3-3, the date my brother proposed to his long time gf. When they posted the news on Facebook, everyone was so happy for them. My parents and I were over the moon! :D

Day 8th of CNY is THE most important day of all to the Hokkien community. This year, it was on a Monday. I initially wanted to take both Monday and Tuesday off but due to unforeseen circumstances, I had to go to work. Hb came to fetch me back to KS as usual.

Before prayers began, we visited Hb's ex-business partner at his banglo in KS and had a great time chit chatting about our recent holidays. They just got back from South Korea; which Hb and I went last year. This year we visited Beijing.

As usual, offerings were placed on a table right outside the house. While waiting for the clock to strike midnight, we entertained ourselves with firecrackers! This year, only FIL, MIL, Hb and I were present. BIL's overseas for work and SIL's son was sick. So unlike other years, it was kinda quiet. Nevertheless with the numerous fireworks at play that night, it was somewhat festive-feeling!

MIL said before we came back, a poor teenager said he was cheated to come to KS and needed bus fare to go home. He only asked for RM28 so my MIL gave him the money and told him to go home the following morning.

We thought nothing of it. When it was time to pray, we did the usual and started burning the various offerings. After prayers, we took several plates of offerings to a temple nearby. As we were walking back, a strong gust of wind started blowing (as if it was going to rain soon and as a matter of fact it did much later). The wind was so strong that it blew the offerings we burnt earlier; combination of ashes and burning bits right into the house!!!

From a far, the mixture of fiery red burning bits coupled with black ashes looked as if a dragon was flying into the home!!! The scene gave me goosebumps as I've never seen such a thing before!!! The entire incident kept us all preoccupied for quite some time cos' while MIL cooked supper, Hb and FIL cleaned the place outside while I mopped the entire place inside.

Hopefully the entire incident of "dragon flying into home" means GOOD FORTUNE for us all! Dear Ti-Kong, hopefully our prayers are answered. Thank you thank you!!!

Separately, the following day, a dragonfly flew into our home and refused to leave. It flew so low and at times hovered mid air as if checking Hb and I out. Again, I googled the meaning of dragonfly... and this time, the meaning was a good one! Some sort of a bearer of GOOD NEWS!!!

So ya, hopefully this year will be a great year for us all! :))

I know I have been neglecting this blog of mine. Actually I have several good news to share but being a "kiasu-Chinese", I was afraid to share it too early for fear of them being jinxed! Unfortunately, after the news is out as in time for celebration and all, I no longer have the mood to talk about it... and so I procrastinate which then led to an empty fly-infested blog. Sigh...

I am also thinking of changing my blog name. You see, prior to me getting married, "maemee" holds such meaningful memories of me growing up cos' that was how my grandfather calls me. But then now that I'm married, the name doesn't resonate as much with me than OngLai for instance.

It's like... I'm on this new chapter of my life as Mrs. Ong but my bookmark is still on my singlehood pages. A bit 'salah' parking like that. And so while I'm still in this limbo, this blog will likely be left to rot.

On a lighter note, Chinese New Year is just round the corner! As a matter of fact, this is my last working day prior to my CNY break! Yahoooooooooooooooooo!!! And so, GONG HEI FATT CHOY everyone!!! May 2011 be a fantabulous year for all with lots of wealth, health and happiness!!! GONG HEI GONG HEI!!! :-)

Hmmm... so many things happened in the past few weeks... and I have tonnes to update on this blog... like how we spent our 13th anniversary together... how I had the most exclusive weekend at the F.1. race in S.e.p.a.n.g... how we went furniture shopping like mad... and a whole load more... so let's see... shall start with our anniversary dinner...

We met 13 years ago on March 17... and this will be the first year we celebrate our anniversary as a married couple. Instead of having romantic dinner outside... my hubby suggested that he cook me a nice meal... It came as a surprise to me on several levels... First was... "Awwww... he remembered!!!" and then followed by... "Awwww... so sweet...(considering that yours truly can't cook for nuts)...". But then after that... it just seemed way too troublesome to cook... and hence, I suggested we do steamboat at home instead...

Prior to us buying anything... we went and got all the condiments first... and ended up with so many varieties that it occupied half of our kitchen cabinet...

