A simple Chinese New Year day celebration

Relatively speaking, Chinese New Year celebration in San Diego is a pretty quiet affair. No fireworks, no firecrackers, no lion dance troupe and no Chinese New Year special movies. In fact, it is not even a public holiday. And like other Chinese, Amy dutifully reports to work. So it's not difficult to see that eventually the Chinese tradition will be forgotten by the people living here.

Well, it is a joyous occasion, so let's see how we spent the auspicious day.


Let's have some nian kou for breakfast. I think it is made of lotus paste glutinous rice flour and sugar. We bought it from our local Chinese supermarket, Ranch 99. You cut it into smaller pieces and dip in egg before frying. Remove from the pan when it is soft.

We play our Chinese New Year MTV DVD with those firecracker sound and lion dance drum beat to make the occasion more realistic. That's as close as you can get. Hmmm, not sure I remember to play it this time.

And so, Zoey gets her angpow. The only one to date this year. Maybe gonna be the only one this year.



Then we go off to meet Amy for lunch. I made some fried mee hoon; at least something special for the occasion just like how we do it back home.



As you can see, Zoey is dressed to kill. No, she is just going to sing out loud.



You hardly find multi-storey shopping complex here unlike in Malaysia. There is more walking and driving to do but the upside of it is that you get the outdoor sun and fresh air. There are lots of open space for you to run around. In Zoey's case, she can fly around.



One nice thing about here is that you get a lot of pretty flowers. Now, as spring begins (Chinese New Year is a celebration of the spring festival), flowers will bloom everywhere.



Ok, lunch time over already.

So to wrap up the day, I made some man tou for dinner.



Well, I guess as long as you get to spend quality time with your loved ones, everyday is a day to celebrate.

Having said that, I believe it is important for us to celebrate the Chinese New Year as a way to remember our roots. Even so in a place or country where it is mostly uneventful. I may be a little old-fashioned here but I think it would be a great pity for us Chinese (be it mainland or overseas) if we lose touch with our culture and values.

This is Chinaman speaking, over and 0ut.