my relatives for a while and when I mention a while, it’s like 7 to 8 years since I last celebrate it in Malaysia with my relative's from my mother's side. They were definitely the friendliest and welcoming people and I was looking forward to seeing them. After 3 hour of squeezing in the car, I arrived in Muar, a town situated at the south-western coast of Malaysia. As the car approach the more than familiar car porch, images of house interior starts flooding my mind. I could remember how each room looks like and was wondering how everything have changed. Apparently, things were more or less the same as furniture were shifted and old appliances were changed. No more livestock roams around, the mango tree linking both houses was axed, the well was sealed and one most delighted piece of new was the installation of a heater in the toilet. What however stayed was the mosquito that seems to have multiplied. My relatives have aged and more children were running around. How time have passed…

We arrived on Chinese New Year Eve and visited some temples and came back on time for reunion dinner. Lots of food was prepared for all my uncles, aunties and their families. Needless to say, they were mouth-watering and tasty and were in no way going to lose to any restaurant. If I was to be critical and point out where they lose out, I would have to say it was the plates and bowls they were serve out in. My auntie who single-handedly prepared the food was a fabulous cook and I salute her for the sumptuous meal prepared. After the meal, we set in the living room to chit-chat and await the arrival of the New Year. The usual questions were posed and answers provided were more or less repetitive. That’s the only one problem with returning back occasionally.

This was taken just above my head!!!

This are the red and long kind which they put it on the floor to ignite

An hour before midnight, preparations for the offering to deity and ancestors were prepared and we offered incenses to the ‘Ti Gong’ or ‘Tian Gong’ which meant the deity in the heavens and our ancestors. When the minute hand strikes 12, fireworks were lit and this is something I don’t get to see in Singapore. I was actually anticipating only a small firework from each house hold but what shocked me was the fireworks were those that we see during National Day Parade and they all lasted for 90 minutes at least. Each household lit the fireworks they prepared and it was happening!!! If I did not recall wrongly, the fireworks were used in the past to scare off a beast call ‘Nian’ in the past and as it evolves, the fireworks were now used as a form of inviting the New Year and good luck.

The god of fortune distributing lucky number

He prepares for the ceremory where everyone shouts 'Huat Ar~'

We visited an auntie house that stayed nearby and was in time for their own set of fireworks. They bought gigantic fireworks which lit up the entire sky above us. It’s the first time I have seen such beautiful fireworks at such close range. Policemen were roaming and on the lookout for the safety of the people and as well as prevent potent fireworks from firing but seriously they couldn’t do much on this day when every family was doing the same. They were nice enough to not dampen the festive spirits and fortune god arrived just in time to distribute lucky numbers for all. It seems that my auntie had just shifted and hired him for a good sign.

The first temple we visited

The second temple - the interior of the temple is called 'Bian You Dong Tian'

The rubber plantation just outside the second temple

See the papaya on the tree?

On Chinese New Year Day, We woke up late since we slept late the previous day and visited some more temples to pray. We went to 2 temples and while on our way out from the second temple saw a papaya plantation with great juicy and ripe papaya on the trees. It seems the owner of the plantations was busy celebrating the New Year and had neglected the fruits. We hate to see the fruit go to waste and help ourselves to a couple of ripe papayas which was very juicy and sweet. We set off to take a stroll at the Muar Bridge after that and it was a windy day for a walk. I was told by my uncle that the area looks the same 10 years ago and will look the same 10 years later. He used the phrase, ‘Wu Shi Nian Bu Bian’ which sounds kind of corny at the point. We returned back to my Ah Ma house for lunch before slacking.

The character 'Fei'

I watched my relative played mah-jong and apparently its different playing method from Singapore style. It’s interesting to see the way they play and since the rules are different, playing style needs to be adjusted. I tried the game and won the first game before losing the next two games. It was fun and addictive.

Main differences were as follows:

1. They played with Fei or Joker card with act as anything you want it to fit in.
2. One set of flower and one set of animals was removed with the addition of the Fei and now each player stack 18 tiles.
3. Any kind of win is possible as long as its either ‘Pong’ or ‘Chow’ and one chip is given by each player and the player who hit it gives 2. Self pick means each player gives 2 chips. ‘Pong Pong’ gets 2 chips from each player and 4 from the player who dealt the tile.
4. Each ‘Kong’ earns you a chip from each player and ‘An Kong’ awards you with two from each player.
5. No folds are calculated and one round is over when one player is out of chip.
6. Players however cannot win if they were to drain a player out of chip yet not emerging as the player with the most or equal chips as the second player.
7. Max wins such as ‘Thirteen Wonders’, Pong of all 4 winds, Pong of all 3 dragons, One suite (Tong zi, Wan zi or Shou zi), ‘Si Ann Gang’ or ‘Kong of all your tiles’, Heaven Combination or Earth Combination allows you to get max payout from each player.
8. Winner gets the winning from each player depending on how big the base they were playing minus the number of chips left.

Chinese New Year Day 2 was the day we set off back for Singapore. It was kind of sad to leave the house but nothing stays forever. We bid farewell to our relatives before setting off to Melaka for a show trip. We caught ‘Chi Bi 2’ on the screens and my first visit into a cinema in Malaysia. They do not have any commercials and the show starts on time. Chi Bi 2 talks about how Zhu Ge Kong Ming use his intelligence to collect the 100,000 arrows his alliance need to use in the battle against Cao Cao, how his alliance Sun Quan tricked Cao Cao into killing off two of his navy general and the whole story of how both troops fight it out to victory. Overall, the show was well graphical and with the story being a history, it was basically a decent movie worth watching.

Memorial Pengisytiharan Kemerdekaan

Kota A Famosa

One of the cannon that used to guard the fallen fort

The church on top of St Paul’s Hill

One of the many tombstones of the great Dutch

Everyone has gathered in the centre to make wishes at the wishing well

It's now a money making tourist attraction on the way up St Paul’s Hill

After the show, we took a stroll up and walked past Memorial Pengisytiharan Kemerdekaan and Kota A Famosa before going up St Paul’s Hill. Kota A Famosa was an old Portuguese fortress and perhaps the oldest left in Asia. St Paul’s is located on the hill up Kota A Famosa and in it now lies the historical remnants and tombstones of the past noble Dutch. It is recommend to walk up around 4pm to 5pm without the scorching sun and hopefully some light breeze.

The boats used for fishing parked neatly at the port

We set off for dinner at a fishing village where the sea food are fresh and made on the spot. It’s pretty cheap and affordable there if your not fussy on not sitting in some air condition place to eat with fancy service by their staff. Food is cooked in their most kampong style which is worth a try if you have the craving for some traditional seafood cooking.

That marks the end of my 3 day trip in Malaysia. It was memorable and definitely something more interesting than the usual visiting in Singapore. I look forward to the visiting next year.