I am like the most harrassed woman today. There was no plans for any Chinese New Year gatherings. Hubby said lazy to do anything lah. So, we just do nothing. But the man go and tell his sisters and nieces ‘Come by around noon lah.’
That was this morning around 9 am. Man! His meaning of come by means drink F&N Orange and eat Ngan Yin groundnuts. But I know better. I have been married for 20 years.
So, I quickly buy whatever I can find in the market and cooked up tomyam beehoon, some curry tandoori sausages, fry chicken, tempura prawns and squids plus some cakes and jellies.
And thank God I did because the in-laws really come in full support. All 30+ of them. *faints* Lucky I even have a portion of chicken and beehoon leftover inspite of them being very big eaters.
At one point, my son told me, “Ma, Jesus heard your prayer wrongly lah. Instead of multiplying your foods, Jesus multiplied your number of guests by 3 times.” Anyway, thank God no one goes hungry, everyone satisfied.
Meanwhile, yesterday my nephew mentioned about coming over to my house. So, I told them to come by for dinner. In my mind, I was just planning a simple dishes sit down Chinese homecooked meals. There are only 4-5 of them, easy-peasy right?
But…..my #1 son and #2 son told me they have about 15 friends coming by. So, last night, I planned to cook whatever I can find from the market. Though the market is open for business today, many stalls still haven’t open their stalls. Everthing is lacking.
However, yeah, I made it. Now, I am cooling down in the bedroom for a while.
Phew…It has been fun cooking so many things. Of course, my sons helped a lot or else I will be dead by now.
Inspite of the additional CJ stuffs that I was doing these past few days, I am so glad I managed to get all the ingredients for dinner tonight.
Right now, as I am writing this, I have a pot of fish maw soup simmering on the stove while my drunken herbal chicken is being steam over low heat. I have cod fish and Japanese fresh scallops which will be steamed later. And to add some fun, there is also large prawns, tenderloin and lamb chops for grilling. So, there is white rice and also grilling meats for our little reunion tonight.
And to think that I didn’t have time to do much marketing until just now at noon! I went to a press conference at the CM’s office at 10 am and finished about noon. Last night, I attended Kg Buah Pala pc at the CM’s office. Then, PKR press conference followed by the ceramah perdana.
In case some of you didn’t hear, there are lots of rumours flying around about Penang going the way Perak did. So, I do not mind sacrificing a bit of my time and went out of the way to cover these additional events. It is the least I can do to balance things out as much as I can.
Yesterday, when I was at PKR, Mr. Tan (the man in the video) came to me and said, “Lilian, I like your site.” Hehehehe, I am very paiseh. He said I should be home preparing for CNY. Indeed I should but I don’t mind giving my time a bit. I edited the above video till late night as I got home at 1 am. And I uploaded it around 3 am, I think. In between, I had time to take a bath, wash a batch of clothes and play Farmville.
Now, I am getting our dinner ready for tonight’s makan. It doesn’t need much preparation at all so I can squeeze in a few minutes here and there to edit two more videos. (actually the editing doesn’t take long but waiting for the files to encode, upload etc takes time)
Chinese New Year’s eve have always been part and parcel of being Chinese. When I was a kid, I helped my mother to prepare the cooking which always mean slaughtering chicken (yes, I can slit the throat of live chicken), plucking duck’s feathers, cooking jiu hoo char, kiam chye ark, pek cham keh etc. When I was dating, I helped my bf’s mother to prepare her Cantonese style reunion dinner. That’s where I learned how to mun-g-keok (stewed pork leg) and make other Cantonese dishes. Then, when I have my mother-in-law to fook-si, I used to cook Chinese New Year dishes to offer to my father-in-law and their Hakka ancestors.
So, right now, I can afford to take a break from the traditional dishes. I just told hubby, when my sons are all married, maybe then I will be get busy preparing CNY reunion dinner. For now, I will have it easy. Just buy the most expensive foodstuffs I can afford, those that I don’t normally cook at home for our daily meals, and eat.
Tomorrow, on Chinese New Year’s day folks, there is a Penang State official open house. Our Governor and CM will be there. 10 am to 1pm at Komtar Walk. I am not sure I am going though.
Happy reunion, everyone! Treasure the times you have with your families. Mend whatever broken relationship, reunite and start the new year on a clean slate.
I know it is not February 14 yet. But on that day, no one will read blogs or surf the internet, isn’t it? People should be out there celebrating Chinese New Year or visiting friends who celebrate Chinese New Year.
So, I will declare that it is my 5th anniversary of the domain chanlilian.net. Five long years. I have changed a lot. I changed the friends. I changed the style. The only thing remains is my consistency in updating my blog. Not that I have much to update but when I don’t people tend to come by and ask, “Why no updates?” So it is more a habit than a desire to write something.
I started blogging sometime in Oct 2004 but I moved to my own domain on February 14, 2005. Compare to others, I am a lot smarter. Not that I am boasting. I learned html, php coding, SEO, make money and now video stories.
I have made a lot of USD through blogging. I never really count the total I made because after a while, money seems insignificant. Unless I really need them, I think we don’t have to work too hard to make money.
