On the 4th Day of Chinese New Year....

It was the fourth day of Chinese New Year today. My youngest aunt who is my mum's youngest sister invited us to have a reunion lunch at her place.

There were altogether 10 adults and 1 child who is my nephew. My sister's family-in-law were invited too. My aunt even furnished up her house with new sofa and smart TV. Usually my nephew refused to stay in with us in the house but this time round, the new TV managed to retain him.

We did a Lao sang which is 捞生 in Chinese. It is actually a newer practice in Malaysian Chinese culture. We can buy the ready packed Lao sang from either supermarkets or local sellers. My sister got ours at RM70 from a local seller.

We went over to my aunt's house to help prepare the food ingredients for her. I then took over the assembling of the Lao sang. I had an idea of shaping it in the shape of a rabbit, because it is the rabbit Year of the lunar calendar this year. Hopefully you can tell where the rabbit was in the tray of colourful ingredients.

We then mixed in the plum sauce when all guests have arrived and we tossed the ingredients with chopsticks while speaking out good wishes for each other. The custom was let it be tossed as high as possible, signifying growth and goodness.

My aunt who is an excellent cook cooked so many dishes today, such as pumpkin leaves, bilin (a type of local fern), salted prawns, fish maw soup, broccoli with abalone, steamed fish with Iban brinjal, while my mum cooked her pork vinegar. It was a very sumptous meal and everyone really enjoyed it.

Not to forget, this year I made effort to buy my mum and sisters some twinning T shirts with a very meaningful quote imprinted on it: Don't worry about things you cannot control.

Family time like this is so precious and must be treasured. I miss my own family in Kuala Lumpur but I am also living the moments with my family here in Kuching. 2 more days till I fly back home to Kuala Lumpur.

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