Chinese New Year brings a host of SMS beeping into the phone. Some of the more interesting ones :

“Dog dog Chiang”
“Dog dog Chiang”
“Dog dog Chiang dog Chiang dog Chiang”
May this year of the WOW WOW bring u GOOD HEALTH, HAPPINESS & PROSPERITY

woof woof, woof woof!
The dog year is here.
receive it with open mind, generous smile and kind heart,
you will be rewarded with “riches” beyong your imagination.
Xin Nien Kuai Le, my friend. 🙂

3 pm Looking for Lunch.

Wena : *sip* Wahliaw! Your kacangma ah! Phew!
Granny : What what? Sweet or not?
Wena : Yes, sweet.
Granny : Can taste samsu (rice wine) or not?
Wena : Ya.
Granny : Then? Why you shout?
Wena : Strong lah. Cannot walk afterwards.
Granny : Eh, I got put water lah. Not like last time, only put samsu.
Wena : Last time, I cannot wake up one.

11 pm Noisy sounds outside the house.

Uncle Cyril : Wah! Garbageman also come at night today.
Granny : Eh! Stop them! Gotta put out lah. They don’t come on Sunday but on Monday.

*Frantic rush of Wena and Granny pulling rubbish bin outside.

Wena : Wah! Working tonight also ah?
Garbage collector : Have to! Too much rubbish tomorrow how?
Wena : Ah ok. Thank you ah!

Gosh, before you know it, Chinese New Year is right at your doorstop. It’s been a busy month for Wena, hence the lack of regular updates. (Plus the fact that I have that new toy to keep me company.)

As for the Lowepro bag, I finally settled on the Lowepro Compu Rower AW after many emails discussion with Mr. S and Ian’s comments (Thanks Ian). Will be getting it some time next month from Cathay Singapore. As my Uncle Rubin would say, “This is starting to get very serious.”

Other than that, the run up to Chinese New Year has been pretty quiet on the shop. As my Granny grapevine pipes, “People no money to spend this year. Petrol expensive so no money for new year lar. Even no new car on the road.” However, there are the usual mountain of biscuits to finish as Granny retorts, “Aiya! Cannot just give one! Have to fill up the tray!”. Also, the crate of beer that is going to take more than 1 year to finish as we don’t get many visitors – I can’t tell Granny that I tell my friends not to come because she gets stressed out too much, even when she’s not serving them.

I put up a Frappr page for Chinese New Year Greetings and also just to find out how many Chinese New Year practices (or all it superstitions and beliefs) are out there. I bet some are going to be pretty funny. Anyway, do drop a pin there. So, this can be a really dissapointing experiment or a funny one.

Gong Xi Fa Chai everyone! May 2006 bring you Prosperity, Health, Wealth and Happiness!

… well, for my family at least.

It looks like the kiddies are coming up with plans to get hold of a Sony PSP. I’ve heard of plans from not having a birthday party to not having an annual end-of-year holiday trip.

And then I saw this. Nice promotion but sadly, the credit card exclusive… aduh. Still though, it’s a bit more expensive than the shop prices because of that Image Converter software which is really not needed unless you’re willing to get a 4 GB Memory Stick. So, Mr. T, which one would you want to get : black or white?

BTW, anyone seen a UMD movie around in Malaysia or Singapore yet?

On another note, Little Miss AB, have you tried your hand at making music on the DS yet?

Well, I’m late. Really really late. But then again, it’s still not too late to have a sneak peak of Christmas on a jungle isle.

I think this tree must be nearly 5-8 years old now and it’s weathered each Christmas pretty well. Sina’ always does a great job with the decorations. There are more to be seen in later shots.

This is definitely one thing we always have for Christmas : punch! Ok, so it’s a mild non-alcoholic version but it is immensely popular with the kiddos, both big and small. It’s :

1 part 7up
2 part Ice-Cream Soda
about 100-150 ml of concentrated Mandarin Orange cordial from Sunquick Brand

Mix them all together and add some ice-cubes to keep it cool. Also, for decorations, add slices of oranges. Yum yum

Ok, this was preparation for later on as a sauce. It went extremely well with the BBQ pork and the roasted pork ribs. We cut some chillis and blended it in a blender with some white vinegar.

Now this is one of the highlights of the show : the nubak layak. I probably got the spelling wrong but I’m pretty sure someone would suggest the proper Kelabit spelling. Can’t have a Kelabit do without some nubak layak around. It’s made from Bario rice but cook until it’s extremely soft and sticky. It’s wrapped in huge leaves and we kept it in a styrofoam box so that it remained very warm. Yummy. And it’s one per person. NO SHARING.

Phew! Christmas presents – always brings a sweet gleam into a child’s eyes. Ok, mine too. One thing I do like about presents is the giving. It’s always nice to see that people are extremely happy with their gift.

Cheerio. More pics over the next few days.

Well, when I bought something from Amazon.com and shipped it to my sister’s address in the USA, the Goldbox started showing me tons and tons of kitty litter to buy.

Eeep!