I am now more a ‘rely on God’ person. I don’t check my Adsense anymore. I merely take the numbers and go cash it every month. Other sources of income are passive income. I don’t need to write also get paid. There are still some paid posts here and there. Nuffnang has made good money for me too. I just got my cheque for RM5.3K yesterday. But that is a taxable income, need to declare if I made over RM30K per year. Now, we also have to declare our W3 tax forms in the US, so nothing is free anymore.
Through the years, I have more and more people I know who reads my blog. My family members, the junior relatives, yee-mah, kucheh, 3gu6poh from churches, corporate companies, embassies, special branch, politicians, Najib Tun Razak, Lim Guan Eng, Lim Kit Siang (hahaha, bluff one, names dropping nia).
So, blogging has become unnatural to me. If I so much as curse someone, I will see their friends or colleagues black faces the next day. What they didn’t know is I sometimes just want to test if those people know I am a blogger. Cos they never acknowledge it. So, I trick them by cursing someone they know. Next day, test and see if they can still smile at me. If they have that expression on their faces, I know they are constipated.
Blog is very powerful. But it is no longer a glamour thing. Now, every monkey, donkey except #yorais knows how to blog. It is a very competitive thing. What I don’t like is how some bloggers have morphed into too commercial facade. I hate that. They don’t show their real faces anymore. They are scared of turning potential clients away. I have turned many away because of my foul mouth, hitting on politicians they are afraid of and etc.
I have over 20 domains but this chanlilian.net is my only real, true colour. I have come a long way. Now, I am not only a blogger who writes. I am a person who can express things through video journalism. There are not many people like me around. I shoot a story, I tell the tale, I edit, and I publish. I am really one of a kind.
I think this video thing is a step forward for a blogger like me. I see another five years ahead in my blogging venture. Maybe by then, I will be writing about menopause or about ‘how to hook a younger man’ or ‘how to not to encourage 70 years old men to hit on you’. Bah!
Wish me lah! You think so easy for someone to blog for five long years and yet, have her adoring fans?
Gosh, five years is a long time, ok? I think some of you don’t even have hairs growing on yr pubes and ketiak.
You know, religion can dangerously become a habit and routine. That’s when we go through the motion without connecting it’s ‘usefulness’ to our lives.
Or religion can become our weapon whereby we use it to show off or strike someone.
It can become stale and meaningless. More an action than an inner feelings.
So, I usually rely on the weekly pep talk in the form of a homily. Sadly, someone is now missing from our church. He is those rare ones who made me go, “AHA…that’s exactly how I feel.”
Of course, there are others. But sometimes, probably due to their seniority, what they said doesn’t touch a chord in me. At other times, it is more technical than faith that I hear.
Two Saturdays ago, I have my turn to teach in catechism class. Form One. Topic : God gave Abraham a son. I told the 13 yrs old straight away that I myself cannot be convinced. So, I won’t try to bluff my way through to teach them.
In our religion, and the same in Jewish and Muslims teachings, Abraham (or Nabi Ibrahim) had wanted to offer his son Isaac Jacob (or Yaakob) as a sacrifice. (korban) Abraham had Isaac when his wife Sarah was 90 yrs old. (Abraham has other wife but I don’t want to comment on that)
So, how do I teach 13 yrs old something that I myself cannot imagine? Therefore, I told them, I am not going to bluff my way through. So, let’s not think too much about how a father can sacrifice his own son for God’s sake. Only God could do that for the world by sacrificing His Son.
Instead, I told them about how parents will not hesitate to sacrifice their own lives for their children. I gave them examples of how parents will not hesitate to run into burning houses or the seas to save their kids. I also showed them the video of the railroad master who had to pull the lever (I bet many have watched that video thru FB links)
Then, we sat down with the teens and discuss what they think are their parents’ sacrifices for them. We have to point out the simple things we parents do daily. Things they take for granted and etc.
That, in my opinion is more important than knowledge of religion itself. I told the students, “All that matters to me, is that today, when you go home, you must remember your parents’ love for you. Never mind that you still cannot believe Abraham had wanted to put Isaac on the altar and kill him for God’s sake. If a father will do that today, we must get the police to catch him. Itu ajaran sesat. But your father will definitely not do so to you.”
Basically, these are things that I want to hear each week when I go to church. But sadly, Father Fab is on leave for a long-long-long time. So, now, I have to motivate self.
Last Sunday reading is about unworthiness. It is something that I have long struggled with. The readings from Isaiah to St. Paul talked about how God sees our worth. I jotted down things that came to my mind. And I seem to have a very good understanding of it. All it needs is a ‘Here I am Lord”
Still, if Father Fab was there, I know I would feel much more motivated. Because it was him who ignited that ‘I think I can’ sparks in me.
Two days ago, a male reporter told me that he heard that a certain priest who is very much into social work is considering leaving the priesthood to join DAP. I don’t know to laugh or cry. I didn’t want to ask the priest. I know he will tell me if it is true.
Some prawns I bought straight from the fishing boat at Tanjung Bungah. It is better to enjoy early than to get suckered during CNY.
