In chinese, alkaline dumpling is also known as kan sui jong (cantonese) or kijang (hockkien). They are not savory like bak chang. Usually alkaline dumpling is dipped into caramelized palm sugar or kaya. They are easier to make too. This is how you do it:

Ingredients:

500gm Glutinous rice
3 teaspoons Alkaline water (air abu/kan sui)
Small Bamboo leaves
Another 2 teaspoons of Alkaline water

Method:

If possible, buy the glutinous rice from sundry shop and not the one like I used above as those branded packaging is not so pure. They added some rice into it which will later resulted a harder dumplings. Wash throughly glutinous rice. Soak them in clean water with 3 teaspoons of alkaline water added. I soak mine for 6 hours (9am to 2pm). The colour will change yellowish instantly.

As usual, wash the bamboo leaves and the string. Discard water from glutinous rice and you can start to wrap the dumplings. Place 2 bamboo leaves back to back. Shape them into a funnel using one third of the length and work your way up.

Cut away the hard stem on the glutinous rice. You know making dumplings takes a great deal of skills, patience and free time but of course practise makes perfect too. Filled up a big pot of water enough to cover the dumplings. Bring water to boiled. Add another 3 teaspoons of alkaline water into the boiling water before adding your dumplings.

Cook for about 3 hours. Add more water if the liquid drop below the dumplings level. Once done, hang to dry.

For the caramelized palm sugar syrup:

Ingredients:

450gm Palm sugar
200ml or 1 packet of Coconut milk
2 leaves of pandan (screwpine)

Method:

Put a little water in sauce pot. Cut coarsely palm sugar so that they will dissolve faster. Cook under low fire all the time.

Once sugar dissolve, add in coconut milk. Cook till sugar thicken. That took me a good 1 hour!

I can eat 3 dumplings in a go. They are so lip-smacking good especially the palm sugar.

You can try cooking kaya too if you have the time. Seriously I don’t that is why i resorted to palm sugar instead.

The actual day for Duan Wu Jie falls on 7th June 2008. Early Happy Duan Wu Jie to all since I won’t be around that day.

Do you know there is a wholesale florist in Petaling Street that sell lots of beautiful flowers? Don’t know about you, I just can’t part with flowers. I will go crazy when I see one. When my 5th Sis, Julie, told me that she is going to Petaling Street to buy flowers for Cheng Beng, I just jump at the opportunity.

You may think that Petaling Street is so far but if you intend to make bulk purchases, it is worth the money. This is only one of them. They have tons of colours and many other types of flowers you will be so spoilt of choices all you want to do is buy every each one of them.

Okok, to make the long story short, I only bought one bouquet for my late MIL. I think my Sister bought 6 or 7 bouquets.

Warning: If you have the ability to see ghost, please do not proceed. Or you can proceed at your own risk. Don’t tell me I never warn you.

Change image to black & white just incase some think it is eerie.

Saturday afternoon I beg hubby to fetch me to his late Mom’s cemetery. Ever since she pass away, I have not step foot on her cemetery before. Not only I have to beg, I have to scared him with this, “You not scare your Mom angry with me issit? Later at night she come and find me. How?” Haha.

I still like coloured photograhs.

Being a Christian, we just pray without joss stick and place flower. I hope MIL won’t mind. I know she won’t. She is the nicest MIL in the whole wide world (or at least better than some of your MIL *sticking out tongue*) It is very funny how I get this question, “You take photo at a cemetery. Not scare ghost ah?” Errr…. broad day light wor. I thought ghost come out only at night?

This little girl…

She has not seen her late Grandma before. She was only 26 days old when her Grandma passed away. And today, she told her Grandma, “Today is my birthday, Grandma”.

Sorry, tears just rolled down my eye. I need to stop here.

This year, instead of painting the Easter egg, I opt for the easy way out. Dye them! No more messy-messy kids and save me tones of yelling.

To dye an egg, all you need is a hard boiled egg, a small bowl, colourings and white vinegar.