And then... we bought fresh vege from Cold Storage... not just one type but 4 to 5 different types... cos' we can't figure out which type we like... hahahaha... My hubby also went and collect the fresh mantis prawns he ordered from the fisherman along with some other seafood... My in laws also bought us food cos they were worried that we won't know how to select fresh seafood... Little did they know... we have already purchased a whole load of other seafood!!! The photo on the bottom right only shows a fraction of what we had...

When my hubby went and collect some of the stuffs that my in laws bought that evening, they casually mentioned... "You all eat first la... we will come later..." O_o... But but... it was meant to be our romantic dinner at home!!! Nevertheless, we didn't have the heart to say no to them... so at 7-ish... we all had our "anniversary" dinner together... :-)

After they left... we were still left with lotssssssssss of food... so we called our friend; Jackson to join us... while my hubby and I proceeded with our 2nd round... After our 3rd round... we both were so stuffed that we felt like puking... Still... there were leftovers... enough to feed another 6pax!!! In the end, I called my parents and told them that we'd be having steamboat the following night... hahahaha...

So that was how we celebrated our 13th anniversary... stuffed ourselves silly!!! :-)

The last time we celebrated pre-CNY / "Sau Kung" lunch on our own was back in year 2008. So this year... we all agreed that it's good to celebrate the end of the year and an early welcome for the upcoming CNY...

We went to our favourite joint... Ah Yat Abalone Restaurant in Avenue K... The last time we were there, we ordered the RM78++ per pax menu... but this time round... my colleagues picked the RM188++ per pax menu!!!

This is how our food looks like... single serving per person... but OK-lah, definitely better than the menu we ordered 2 years ago with sharks fin & scallop soup, bigger abalone and sea cucumber, super-duper-yummy cod fish, so-so seafood noodle and a yummy-licious dessert; honeydew sago...

Within our little group of 3, it was an unspoken rule that whoever gets his / her promotion "chiahs" the rest... and since I got mine mid of last year, I had already "chiah-ed" them... This time round, one of us just got her promotion and she kindly offered to subsidize half the bill... but then another colleague was also roped in to foot the bill cos' he conveniently forgot about our lunch appointment and went ahead to date his boss... causing us major "disappointment" (OK-lah, we exaggerated!). Nevertheless, he offered to foot half the bill and we all happily said OK!!!

Nett nett... I had FREE dinner that night... kekekeke... Life is indeed beautiful...

Has it ever occurred to you which category you belong to?

Eat to Live or Live to Eat...

To most Chinese (or me and family for the matter)... it is not difficult to guess which one describes us best ... the latter of course! Hehehe...

Since CNY is a time of gatherings with families and friends... it is also a time where culinary skills are shared... cos' every family will have one or two of their signature dishes that are served to those visiting during CNY for lunches and dinners... During this time, there bound to be lots of ooohhhsss... and aaahhhsss... as adults start discussing recipes around the table...

This year... (by popular demands!) my father made his famous "wu tau kao yuk" (errr... yam with errr pork) and my mom made her famous "zhar ju yuk" (errr... fried pork?)... sorry... I'm a lousy translator but here's how they look on our dining table:

Everyone complimented the signature dishes and I kid you not when I say everyone cos' my parents really have superb culinary skills (albeit having a 30-year old daughter who can't even fry an egg without burning it)... Anyway, the 2 signature dishes appeared on our dining table EVERYDAY for at least 5 daysss cos' everyday there'd be different families visiting us for lunches or dinners!!!

Here are some of the pictures of my relatives... Only managed to take photo on the first day cos' I was ahem "busy" entertaining... Also cos' the first day of CNY is a tradition where all my uncles and aunties will come visiting...

Notice how all the shots revolved around eating and drinking at the dining table? That's because we're Chinese!!! And CNY is really about getting-together... feasting... drinking... and be merry!!! Cheers!!!

This CNY, I no longer have to think of excuses or politically correct answers to the world's famous question by nosy relatives during family gatherings... "When are you getting married?"... cos' ahem, I AM already married! Hehehehe...