I bought some longevity noodle with an old man and peach brand. There are two types, in the exact same type of packing. I read the address and both also from Xiamen, China. One costs RM6.50 and the other RM2.30. I look high and low wondering why the price differs so much. Turned out the RM6.50 is Full egg noodle while the other is just noodle. The full egg noodle is quite nice, very QQ. Good for CNY if you wish to make some fanciful fried noodles. Bah, Chinese, they are so clever to confuse people.
Have you eaten the China made keropok udang? It comes in a blue/beige box with one huge red prawn brand. I remember it was a treat when I was a kid. Now a box only costs RM2.50. And I had fried three times already and there are still more keropoks. So cheap nia.
Finally, ikan belanak or ‘chia hoo’ in Hokkien. My mother used to buy a lot of this fish. It is very sweet but it is a chore to clean the fish of its scales. However, now they have prepared them at the wet market, ready for cooking.
I think I haven’t eaten this fish for like 20+ years. It tastes sooooo sweet and nice, bursting with eggs. Only RM3 nia for about 10.
Once in a while, I find things that I am passionate with. This is one of them. A group of women whom had worked for many, many years suddenly found they no longer have a job. No compensation, no compassion.
So, their frustrations are understandable. They were rather lost as their rep. doesn’t have a loud hailer. He told them to walk to Komtar while he went ahead first with his children in the car.
I noticed he was missing from the court’s compound. I phoned him and he realised the workers didn’t get his instruction to walk there.
I almost wanted to ask the women, ‘Jom kita pi Komtar’. Of course, I cannot do that because it is against my work ethics. Secondly, I can be hauled up by the SB for being the dalang of the peaceful walk. Everyone does know that it is considered illegal gathering if more than five people gathered together in that manner, right? But the police in Penang is gracious and allowed these big group of women to walk the streets of Georgetown.
So, I went ahead with my car. I stopped at the Assumption Church and waited for these ladies to walk by because I know they will do that. Then, I drove to Komtar to have a nice, cold, lemon tea while they walk. Life is unfair, huh? These ladies have to walk in the hot sun, just to ask for an appointment to see the CM. Meanwhile, all of us are bitching about everything in the cold comfort of our houses, offices, shopping malls and cars.
Retrenchment benefits for these Nikko employees are probably hard to come by because the company is filing for bankruptcy. So, according to my accountant hubby, the employees will be the last to get the money. Usually, the liquidation of assets or whatever will be used to pay creditors first. By then, there will be no money left.
I asked MTUC chairman, “Isn’t there a law to protect employees?” He said, “YES….” But then, if employers want to bail out and leave their poor employees in the lurch, the employees are helpless.
There is more to this video. But I shall deal with the other issue when the time is right. Now, all I want is for these women to know that they are not unseen and unheard. Someone in level 28 better make sure that the CM meets the workers’ rep. The last time, CM and DCM2’s staffs have not only delivered empty promises, they also disappointed these women at the last minute by cancelling the appointment after it was doubly confirmed.
You may or may not be able to help, but turning them away is inexcusable. (see what happened in the last attempt and compare to history) If these women get the same treatment again, I will make sure some arses get whacked. AGAIN.
Maybe I have become so Christian, I no longer fear an empty rice urn will cause me to go hungry for the rest of my life.
Or the fact that I don’t have red colour decorations around the house will cause good luck to skip over my house.
Or I don’t have kitchen god so I no longer need to send him back to heaven gossip on me, after I stuff his mouth with nien-gao.
Or my kids are so much more grown up, I cannot con them into enjoy Chinese New Year with me.
You know, you cannot force them to buy new clothes when they asked, “But why must we buy clothes? We only wear boxers at home!”
So, without only less than a week from Chinese New Year, I haven’t done a thing.
There is no point doing spring cleaning because I just moved into this rented home less then 3 months ago. Many of my boxes are still unpacked.
There is no point giving the house a new coat of paint or the bedsheets a fresh set because the paint is new and bedsheets are such a chore to change.
Last year, I made a lot of Chinese New Year cookies. This year, I am just trying to fit into the routine of fetching kid. So, I really have no energy left to bother with cookies. Anyway, we bake all the time, all year through so what’s so special about Chinese New Year cookies?
With a son who is almost 1/2 a cook, both of us can actually whip up any meals within short notice. So long as we have time to buy the ingredients, we can cook. So, it is no big deal to cook at all.
We have all the angpow packets. So that part is taken care off.
My hubby only started work last year so he doesn’t get a bonus yet this year. Moreover, UMNO companies are strangled and choking so he can forget about getting any fat bonuses until errm…maybe I should start being an UMNO cybertrooper?
Being a Christian actually left me with less stress. I no need to worry about the do and don’t of Chinese New Year. And I don’t worry about it because my Big Boss said, “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” (I like King James version of the Bible)
So, this Chinese New Year, I think I will arrange for a small gathering minus the outlaws (blek, not that I can avoid it) at my place. Date, type of foods, who are coming, not decided yet.
You know what I am more worried about? Ash Wednesday and then Lent for 40 days. That’s when I want to go on vegetarian fasting. I failed miserably last year. I want to make up for it this year. That’s what I am most excited about.