Use a spoon if you don’t want to have ‘Easter’ fingers. Dry them on a kitchen towel or you can place them on the egg carton to dry.

There you go.

This is the same method to dye red eggs during a Baby Full moon.

Spot this during my recent trip in Genting.

Anyway, Happy Chap Goh Meh or rather, the 15th day of Chinese New Year that is also the last day of Chinese community celebrate CNY.  Now I don’t have to go out with spare ang pows in my bag any more.  You know how embarrassing when someone gave your children ang pows and you have to go, “oops… I did not bring along any packets  with me.”  And also, time to take down all the ang-ang decorations around the house.  We’ll see them again on 26th January 2009.

Anyone up for baby Ox?  Not me, definitely!

I was surprised the sky in Sitiawan town during CNY is pretty quiet compared to Pontian. I’ve only witness one firework and heard a few firecrackers. The next 10 minutes, all went silent again. Suddenly my Mom exclaimed, “Let’s put firecrackers too!”

My Dad objecting, “You all not scare policeman ah?”

Mom: “Aiyah, fine RM100 only. Give them lor.”

Upon hearing that, in a lightning, I dashed out to the porch with my camera.

Time for some co-ordination work with hubby. Once he light the firecrackers, I command him to dash across the road and not dash to the porch just incase we bump into each other. He nodded.

On your mark…. (a bit kang cheong leh cos I’ve never shot a burning firecrackers before)

…get set?….

…..

GO!!!

The burning crackers put me to a fright. I was taken aback by the spark and quickly backup. Aiks, standing beside me is my hubby. Now my poor son was all alone on the car. Haha! Luckly the little boy was quite brave. He did not yell for protection. In fact, he enjoy the sparks and occasionally cover his own ear with his hand.

That’s all about it. The sky went silent again.

The next morning, we had Bird nest for breakfast. Woot! Since my childhood days, we get the luxury of eating bird nest only on the first day of CNY. After Church service, we went over to my maternal Grandma’s house in Pangkor Island. aitelyu, the crowd at the Lumut Jetty was horrendous! We have to queued for about 1.5 hours before boarding the ferry. And pardon me, standing for 1.5 hours on my 2 inches heels is really killing my foot!

Model – Youngest Sis, Shoes – Belongs to me!

Remember last year I took the pictures of spiral joss stick? This year no temple visiting. But I’ve spotted some giant joss stick around housing area.

Like I say, I am attending a wedding function of a cousin of mine. This is a good opportunity too to catch up with some relative that I’ve not seen for the past 11 years! (asif!). Well, I do see them some other days but seeing each other on New Year day is something different. It’s the mood of festive season that bring us closer. Many was surprise that I am back on the Eve. Hmm… maybe I should do this more often. *evil laugh*

After 11 years (how many times do I have to rant this. *lol*) of not seeing each other, the once little cousin brother of mine suddenly became a grown up man.

And of course some have new boyfriend since last year and I didn’t know about it till now. And, and, some getting married this coming June and I’m the last person to know. And, and, 2.5 years old know how to play game on the mobile phone. So kawai. See! Chinese New Year is the best time to catch up with each other. Tiok boh?

Knowing that on the 2nd day of CNY, I will be back to my in-law’s house again, I really feel homesick. I haven’t got the time to play a round of blackjack with my siblings 🙁 , and digged into the sweet and sticky nien kau with them. And this year, our kids didn’t have chance to fight with their cousins like how they usually do. There are always an ending to a happiness. While I crawl into our heavily stuff car, my siblings was busy chatting and laughing in the hall. I felt so sad and jealous. Sad cos no one send us off. Jealous cos I am not around to be in their conversation.

(Wah, si beh cheong hei. How to end the story leh?)

(Ok. Fast forward now.)

Not that I won’t be happy in my in-law’s place. Just that, after so many years not celebrating at home, I do feel homesick so my emotion kinda carried away. Back at my in-law’s place, all I do is eat and sleep! ….sheesh…. I have great SIL that cook awesome Hokkien food.

