Malaysia Chinese Culture New Year 2011

For Chinese this year is the year of Rabbit. In China Chinese New Year known as "Spring Festival" It’s starts with the New Moon on the First day and will end on the full moon 15 days.

Before a week to Chinese New Year day, we start preparing New Year decoration at our house. An annual house cleaning must do before The Spring Festival arrived.  Family member busy to sweeping and vacuum every corner of the group. A little decoration must do so, spring couplets and the words of spring put on the wall at our living room. These couplets, short poems written in Classical Chinese, were expressions of good wishes for the family in the coming year.

New Year Eve

For New Year Eve the family member from near or far must came back get together for celebration the reunion dinner. Chicken and fish must include for the Eve dinner according to the old Chinese traditionally. We having steamboat dinner that night still got fish and chicken, for me easy way to cook and my family member like to eat. After having the Eve dinner we go to pray at “Guan Yin” Temple at Jalan Ipoh Kuala Lumpur where near by my house.

First Day of the New Year

Usually family members gather on the morning for the first day, red packet (Chinese word : Ang Pow) will be given to the children and unmarried members of the family. Red packet also given to the unmarried visitor and children who come to visit each other family or friends. After visiting our family member, at the afternoon they suggest go for a half day trip at Genting Highlands to try their luck at Genting Highlands Casino. Children who can not go in to the Casino, they play at the indoor Theme Park at the First World Plaza.  
Second Day of the New Year
The second day of the New Year is usually for visiting the family of the wife for a couple is married. A large feast is also typically held on the second day of the New Year. So, I went back my mother house just about 5 km from my house. That day me and my two other’s sister gather at my mom house. We having our dinner there, my mom cook a lot of food such as steam chicken, ginger duck, fry prawn, fish, lotus root & cranberry beans soup and some veggie. Whoa! Yummy, what a delicious and great dinner.







Third Day of the New Year
Third day morning we decide having Bah Kut Teh (Pork Bone Tea Soup) for our breakfast, so we run down to Klang .The famous Bah Kut Teh at Klang Name by Seng Huat restorant, operation more than 60 year!  Fondly known as “Bak Kut Teh Under the Bridge” by the local, because the restaurant really under the bridge. The Bah Kut Teh Taste not bad. After that we come back to Kuala Lumpur, and visit to Thean Hou Temple (Chinese: 天后宫) at land atop Robson Heights along Lorong Bellamy, overlooking Jalan Syed Putra (Federal Highway) Kuala Lumpur. It ‘s around 3pm afternoon , it’s rainy only can visit inside the Temple and inside the Hall there is a show concert singing the Chinese New Year Song by the local singer.

Forth Day of the New Year
The forth day we go to visit my sister Bungalow House at Taman Tasik Prima at Puchung. She invites us to having a barbecue dinner at her bungalow house (The lake view). The place is very nice, but this location is nearby some small factories. My sister move in the Bungalow house last Chinese New Year. The view at the lake side is beautiful. It is a good place for fishing. My brother like to fish here for relaxing to less stress from his work. I bring my children and my nephews to view the Cascadia Townhouse lake side, saw some people playing speed boat and banana boat at the lake there. In the evening we have our barbecue that already serving by my sister. There are some chicken wing, hotdog, prawn, potatoes (this all buy from Tesco Puchung), and fish (catch from the lake), Fruits and cool drink such as Kut Fa Tea (cook by my sister) which can less the heat for the body. My brother inlaw is a Chinese Tradition Acupuncture Master, we call him Master Leong. His medical centre at 4^th floor Menara Promet Kuala Lumpur and Taman Kinara Puchung, Label by the name : The Tole Acupuncture and Herbal Medical Centre Sdn Bhd. We went back late at night around 10pm. Next day is the school open day. Very Tiring….     
15th Day of the New Year - Lantern Festival
The New Year celebrations ended on the 15th of the First Moon with the Lantern Festival. On the evening of that day, people carried lanterns into the streets to take part in a great parade. Young men would highlight the parade with a dragon dance. The dragon was made of bamboo, silk, and paper, and might stretch for more than hundred feet in length. The bobbing and weaving of the dragon was an impressive sight, and formed a fitting finish to the New Year festival.