CNY reunion dinner 2010

Two new stalks of red and pink
artificial flowers were added to
the flower arrangement
for the occasion

Cleaned up all the shelves
before the festive season

Also tidied up all the ornaments
lining the shelves

The two wood carved elephants
were given a clean up too

The holder of the lamp shade broke
and my wife overturned the shade
so that it stayed in place
and that is ' innovative '

Like every Chinese New Year for the past 30 years, my brothers and their families converged to my house on the eve of Chinese New Year too this year. We had steam boat at our reunion dinner on the eve of CNY. After the dinner, as usual the adults gathered at the main hall catching up on each other on what happened in each family for the past year until midnight. Then the next morning it was always the reunion breakfast at one particular coffee shop in town where we had hor hee, one of the specialities of Ipoh. And the party dispersed just before lunch when each family went their own way, either back to their respective homes or to visit their in-laws. A routine which we have been carrying out without fail year in year out for the past 30 odd years.

The ' Foh kwai ' flowers always attained
its full bloom at this time of the year

The grass in the garden was mowed
two days before

New year goodies

Pomelo is a speciality of Ipoh
which we bought at the farm

Praying to the ' heaven God 'is one ritual
we diligently follow as tradition

Preparation for the dinner
was done in the morning

Some of the food on the
makeshift dining table
in the hall for the children

The main table in the dining room

The steam boat in the hall

Filling up the table

' Ten ', my brother's dog
joined us for the reunion
dinner too

Ten in his special bag ready to
go out for breakfast on first
day of CNY

Our dog

Rebel at the side garden before
i got him to the water tap

Rebel, our dog, is about 11 years old, biologically comparable to a human being
of 70 over years old. However he is still very alert, barking at every stranger
who appears at our doorstep or upon hearing any odd sound or noise.

His habit of digging holes at the garden does not seem to diminish as he ages;
in fact, the frequency of him doing it has escalated recently. Thus his fur
often gets dirty due to the digging deed.

I used to bathe him once a week but i have slacked in doing this chore in
recent months. The last time i bathed him was about 3 weeks ago and he looks
real dirty and as his fur has grown much longer his appearance is untidy too.

Gave his fur a trim and bathed him today. See for yourself the difference
between his look before and after the cleaning up.

Before bath

After bath

Amateurish fur cut