CNY 2008

I had a muted Chinese New Year this year. No decorations and less red packets.

My family of 4 had steamboat for dinner like every Chinese New Year Eve. The food include fish, pork, scallop and even canned abalone. Yummy! and it's much cleaner to eat at home. That night after dinner, we left for grandma's place in Kulai. Kulai is a small town in the state of Johor, Malaysia. In case you are wondering, it's not the grandma that pass away recently.



Traffic was smooth on the causeway because we checked the traffic online. As usual, at the strike of midnight, the sky above my grandma's place exploded into a frenzy. Like Singapore, fireworks had been outlawed in Malaysia but there is always has a way to get hold of some from the blackmarket.

All the households along my stretch of road are making offerings to the gods to usher them in for the new year. This is part of Chinese tradition to pray for a good year ahead. What's a new year without some gambling action? Look at how my sister and relatives indulge in a good old game of mahjong.