CNY @ HH

So it might come as a shock, or a surprise (depending on how you see it) that, when comparing the pictures below, we appear to have very distinct celebrations for Chinese New Year this year. 

That's right. 

We did have two very different celebrations during the Chinese New Year season this year. 

But that's how it is, and shall I just say that these two plain, almost sad-looking Filet O Fish burgers from McDonalds were not all that we had for our celebratory meal this year. 

No, no, there were hash browns.

Four of them.

And we had two coffees, both of which we chose to have the thick thick kind.

You know, it wasn't a planned thing that we would have McDonalds for the second day of Chinese New Year, but then we didn't have much of a choice, what with fast food, Malay food and Indian food being the only options available. 

It might've been better (I suppose) if we'd thrown the burgers into the rice cooker like for other dishes we normally do. 

But neither one of us wanted to take out the rice cooker from the cupboard.

So we didn't. 

That didn't mean we didn't have a nice, heartwarming meal featuring our favorite foods for this Chinese New Year.

Just that we had it slightly earlier. 

Like the bowl of noodles which we prepared using the rice cooker and which had cuttlefish balls, meat balls, hot dogs, seafood wantons, big juicy tomatoes and a mountain of veggies. 

Like the nice (and newly discovered) Hainanese chicken rice pau and fan choy which The Parents bought from the supermarket and which we steamed inside the rice cooker. 

And the jar of cookies which we bought from one of the shops downstairs because we were too lazy to go far. 

It's become a norm that we don't buy big jars of pineapple tarts, bags of cashews to toast in the oven or even tins of love letters anymore. 

But that doesn't mean we don't keep traditions or that we don't stick to them. 

We just modulate. 

Like how this year we had the addition of bling-wrapped chocolate and apples and pears, but we brought out the red candy tray, the red tissues, the red ang pows and the little golden streamers. 

The one thing that's been around for the longest time is the red candy tray. 

It's a decor we've always had. 

No doubt we don't have snacks and tidbits inside the tray as much as we used to, but there was a time when we had melon seeds in the middle of the tray with preserved fruits of variety arranged all around. 

I always asked for preserved mango and sugared winter melon. 

Perhaps it's now a little out of our league how we want to celebrate Chinese New Year- life changes- but hey, who knows. 

Maybe next year I'll have the tray filled with cookies of all sorts and pineapple tarts and sugee (which I really like). 

Maybe I'll stick to preserved mango and sugared winter melon and preserved lotus roots with the addition of kiwi and papaya. 

Or I may leave it empty, but bring out new ang pows. 

Everything Christmas 2022

Christmas 2022 was, in all honesty, admittedly one of the quietest Christmases I'd had in a long time.

It wasn't that I didn't intend to celebrate it.

I just felt slightly less enthusiasm for it. 

Don't ask me why.

It's a pity- I find- because there was a time in my life when, geared up by the Toffee Nut Lattes and the Peppermint Mochas of Starbucks, I'd be all excited for the festive season as soon as November arrived.

But it hasn't been like this for a couple of years now.

Still, I'm someone who never likes to miss a festive occasion, no matter how big or small the celebration may be. 

So it was that I began the Christmas season with a couple of shopping mall style Christmas trees.

Like this one here at Citilink Mall, Ngee Ann City and Wilkie near Sophia. 

After that there was one little cosy-looking tabletop Christmas tree that The Parent and I bought from a department store several years ago and have kept it beautifully maintained since.

There was, of course, a meal with my regular favorites- steamed noodles, steamed siew mais, zichar and ice cream.  

(I don't know when it is that I'll have it back again)

But as of this season it was lovely to have cups of coffee, cups of warm vanilla ice cream, and fried rice topped with loads of lettuce, seafood balls, and sausage. 

Following this lovely meal were more visits to more Christmas trees. 

It's an annual pilgrimage of mine to look at the trees in the hotels of the Downtown Bay Area, and I wanted to continue seeing them still this year, so off it was to Ritz Carlton Millennia, and the gigantic Christmas tree that they've moved from inside the lobby to the entrance just up the driveway this year.

It wasn't just the Bay Area that I went to.

There were a couple of visits to see the trees over at Orchard Road too. 

