"A family that sticks together stays together!"

"Nian Gao" or Chinese New Year's Cake is a type of food prepared from glutinous rice and though it can be eaten all year round, it is traditionally most popular during Chinese New Year. It is considered good luck to eat Nian Gao during this time because Nian Gao can also mean "climbing higher and higher every year", symbolising an increment in income, jobs or growth among their children.

It is easy to purchase ready made Nian Gao, but there are some family who still prefer to make their own, though making it might not be that difficult but it is very time consuming especially when come to the steaming part. Based on my knowledge, there are three methods to prepare & consume this delicacy:

1. Cut it into thin pieces, dip it in beaten egg, pan fry with a little oil (as per picture below)
   
2. Mix flour, egg & water into a batter (not too thick), coat the thin pieces of nian gao, then fry with oil
3. Combine cut nian gao pieces alternately with pieces of yam & sweet potato (with nian gao in the middle), coat it with the batter mixture as 2 above & deep fry it in oil

Unexpectedly, as I flip through the pages of 'food & travel kitchen culture' magazine, I found this new method of preparing & eating it. As it is still the CNY season, let me share the recipe including its tips with all Chinese families who are celebrating this auspicious festival. It comes with a colourful picture as well........

To see the tip on the picture above, click on it to get a larger image

Steamed Nian Gao with freshly grated coconut

1 large Nian Gao
Steamer for steaming
1 large coconut, skinned and freshly grated
1/2 tsp salt
Several pairs of chopsticks

Methods:

1. Place the Nian Gao into a steamer and steam until it turns gooey.
2. In the meantime, mix freshly grated coconut with salt on a large plate. Refrigerate until ready to eat.
3. Remove Nian Gao from steamer.
4. Give each family member one chopstick. Stick it into the Nian Gao and then twirl the chopstick until some of the Nian Gao sticks to the chopstick.
5. Dip the Nian Gao into the plate of grated coconut.

On New Year's Day, gather family members around the steamed Nian Gao. Give each person one side of the chopstick. Stick it into the Nian Gao, twirl the chopstick to pick up some of the sticky dough and coat it with coconut.
"A family that sticks together stays together!"

Celebrating CNY the UNIQUE way...... [Part 2]

Friday, 12th February - as usual it's a bright sunny day in KL. As Karen has left for Redang Island for her job interview, so it's left with me & Aaron. We decided to do some cleaning so Aaron vacuum the floor while I mop and after refreshing our self we then take a slow walk down to the Pandan Indah LRT station to Masjid Jamek & interchange using Monorail to Bukit Bintang. We both ended up having our brunch at McD then continue on with our last minute shopping.........

After finishing off with Bukit Bintang, we then travel on to KL Central as we are meeting up with hubby Lawrence who flew in through MAS. As we arrived in KL Central its packed with people including all the fast food outlets. Roaming around for a while we then decided to take a sit and relax inside KTM Ticketing Office as it is cool & quiet! A while later we proceeded to the arrival hall of KLIA Express and have a nice cool drink at Subway & chocolate shopping at 'Cocoa Tree'. We have a change of plan after meeting Lawrence as it is still early (not the peak hours), so we decided to take LRT back Cheras rather than waiting for Choulyee as per our initial plan. It is so nice to be back home as the weather outside is real hot & we are feeling tired after a day's walk.

Saturday, 13th February is the eve of the Lunar New Year. We wake up early to get ready for our road trip to Melaka. Dad, Mum, Aaron & Choulyee left home about 7.20 am in her Proton. We made a stop at Ayer Keroh for our breakfast at the Overhead Bridge. There are many choices of food and our final choice is A&W...........

Photo taken at the A&W restaurant which is above the highway, a unique restaurant indeed!!

After our meal we proceeded on to Melaka & check-in to our 'apa kaba' Home & Stay which was pre-booked by Alex.

We unpacked our things & we all take our rest till Alex came in from his office in Tangkak, Johor after his half days work.

Given no time to waste, we get on with our journey in Alex's MYVI with our first stop at one of Melaka's popular 'Chicken Rice Ball' restaurant. We continue off with a tour round some areas in Melaka then proceeded to Tangkak, Johor, where Alex showed us his work place. Tangkak, Johor is a district capital of Ledang, in the state of Johor. It lies close to the neighbouring state of Melaka, especially to Jasin town about an hour drive to Melaka city centre.

All along the way this is what we see.......... palm trees plantations!!!!

On our way, we also get to see with our own eyes, Johor's most popular attractions & legendary Gunung Ledang or Mount Ophir. Below are the photos I've captured in our moving car..........

We then stop by at Nanyang Kopitiam in Tangkak Town to have some cold drinks just to refresh our self & quench our thirst in this hot weather and then headed straight back to our Home & Stay. It's indeed a worthy whole day of car ride from one destination to another........

to be continued...........

Celebrating CNY the UNIQUE way...... [Part 1]

Like most Chinese families, my family have been celebrating CNY in the usual normal ways - having a family reunion dinner at home or in restaurants on New Year's Eve; attending the Chinese New Year's Church Mass at 7.30 on the 1st day; visiting the elders after church then follow by other relatives & friends on 2nd day; then comes the usual 'Open House' on 3rd day and..... and........