So the BIG debate now is whether I should be giving out ang pows or if I am still eligible for ang pows... So, here's my take on that: "Technically... I am married cos' I've just registered earlier this year... BUT theoretically... I am not cos' I have not officially gone thru the Chinese customary of "gor mun" yet... SO... net net... I am still eligible for ang pows this CNY!!!" :)

My relatives are all pretty cool about it cos' they continued giving me ang pow but ahem... they also made sure that the message was LOUD and CLEAR: "Last one ar... next year your turn to give DOUBLE di!!! Hehehe!!!" O_o

Tho' I received slightly lesser ang pows than before (thanks to my husband's 'kiamsiap' relatives)... my cool HUSBAND compensated the difference by giving me a BIG ang pow and I too gave him one just like how my parents exchange ang pows along with well wishes on CNY eve every year! Definitely a custom that I don't mind practicing!!! :)

Thus... am happy to say that my ang pow collection is still pretty satisfactory this year... my usual 4-digit!!! Hooray!!!

Today's CNY Nin Chor Yat!

"maemee" would like to take this "Ox"portunity to wish everyone

a very Happy "Niu" Year!
May the year of "Ox" be a bullish one that brings us all to greater heights of success with "mooos" of luck, "mooos" of joy, "mooos" of health, wealth and happiness!

Happy "Niu" Year!!!

Today's a very special day in my life... 09-01-09... cos' I am now officially married to OWLoon! Since it's a memorable day, thought I should capture the details of what happened earlier...

Our session was supposed to be at 9.30am but since OWLoon and his family's from Kuala Selangor, we called to change the time to 11.30am instead. We were supposed to meet at Thean Hou Temple at 11.00am so I was a little upset when he arrived 10 minutes late... Luckily my friend was there to distract me... :)

We were number "20" for the day, not sure if it meant we were the 20th couple... nevertheless, once it was our turn, we were asked to produce our original ICs as well as the witnesses IC. Then we were asked to check the details on our marriage certificate...

Thereafter, we entered a little room... OWLoon and I sat side by side facing our fathers (our witnesses). Right in the middle, sat the marriage registrar person. We were then given 3 pieces of documentations to sign... 2 original marriage certs and 1 photostatted... which was rather funny cos' I was under the impression that we should say our wows first prior to signing...

Upon signing... we were asked to stand up... Now this is where the guy started saying our wows for us... in MANDARIN... Honestly, I can't remember half the things he said... partly cos' I was nervous and also cos' my Mandarin's not very 'canggih'. My colleague told me that we can request for the session to be conducted in English... but since everything happened very fast, I guess we forgot to request... hehehe...

Then it was the customary rings exchange session where my hands trembled a little... just a little... :)

And with that... we were pronounced man and wife...! Yay!

I was about to go to the back for the photo taking to begin when dear OWLoon asked the marriage registrar guy... "Don't we have to kiss?"... LoL...

We took numerous photos that day... cos' we've got 3 different cameras... my brother with his view cam... my brother's girlfriend with a point-and-shoot camera and my friend's brother with a DSLR camera...! So much so that we felt like celebrities that day! Haha!

Will post up more photos in a separate post but here's one with OWLoon and I as well as our parents... which marks the beginning of the union of OngLai clans on this auspicious 09-01-09 date... FYI, OWLoon's surname is ONG and mine's LAI. OngLai... means pineapple in Hokkien and the translation's a meaningful one... hehe... Ong = Auspicious, Lai = Come... thus OngLai = Money Come? :)

With that, "maemee" is now officially married and is also legally known as Mrs. Ong! Yay!

The good thing bout getting registered in a temple is that we're able to pray for blessings thereafter... not to mention... temple's a nice place for photo sessions too... :)

OWLoon and I took numerous shots but of the many shots, the most memorable one was when we were "caught" in the act of praying... :)

This was damn funny cos' while we were praying, OWLoon whispered "Praying to your friend ar?" cos' my friend's brother was standing right opposite us and that sentence alone sent me laughing like a mad cow!

Not sure why but I love this photo!!!

OWLoon's friends said our lips looked a like in this photo... And my ex-boss said we look like celebrities... hahaha!

