We're a week past Easter, but I'm still missing the Lunar New Year.
I know, weird, right?
Not that it was very loud and festive, or filled with tons of activities. It was rather.. gentle and easy-peasy, if one might put it, and I'm okay with the pace. I'm happy with what I have, I don't mind if I have more, but I don't mind if I have less either. :)
There were the celebrations at home. A very casual, very intimate one where The Parents and I did the fun thing of splitting a bag of orange jellies into separate portions and we all ate out of one big dish that had wantons and mushrooms and cuttlefish balls and rice.
I know, weird, right?
Not that it was very loud and festive, or filled with tons of activities. It was rather.. gentle and easy-peasy, if one might put it, and I'm okay with the pace. I'm happy with what I have, I don't mind if I have more, but I don't mind if I have less either. :)
There were the celebrations at home. A very casual, very intimate one where The Parents and I did the fun thing of splitting a bag of orange jellies into separate portions and we all ate out of one big dish that had wantons and mushrooms and cuttlefish balls and rice.
There was my annual visit to the Chinatown bazaar. :)
I do this every year. I aim for it. I bring my camera along. I plan the day for it. And year on year I tend to look out for the same few stalls. It's just a habit of mine, and I'm pretty delighted when I get to find them at the same spot as they were the year before. Like the stewed mushrooms stall. Or the cookies stall. Same goes for the melon seeds stall, the nuts stall, the jellies stall and even the sugared fruits stall.
There are little differences though. Like this year there were two stalls offering mushrooms, one from Japan and the other from Korea. The cookies stall had their jars of cookies all laid out and stacked out in rows and this year there were new pineapple jam butter balls. There were more varieties of melon seeds and nuts this year. I got to sample a milk flavored groundnut- there was the hint of milk to the taste of the peanut, so it was pretty good. :)
The samples are delightful over here at the bazaar. This is the one time where stallowners don't care so much if you sample one or two of their peanuts and reach for their wasabi peanuts. Neither do they care if you sample a bit of sugared fruit. Winter melon, water chestnut and mango mark my favorites from this stall. Yes, they're really sweet... and they're totally coated with fine powdered sugar.. but it is the Lunar New Year.
It is very difficult to leave the place empty handed. The spirit of celebration is such that you'll want to get something, however big, however small, and the great part is that there's something for everyone, no matter what your budget is. :) This year we left with a jar of the pineapple jam butter ball cookies and a substantial amount of jellies, most of which the stall guy happily chucked into the plastic bag whilst shouting out a bunch of Lunar New Year blessings.
The actual day itself was spent on a more quiet note, lounging about, watching television, chomping on snacks, bak kwa, pork floss and pineapple tarts- we had three kinds this year- and basically easing the brain. :D
But we did have a most lovely New Year Eve Lunch at a favorite cafe where we ate specially prepared festive cuisine, lots of steamed fish pieces in some sort of citrus sauce, a bit of salmon and prawns and chicken and soup and then there was cake for dessert, and we made sure we tossed a plate of yusheng- with lots of anyhow mulmble blessings. :)
There are little differences though. Like this year there were two stalls offering mushrooms, one from Japan and the other from Korea. The cookies stall had their jars of cookies all laid out and stacked out in rows and this year there were new pineapple jam butter balls. There were more varieties of melon seeds and nuts this year. I got to sample a milk flavored groundnut- there was the hint of milk to the taste of the peanut, so it was pretty good. :)
The samples are delightful over here at the bazaar. This is the one time where stallowners don't care so much if you sample one or two of their peanuts and reach for their wasabi peanuts. Neither do they care if you sample a bit of sugared fruit. Winter melon, water chestnut and mango mark my favorites from this stall. Yes, they're really sweet... and they're totally coated with fine powdered sugar.. but it is the Lunar New Year.
It is very difficult to leave the place empty handed. The spirit of celebration is such that you'll want to get something, however big, however small, and the great part is that there's something for everyone, no matter what your budget is. :) This year we left with a jar of the pineapple jam butter ball cookies and a substantial amount of jellies, most of which the stall guy happily chucked into the plastic bag whilst shouting out a bunch of Lunar New Year blessings.
The actual day itself was spent on a more quiet note, lounging about, watching television, chomping on snacks, bak kwa, pork floss and pineapple tarts- we had three kinds this year- and basically easing the brain. :D
But we did have a most lovely New Year Eve Lunch at a favorite cafe where we ate specially prepared festive cuisine, lots of steamed fish pieces in some sort of citrus sauce, a bit of salmon and prawns and chicken and soup and then there was cake for dessert, and we made sure we tossed a plate of yusheng- with lots of anyhow mulmble blessings. :)
