It’s Chinese New Year and it is usually filled with eating. Well, yes, there’s all the family reunions, meeting long lost relatives and friends but it’s always around food. It used to be that most breakfasts, second breakfasts, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea, evening tea, dinner and suppers were all home-cooked food. Today, most people have no time to prepare such meals from scratch and resort to eating out. Even in my family, we’ve started to supplant home cooked dishes with store bought ones. Of course the main meals (the eve, first and second day of the New Year) is still home cooked.

Anyways, along with Chinese New Year, it was also my father-in-law’s birthday. It’s kinda cool to have your birthday around Chinese New Year because everyone will know about it and you will get more presents! Anyways, I digress but we got him a fancy iPad2 which I setup to keep him busy with lots of e-mags, news portals, flip board and more.

For lunch, we went to this restaurant in Sri Kembangan that is famous for it’s Poon Choi. Read the wikipedia link if you want to find out more but it is translated wrong in my opinion. It should read “basin dish”. Inside this boiling pot, we had chicken, oyster, vegetables, pork, prawns, bean curd, fish maw, bean curd skin, abalone, eel, fish balls and more…

Anyways, the food is pretty decent fare but the highlight of course was the Poon Choi which was full of stuff to eat. There were other dishes of course such as fish-wrapped oyster with sea weed balls, suckling pig and stewed goose feet with sea cucumber. I ate everything except the feet — I don’t eat legs… chicken legs, pig legs, cow legs, fish legs, human legs… whatever.

The food is pretty good and it’s a pretty packed on the Saturday we went. I don’t know if the other dishes are worth going for though. They’re famous for their Poon Choi so if you are longing for that dish, the one they serve up is pretty good.

Hee Lai Ton
12, Jalan Muhibah 3,
Taman Muhibah,
Seri Kembangan,
43300 Selangor D.E.
03 8992 5561

Sometimes, work just piles up so much that I don’t have much time to shoot anything personal or for fun. One day, as I drive home from my parents place, I pass a road lined with lanterns. It’s the Lunar New Year (or more correctly, the Spring Festival in China) so festivities are in the air and many places have been liven up with lanterns, lights and rabbits. It’s the year of the Rabbit in case you were wondering.

Interestingly, this road actually leads to a Buddhist temple. I’ve never been inside this one but I like the road with the lanterns. After a Monday full of meetings and thinking, it was time to go out and use some creative juice.

Edit: First 3 shots, EF 85mm 1.8, rest of the shots, EF70-200 2.8IS II

After multiple rounds of Chinese New Year dishes and over-loading on carbs, we decided on a burger night with home-made burgers, salad and coleslaw. Nothing beats having good food and family over to spend some time with each other. They are what I’m always thankful for. As the festivities come to a close, another amazing year with the most amazing person in the world. When I wake up and see her by my side, that’s what makes heart sing and what I’ll always be so blessed — no matter what comes my way!

My nephew can’t wait to light up some fireworks so our home was a pretty good place to do it. We are blessed with a pretty sizable front lawn so… “fire in the hole!” Before the fireworks photos get posted, here comes our delicious dinner first. If you’d like the burger recipe, head over here.

Chinese New Year feasting is often a bit excessive and this year, I think I’ve made some effort to control the over eating… but it’s also a good time to also be thankful that our tables are still overflowing with food. There are a lot of others that don’t have the abundance we have — not just in terms of food and filled tummies but also family and good friends. That counts more than any meal.

Happy Lunar New Year – 新年快樂 – Xin nian kuai le!

It’s going to be a super hectic rabbit year for sure…