On the 2nd day, we had a round of Blackjack. And guess what? In my 11 years of gambling, never in my life I won so much cash. RM80!!! Fatt, Fatt, Fatt! What a auspicious number! Throughout the game, my cards is either double (ban lat) or picture (Picture = Ang Kong/Ah Pek = King/Queen!). And it was double and picture again! Jonk-er decided to chicken out cos other relative started to put some bets on my cards too. So it was like RM10 per bet and most of the time, my cards are all double winning. Well, gamble a bit on CNY day won’t die right? I do not have to pretend to be a saint. Christian also need to have fun right? At least I don’t go rob people on CNY day. I have my principal. My capital is only RM20. Once I lost all of it, I will called it a day. And I only gamble with relative for the fun of it. Not for the purpose of winning. But if I do win, I can’t deny my winnings wat!

Now that Jonk-er know I don’t play mahjong, I am back to my corner – i.e. catching up with SIL and munching on tit-bits. It is funny how conversation between 2 adults with school going kids is always about our children’s upbring and their academy.

At night, the kids was playing with some sparkles.

This sparkles is very unusual. I was told they are brought in from Sillypore. You know how our traditional sparkles produces nothing but sparks. This sparkles is so kawai. It has got SOUND EFFECT! Go figure 😉

We started our journey back to KL again on the 4th day (Chor Sei) of CNY. As usual the expected crawl near Seremban Highway welcoming everyone home. Blueh!

Today is Yan Yat that is 7th day on the Chinese lunar calendar. Yan Yat is also the birthday of all soul. Why was it so? Don’t ask me lor. Cantonese always called the 7th day a Yan Yat. So, Happy Yan Yat to all!

According to the Chinese customary, every married woman shall celebrate the eve of Chinese New Year (CNY) with their husband’s family. And for the past 11 years, I have faithfully follow the customary. But for once, the rule have to be broken. Here comes the Hijackqueen!!! Muahahaahaa….

No la. I did not disobey my FIL. This year was an exception year for me as one of my cousin brother (maternal side) is getting married on the First day of CNY. So I’ve decided to bend the rules a bit to go back my Parent’s house on the Eve. The feeling was great – to be able to have reunion dinner with my Parents. But on the other side, I was worry about FIL’s feeling. I am sure he will not be happy about it. He might feel offended. He might think that I disobey him. I just act according to my own selfish feeling, that is going ahead with what has planned no matter how much people is/going to talk behind my back. Those things are unavoidable.

Back at home, I can feel how lonely is my parents on the eve. The old man has only my youngest sister as company. And my youngest sister has only the housework to accompany her! Muahahaahaa…. Even when I’m back at home, I always volunter myself with the cooking. I hate housework. My poor Mum still have to mop the floor. Shame on us! Shame on us! But I feel so at home. All the pampering from my Mum. It reminds me of our childhood days celebrating CNY with my family.

Back to pictures at my parent’s house. This is Baby Princess playing with the lion.

For her size, the lion head can be quite heavy.

Finally after fiddling with it for sometime, she managed to lift it up.

But aiks……!

Wrong side!

She took them down again.

This time, she got them right.

But she can’t see cos the mouth is covering up her view. lol. Finally she managed to open the flap.

This lion head has been around for about 6 years now. Every year, there will always be a new kid to abuse it. Poor thing. You know how kids will fight over just anything. Last year, Prince pulled out one of the springy eye ball. This year with the rough handling from the kids, the mouth is almost torn. Andddddddddd my nephew Jonathan pulled out one of the ear during a photography session.

Talking about which, my youngest Sis and me decided to camwhore a bit with the lion head too. haha!

Why their composure is always out leh? *sigh…

There’s one thing that I just found out after 11 years. My Mom don’t cook at home during the reunion dinner. I was flabbergasted when my Sis told me this. All the while, I thought my Mom is cooking. According to my Mom, there is so much hassle to cook and wash. Afterall, there’s just a few of them eating. Yea, quite true also.