Like this one here at 313 Somerset, this one here at Marriott Tang Plaza, this one here at Hotel Jen Orchard Gateway and this one here at Hilton Orchard too.

Perhaps the most significant thing about Christmas of this year wasn't merely for what it was, or what these lovely, cozy, glamorous, glittery Christmas trees are, but these two that I had for breakfast the day after.

Because for the longest time in my life, I have loved mince pies especially during this festive season, and in this Christmas of 2022, I finally got some. 

First Dim Sum 2023

You know, this is one meal at Swee Choon Tim Sum that I will be remembering for a very long time.

Not merely because it was our very first dim sum meal of the 2023 year, but also because I don't think we'd ordered a spread as large as this ever before. 

Really, I'm not joking.

Most of the time it's five or six dishes when we're here.

Today it was this. 

And it wasn't even all.

Maybe we were feeling particularly hungry this evening or something. 

Because aside from our usual favorites of mee sua kueh, char siew chee cheong fun and bean curd skin, we ordered two baskets of xiao long bao, one serving of siew mais, deep fried prawn puffs, fried tofu with pork floss, char siew baos, and Portuguese egg tarts as well.

I don't know how we finished it all.

Actually I don't think we did- if I'm nor wrong, we dabaoed some of the food back for breakfast next day.

Dim sum at Jalan Besar is always a charm for me.

There're many items on the menu that I like, and more often than not, it takes a bit of effort to try not to order them all. 

One of the things we always try to order is the mee sua kueh. 

I'm not sure if other places have it- they probably do- but I find this a signature dish here at Swee Choon, and I love it, what with its soft, chewy, mee sua centers bordered by crunchy, crispy edges. 

The other dish we have come to love is the xiao long baos.

It's interesting; we didn't use to order it before, but then we discovered the joy of having a wee bit of soup early in the meal, and we've ordered it every since.

Anyone who's ever eaten xiao long baos will know the instant gratification one gets upon taking the first bite.

Doesn't matter how you eat it, whether you bite into the firm, chewy skin and slurp the soup out, or whether you pop the whole dumpling into your mouth and let the soup burst out from its skin.

The brave ones choose the latter.

I prefer the former.

It lets me savor the flavors of the soup, the texture of the skin and the rich, meaty taste of the pork that slips out from the dumpling.

I had a great time eating the chee cheong fun, as well as the  char siew baos, the tofu with pork floss, and the deep fried prawn puffs. 

Different people have different tastes when it comes to chee cheong funs, I realize. 

Some people take a fancy to the silky, smooth, paper-thin type. 

Others, however, prefer the thicker, chewier type 

Swee Choon's chee cheong fun sits somewhere in the center. Their rice rolls aren't as translucent as some of the other thinner cheong funs, but neither are they the super thick and chewy kind that other dim sum places have.

I like their texture.

It's suitable enough for me.

In the same way too I like their tofu with pork floss. 

To some diners it's a very simple dish, nothing worth to shout about, not even worth ordering, but I find it light tasting with a contrast of textures and flavors. 

At first bite you get the crisp of the very, very thin batter (I think it's batter) on your tongue, but then because it's a small cube, almost immediately you get the soft of the tofu as well. 

That isn't all.

There's still the stringy bit of pork floss on top of the tofu which taste wraps itself round your tongue so that you have the flavors of salty, and faintly sweet. 

Generally I'm not a strong tofu eater, but I'm happy with this one. :)

When it came to the char siew baos I decided to try eating them with etiquette aka chopsticks, but I gave up halfway and resorted to using my hands instead. 

Same thing with the prawn puffs, which, by the way, are very well fried and have a single prawn inside, but you won't have much greasy, oily taste at all.

A couple of Swee Choon's fried offerings do leave you with a hint of the oil over your lips and tongue, like their yam puff, or their bean curd skin rolls, but it doesn't linger and disappears soon enough anyway. 

I'm glad for the siew mais, the bean curd skin rolls and the Portuguese egg tarts which we had this evening. 

I got to dabao one of each home, plus a char siew bao and a prawn puff which we couldn't finish.

Will we order less next time?

Maybe, maybe not.

If we do, well, we'll keep some for breakfast the next day. 

They taste good still after the microwave.