apparently that's what the chinese in china call chinese new year... in chinese of course :p it's chinese new year's eve, but i'm not feeling particularly festive. never really do in australia, especially these last few years when the occasion has almost always just been another working day. it's been a while since i spent CNY in an asian country/culture - kinda miss it, but then again i think i'd feel a bit out of place/like a stranger if i was there.
had dinner together with the family at home; dad says that traditionally the CNY eve dinner ("nian2 ye4 fan4") is the most important meal of the year... *shrugs* what do i know about chinese culture? too little and not enough to call myself chinese, that's what. afterwards we went to my uncle's place to meet up with the rest of our extended family and had a time of singing hymns (in chinese! so i struggled...) and sharing/reminiscing (by people from my parents' generation) about their childhood days and memories etc. some interesting stories there, and quite surprising how much difference there can be in the life experienced by one generation and the next. ok granted they take place in relatively dissimilar countries and cultural settings, but still... they say theirs may have been harder in a physical sense, but ours has much more stress.
then we ate... and just as we were starting to tuck into the food, my dad and uncle were outside cutting open a durian - that sight made me feel like i was back in malaysia... for a moment :)
happy (chinese) new year :]
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