Though our family have on several occasions in the past celebrated this festival away from home, but this year 2010 'Year of the Tiger' is the most UNIQUE of all. Let me share with you all our family's great Chinese New Year's experience which comes in both pictures & words...........

It all started with myself & Aaron boarding the Air Asia AK5207 flight to KL on 9th February (Tuesday). Upon reaching LCCT we both board Air Asia's Coach to KL Central and was picked up by Alex roughly about 5.30 in the afternoon and we all headed to his home at Cheras.

Being there earlier (3 days before CNY) means a great deal as we have the opportunity to go shopping as well as taking photographs of the beautifully decorated shopping malls in KL - Mid Valley/Megamall, Times Square, Pavilion, BB Plaza & 1 Utama (OU).

As we step out of the Taman Bahagia LRT station, Karen suddenly recall that previously there's an Indian vehicle stall selling delicious Indian Rojak. Sure enough that same stall is still there, so we cross over the other side of the road and have a try on it and...... surprisingly instead of a plate of Indian Rojak & Ice Kacang we reorder another plate of "special" Indian Rojak just to satisfy our cravings as it's really nice!!! Yum..... yum......!

Beautiful CNY Decorations of KL's Shopping Malls

I really love to be in KL before the CNY festival, as I've got the opportunity to see and observe the difference between Kuching & Kuala Lumpur. We've been to several big shopping malls with their beautiful decorations [Berjaya Times Square, Pavilion & Mid Valley/Megamall] and here's to share with all.......

CNY Decorations 2010........

As usual Chinese New Year decorations is a must in every shopping malls, emporiums, supermarkets, even along some streets and not forgetting in the homes of the Chinese. I still recall tHE Spring Shopping Mall put up their fabulous decorations last year.

This morning I went to tHE Spring with Aaron to have our lunch and also manage to capture some CNY decoration photos, and here's to share.......

As we will be away this year, we just have a simple CNY home decoration.........

Before....... and Now.......

Before........
Now........

When time passes people change! Being a small girl of three years old using an 'over-sized' black sunglass but when she grows up....... the sunglass gets smaller:-) See.... the world is changing & everything also changes over time!! "Be Happy & Smile Always!"

"Thoughts for the day"

Would like to share some beautiful & meaningful 'Thoughts for the day' which I've received from my online friend with all wonderful readers out there......

The beautiful 'Sunsets'

The beautiful scenery of 'sunsets' are most admired by many who loves nature! Such a scenery could only be enjoyed in an open space area such as at the beach. If we are having our holiday at some beaches, I believe that we won't be going indoor until we've watched the sunsets and when darkness starts setting in.

My daughter Karen loves taking photos of sunsets, and as long as she's at the beach she won't let any opportunity slip by without spending her time busily clicking her camera. Here's one of her many pieces which I've incorporate a short poem by Ron St Jean, which suits most to her picture for sharing.......

Click on the picture to have a larger image

Decorations for Chinese New Year

RED is the auspicious colour for the Chinese, thus all items of decorations for the Chinese or Lunar New Year are bearing the colour of RED! To name a few - lanterns of all shapes & sizes, banners, fake fire crackers (with or without lights), red lighting bulbs and many more.

Flowers and fruits are also commonly used as decorations in Chinese homes during this festive season and each have its own meanings.

The Peach Blossom or Taohua is a standard decoration for the CNY. The peach, an emblem of longevity, is of paramount importance in Chinese culture and is one of the most popular motifs found in Chinese art. It is the symbol of the venerable God of Longevity.

My home Peach Blossom or Taohua decoration

Mandarin oranges is a must in every homes as they are considered auspicious fruits and are important fruits for the New Year. All Chinese families will put piles of oranges in baskets in their homes as it stands for dai gut lai see "good fortune & good business". The Chinese believe it is important to have at lease one pomelo in the house for decoration, or better still, to have a pair, since good things always comes in pairs. To use a pomelo to decorate one's home during the new year implies a wish that the home will have everything it needs the coming year.

Our home oranges decorations (2008 CNY) & Pomelo decoration (2009 CNY)

Another favourite plant of the Chinese is 'Pussy Willow'. Since the Chinese like numerous blossoms on a branch, the many buds of the willow make it a favourite flower for CNY. The fluffy white blossoms of the pussy willow resemble silk, and they soon give forth young shoots the color of green jade. Chinese enjoy such signs of growth, which represent the coming of prosperity.

Choulyee & Karen with our home decorated 'Pussy Willow' during the 2005 CNY

Our dog, Darkie

We adopted Darkie from the street since she is a puppy and after her mother got run down by some unscrupulous driver. Since then I've been trying to dig into my photo album and my computer hard disk to get hold of her photo when she is younger, but couldn't find any. I just wanted to recall how she looks like when she's a puppy.

However, I was caught by surprise yesterday afternoon when I took out and browse through an old CD photo album........ "Oh! finally I found it!" At least I manage to get hold of two precious photos of our dog Darkie when she is still a puppy. Wanna see how she looks like now and 5 years ago??????

Karen loves to walk the dog, so Darkie only get the chance to be walked when she is back home in Kuching.

When Darkie is a puppy, its fur is short & thin, but now its long & thick, including the tail also. Now her tail looks like a feather duster and once a while we have to trim its furs in order to keep it clean & tidy.