Feeling bored while waiting for the food….

My 2 other Sisters (eldest and fifth sis) joined us for the reunion dinner cos their in-law is just staying nearby. Sama kampung la. We had the foochow reunion dinner. I really miss foochow food so much! What do you expect for I am not home for 11 years.

We had the usual cold dishes and next is shark fins soup.

I’ve never captured my Mom in such a happy mood before. I really love this shots of her.

When I show her the shot on the LCD screen, she ask, “Who is that?”

That was hilarious. I told her, “You didn’t know a dSLR can make a women looks prettier, right?” (Ya la. I know. Angkat sendiri sahaja.)

The shark fins soup sure taste delicious. Look at how they lick their spoon.

Welcome back Hijackqueen! Bon Appetite Foochow cooking! Did I mentioned I have not had foochow cooking during reunion dinner for 11 years?

We had the usual bla, bla, bla. No time to take photo la. Busy eating. The pork rib cook with szechuan vege. Ichiban!

The spring chicken in herbal.

Hai Reng Kou Ru (Foochow Sea cucumber & Fish maw soup)

This is Sitiawan number 1 dish! Tasted a bit sourish, spicy and sweet in thick starchy broth with the main ingredients like fish maws, sea cucumber and bamboo shoots.

This is glutinous rice.

The toppings are winter melon sweets, red dates, raisins and dry longans. Not my favourite. I only attack the toppings!

After all the makan-makan, we wipe-wipe backside and headed for home. So easy right. No need to clean up after dinner.

Back at home, my Dad started to give out angpows to his Grandchildren.

Behind every angpow, there is a short Bible verses from my Dad. Can you believe Dad wrote different Bible verses and short wishes every year? He is so full of philosophy.

This is what he wishes me.

“God’s Love Will Forever Be With You” – Too Calligraphic until Yenjai also don’t know how to read. In chinese it read as – “Zhu De Ai Yong Yuan Yu Ni Tong Zai”. haha!

My Mom had a set of pretty angpow that must show off too.

So red! So beautiful! So full of dong-dong-chiang!

The childrens are the happiest lots.

Since this is the year of Rat which is also my eldest Sister’s year, my Mom jokingly told her to give everyone in the household an angpow for Properity and…. ong la! It was supposed to be a joke. A moment later, my Sis really gave everyone an angpow.

Woot!

We stay awake waiting for the clock to strike 12. I wonder how the sky looks like in Sitiawan.

Although this is supposed to be a backdated post, I would still want to wish all, Happy Reunion!

This year is kinda simple one for me as I’ve scale down the hassle of baking, and cleaning the math after and also beautify my kingdom with lots of ang-ang decorations. But I do had something new to usher the coming New Year, that is, painted one side of my wall white. Previous, it was apple green and I found out it makes my photographs a bit dark. So this time, totally off white for me. Since it is a new wall, new coat, it deserve a new painting too.

3 pieces of chinese painting on a slab of marble with carved frame.

Last year, I read in the newspaper that Kok Fah aka chrysanthemum was supposed to help boost one’s wealth. I bought a few pot not because of the old tale belief. The flowers was begging me to bring them home.

How could I be so cruel right? So I bought one yellow and one red chrysanthemum. I have no idea what is the name of the pink flower. They are so pretty I thought I must buy them.

Ok, that was last year. This year, I bought only the yellow and red chrysanthemum. I knew I will spent more at the nursery if I were to step foot in there. Well, talking about boosting one wealth, do you believe it works? I would say… practise good karma.

Have to cut this post short as my Boss allow us to go back early.

I’m down with a bad throat. I can only blame it on the Mandarin oranges. Please do not over indulge in them as they contain lots of harmful pesticide and chemical.

