My CNY celebrations in a nutshell

After 4 days of food and gambling, everyone seems to be suffering from the Back-to-Work blues.
I think I've also caught the Club Med bug - quite a number of ppl in the office fell ill last week after Club Med! The celebrations didnt do much to help either!!

Here's what we did for the past few days:

Wed, the Eve -
Went to my Second Uncle's home for the Reunion dinner. Second Aunty cooked as usual and we brought yee sang. Most of my other uncles and their families were also there except Third Uncle and his family who ate in our family home. Pics to follow (they're saved in mom's pink laptop). Food was not as good as it usually is. We can't figure out why. Something was missing. But Rommel thought the pork knuckles in vinegar was good.

Thurs, CNY Day -
The parents woke up early and went for CNY mass in church. They came back to pick me up and we headed back to Rawang again. This time we had brunch in my eldest Aunty's home. Super duper good food!! Pics also to follow.
That evening we went to my mom's eldest sister, Aunty Theresa's home in Ampang for dinner, another CNY tradition. Loads of gambling (I took pics but I think it's best I dont post them!! Haha..) I must comment that my luck is absolutely horrendous this year in terms of gambling. I keep getting horrible cards. Luckily we only played RM1 per round. Still I lost quite a bit of money.

Fri, 2nd Day -
Since Ash Wednesday falls on CNY Eve this year, the Archdiocese decided to move Ash Wednesday to Friday so that the Chinese Catholics could celebrate their Reunion dinners instead of the usual fast and abstinence we practice on Ash Wednesday.

(To the non-Catholics, Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent and is celebrated 40 days before Easter. It is celebrated during Mass with the marking of our foreheads with ashes in the sign of the cross. The ashes are made from palm leaves blessed during the previous year's Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday is celebrated the week before Easter Sunday to mark Jesus' final entry into Jerusalem and is the start of the Holy Week.)

Since we were celebrating Ash Wednesday on Friday, we were supposed to at least abstain from meat. So we pretty much went vegetarian that day. Mass was at 1pm so we had an early brunch of teochew porridge at home. Later I wanted to show Sister Bernadine around Pavilion since she's here from Penang to visit us for CNY. We bought JCo donuts for her to try which she happily indulged in 2 donuts. So much for fasting! Haha..

For dinner, we took my parents and Sr Bernadine to Chutney Mary (since we were supposed to be vegetarian so my dad felt like having Indian food). Sr cant take spicy food so she couldnt take quite a number of the dishes. I dont think my mom really enjoyed it either. I liked the fish tikka starter.

Sat 3rd Day -
Lazy day. Caught up on sleep esp since I caught the Club Med bug.
Went with the parents to Gardens and MV for Mom to do some household shopping. Ate at Yuzu - had Hokkai Nabe again. I think I'm getting bored of that already.
My mom's side of the family came over for dinner and we gambled the night away. I lost quite a lot of money again so I gave up quickly. Spent the evening crocheting my new shawl instead while offering Rommel support. Again, more gambling pics..

Sun 4th Day -
Mass at 8.30am.
Breakfast near home after Mass cos mom needed to eat.
Dimsum brunch with Godbrother Uncle Lee and his family who was in town - we ate at Imbi Palace. There was such a long queue when we arrived but luckily we'd made a booking. Horrendous service, rude waiters and the food was rather disappointing compared to when we first had it!
In the evening it was Aunty Sylvia's open house. She used the same caterer we will be using for our open house next week - Le Oriental. They rarely disappoint.
Later that night, some church friends came over for teochew porridge (thanks to Aunty RubyAnn) and of course, more gambling!