We kept the session small and private where only close family members and friends were present and it is of my greatest pleasure to introduce them to everyone.

My parents & my niece...

OWLoon's parents...

My brother and his girlfriend (who will also be my bridesmaid)...

OWLoon's friend (who will also be his bestman)...

My darling friend... da SHEEP...

And here are some more shots to mark the historical union of the OngLai clans... :)


My life is so beautiful! Yay!!! :)

Including Saturday and Sundays, I was away from work/office for 2 full weeks!

Since it was such a long holiday, I told myself that I ought to make everyday as productive as it can be and here's an account on the daily highlights... :)

Day 1: 20-Dec (Saturday)
Had a talk-cock-sing-song session with OWLoon & friends...

Bought a new 22inch monitor for my brother...

Day 2: 21-Dec (Sunday)
Fetched parents to replenish new bamboo shoots...
Had family reunion dinner on Dong Zhe day... and ate Tang Yuen...

Day 3: 22-Dec (Monday)
Went to serviced my Honda City with my father...

Placed deposits for new Honda City 1.5 (for my brother) and Honda Civic 1.8 (for me)...

Day 4: 23-Dec (Tuesday)
Fetched parents to EPF office to print out my mummy's annual statement...(for fun cos' her previous employer cheated her EPF... RM700 bucks became over RM7k... 27 years later!)

Day 5: 24-Dec (Wednesday)

Opened a new EON Bank account... and bought House Insurance...to satisfy some stupid housing loan criteria though my loan amount was only ~55% of property value...

Christmas Eve dinner with family...

Day 6: 25-Dec (Thursday)

Fetched parents to buy praying "materials"...

Day 7: 26-Dec (Friday)

Alan's parents visited my parents... Thereafter, OWLoon treated us to a 10-course dinner...

Day 8: 27-Dec (Saturday)

C.l.u.b H.i.t.z at B.a.r C.e.l.o.n.a... more on this later...

Day 9: 28-Dec (Sunday)

Short trip to Kuala Selangor with family + niece and nephew

Day 10: 29-Dec (Monday)

Short trip to Kuala Selangor with family + niece and nephew

Day 11: 30-Dec (Tuesday)

Return from Kuala Selangor...

Collected wedding bands... cos' OWLoon's one was custom-made...

Day 12: 31-Dec (Wednesday)

Spring cleaning my own room...

Day 13: 01-Jan (Thursday)

Haircut at Saw's

Drinks with friends at T.h.e S.o.c.i.a.l at B.a.n.g.s.a.r (my favourite hangout place now)

Day 14: 02-Jan (Friday)

Bank draft for Honda Civic down payment...

Collected my new Honda Civic from Jln 222, PJ... Yippee!!!

Ordered 2 units of Garmin GPS nuvi 205... 1 for me and 1 for my brother!

Day 15: 03-Jan (Saturday)

Handover my old Honda City to OWLoon's relative who owns a Used Car business in Kuala Selangor... Price offered was RM3K more than market value!

Day 16: 04-Jan (Sunday)

Haven't figured out what to do but I intend to lepak all day...

To sum it all up... everything I did during this 16 days period revolves around:

Come to think of it... my 16 days of leave was pretty productive! Hooray! :)

This will be my last week at work cos I'll be clearing my annual leave soon...
As a matter of fact, my freedom starts this Sat; 20-Dec all the way till 4-Jan...
Back to work only on 5-Jan (Monday)...
That's a whooping 16 DAYSSSSSS... including Sat and Sun la...
But still... hooohoooooooo!!!

Thus, let the countdown begins...

The Olympics held in Beijing this year was extremely special to me...

• Firstly cos I watched it in Bali with Alan.
• Secondly cos Alan proposed to me just before the Opening Ceremony on 08-08-08!
• Thirdly cos the Closing Ceremony was held on the same day as Alan's Birthday!
• Lastly cos I have never been more proud to be a Chinese! The opening was just spectacular and it goes to show that the Chinese can do great things too (if not greater than the Westerners) when they put their hearts and minds to it!!!

Kudos China!!!

Over the weekend, I attended my cousin brother's wedding: Marcus & Ai Li. But that morning, we went over to Marcus' house for the customary tea ceremony.