To those driving on the road, please be careful and drive safely. Do not over speed. But if you intend to speed, please drive at 160km/h. At that speed, the XXX is not able to capture/detect your car with their speed radar.

Gong Xi Fa Chai (ang pow gia lai) to all who is reading.

Wei, wei, wei, Chinese New Year is just around the corner. What do you think of my new CNY banner? Took me hours to complete it, so you better say something nice about it (*sticking out tongue*). This is the first time too I’ve posted up a pic of me with my glasses on. Yea, I am long sighted. The vain me wore contact lenses but at home, I will be looking like an Ah Soh. So Bernard, I’ve granted your wish. Better give me an Angpow cos I am younger than you. I don’t care!

Since CNY is just 2 weeks away, the Bank near to where I was working was pack with Chinese nation who started to change new $note$ to usher the upcoming Chinese New Year. Upon seeing the crowd, the excited me planning to do so one of these days before the new $note$ ran out of stock. Which usually happen la.

While I was counting how much $note$ to change, I’ve notice a new number of family addition this year. Which means more angpow had to prepare.

Remember my nephew, Jonathan?

This bundle joy of my sister has grown so big. Very chubby and I love to hug this little teddy bear.

And another bundle joy of BIL (aka Hubby’s brother) baby was born sometime last month. I’ve captured something that I really like during the baby’s full moon.

In the background was SIL (not baby’s mother!) holding onto the Baby while capturing images of BIL paying respect to their ancestors announcing the arrival of the newborn.

It’s the baby turn now to give 3 bows (asif!).

Oh, I forgot to intro. Everybody, say hi to Shao Wei!

Shao Wei, say hi to everybody.

These two are the new addition from my immediate family. Not forgetting, one of my cousin sister too had a newborn baby. And my other cousin brother. And another cousin brother is getting married on Chor Yat. Gosh! I’m going broke again. Help!

This is what happened on the eve of New Year’s Day.

After we got ourselves 2 pints of Baskin Robbin’s ice-cream, we headed to the petrol kiosk as Hubby has received numerous smses on the price increased for petrol. As usual, we expected a horrendous queue at the kiosk.

I went to bed as I don’t intend to stay up for the countdown while Hubby and Prince stay up to watch Cars on Disney Channel at 11:00pm. I was awaken by the midnight fireworks from the nearby newly opened mall when the clock strike 12. I dozed off again.

This time, I was rudely awaken from my slumber by fireworks again. I cursed under my breath at 1 o’clock in the morning! The thunderous sound tells me that the fireworks is just a stone throw from my house. I went and check from my room window and saw the fireworks sparked right before me. I told myself, “what the heck. Since I am already up, might as well go get a shots or two with my dSLR.” I quickly ran downstairs, grab my cam, changed the lens and dashed out the door. Hubby thought I was walking in my sleep! Muahaaahaaa! Cos I heard him asking where am I going. I don’t have the time to answer him as the fireworks has been going on for quite a while. I need to be quick before it stop. Anyway, common sense wat – camera + fireworks = take photo la.

I only managed to get one shot. That’s it. The fireworks display ended. I cursed under my breath again and went to bed.

The next day when Hubby came home from a golf session with Datuk, he said, “Cilaka wan. Petrol price did not increase.”

I just laugh.

He added, “Datuk laugh at me. He say election is coming soon. There won’t be any price increase as of now.”

Credit: Shutterfly

“Later Mr. Chung and his family will visit me. I’ll ask them to visit you too! The Chung family members are, Chung Ma Piu, Chung To To and Chung 4D. They’ll be there to wish you good luck for 2008. Don’t worry! One of the members will not visit your for the whole year. Chung SaMan is out of town this year” – These are some of the smses I received since Christmas. They are so hillarious. I saved them all in my Inbox and will read them whenever I am bored. That really lift up a smile on my face.

If you are out partying tonight please remember, don’t drink and drive. As for me, I’m going to Baskin Robbins to do my ‘Aunty business’.

Happy New Year to all 🙂 *hugs*