Everyone was in a happy and joyous mood cos the entire clan hardly gather together ever since my grandfather left us... Anyway, all was fine... until... they called out my name! Since the groom was older than me and that I am still single... I was supposed to "jum cha" for him and his wife in return for an "ang pau". Kanasai, I was soooooooo terribly embarrassed cos of everyone who "jum cha-ed" to them, I was the OLDEST!!! There are kids in primary school lining up to get their "ang paus" mind you!!! 'KNS betul'!!!

I supposed my cousin felt my embarrassment cos him and his wife gave me 2 "ang paus" each instead of 1... Sigh...

Of all the years I've known Alan, I've only been to his hometown once or twice to "pai tin kong". Thus, I never really understood why the celebration and what the offerings meant... but that was until I saw a cover story on this significant Hokkien custom... and here's an account on how it went...

To the Hokkiens, "Nin Chor Gau" (the ninth day of CNY) is the most important day in CNY where families come together to celebrate the birthday of Jade Emperor; known as "Tin Kong" to seek blessings with food and prayers.

The prayer usually starts after midnight... i.e. on "Nin Chor Gau" with elaborate food offerings that are arranged in a special manner:

• First comes 3 cups of Chinese tea
• Followed by 5 cups of Rice wine
• Then 3 large joss sticks flanked by 2 candles
• Food offerings would include 5 types of fruits specifically bananas (kean chio), pineapple (ong lai) which means welcoming luck
• Six types of vegetarian items like mushroom, fungus, tofu etc...
• Meat dishes like chicken, fish, pork, prawn...
• Finally sweets like candy, peanuts, "ang koo kueh" (red tortoise cakes) and "kee ya kueh"
• Hard boiled eggs dyed in red and "mee suah" (rice vermicelli) or noodles are must have items

After which, the prayer rituals begin with family members praying and burning their prayer paraphernalia just outside the house. This is then followed by a visit to the temple for more offerings and prayers.

Last but not least, everyone must eat a bowl of "mee suah" with hard boiled eggs... And that marked the end of the "pai tin kung" session. :)

Started work on "Nin Chor Mmm" and one of the most asked questions was this... "How was your Chinese New Year?". My answer? "It was great!!! Why? Cos I received plenty of 'ang paus' lor... hehehehe..."

Here's another view of the 'ang paus' I collected this year:

Lets just say I collected quite a lot la har to justify the reply... 4-figure amount wei! Now isn't that a great reason to be happy? Cos honestly, how often in life do you get money out of the blue! So ya, I love CNY!!!

"Nin Chor Sei" (fourth day of CNY), my parents' friends came for dinner...

This is Auntie Lucy and she has a son who is of my age. Last year, he came with his gf who has now became his ex-gf and surprise, surprise, he's getting married next week; 23 February 2008 to another girl. Since we were of the same age, the father asked me this: "Wahhh... you don't want to get married ar!?!?"... I had to grip the table to answer sweetly that I'm waiting for my place to be ready. But honestly, what has it got to do with these people whether or not I get married leh??? Really "tak faham" lorrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

After that, they proceeded to play "mahjong" AGAIN!

Tomorrow's "Nin Chor Mmm" (the fifth day of CNY) and I'd be starting work di... So to all, "Gong Hei Fatt Choy" once again! :)

On "Chor Sam" (the third day of CNY), we visited my auntie's house for a family lunch...

And in between snapped many photos... I was with my cousin brother (the one on bottom left in the collage below) and we were talking bout ang paus when he said "maemee jie jie, I'm still waiting for yours leh... hehehehe". To which I said: "Er... you can wait la... and btw, how old are you now?"... and he said 18! So we both calculated for awhile before I said "Oh my goodness, I am 11 years older than you are!!!". Tsk tsk tsk... I ain't getting any younger... that's for sure!

Then it was time to go home cos my parents' friends and ahem, my bf's sister who "self-invited" herself...are coming over for dinner. After dinner, they proceeded to play "mahjong"...

While my mummy chit chatted with her friend...

To me... CNY is really an excuse for friends and families to get-together, feast, be merry and get-drunk... :)