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Tiger Chinese New Year Celebration in Penang, Miao Hui 2010

Written by Nicholas Chan on March 25, 2010 – 7:08 pm -

This year is Tiger year for the Chinese, very cute because many Chinese will use Tiger as their mascot or buy Tiger bear for fun, or even drink more Tiger beer. So every year in Penang, my hometown, there’s Chinese New Year Celebration and Open House for everyone to visit, play, eat and drink in town area, which is known as Miao Hui 庙会.

Every year also has that many people come to this place, somewhere around Armenian Street and Pitt Street. They set up stages, lots of booth and everywhere at there are well-decorated with Chinese New Year feel.

This year would be my third visit already. I was there in 2008 and also in 2009. Actually every year go there also is take photos only, and go for fun to join the crowds, since there’s so many people. This year was different a bit because I shoot with a different lens, the Tamron f/2.8 17-50mm. Hehe. No idea whether I will be there or not next year. If I got a new lens or a new body, maybe I’ll go again.

Actually nothing much one, it’s the same every year. Cultural booths, game booths, food stalls, lion dance, fashion show and many Chinese-related thing. There’s youth doing treasure hunt and found me because I had a “Tiger” tooth that they were looking for. I guess joining the hunt is funner than photo shooting.

Cultural dancer.

Something not very comfortable was that this year’s weather went crazy. It’s very hot. Alvin, Andy and me were there at around 5pm, it’s almost sunset already, but still very hot. Luckily I had just t-shirt and shorts.

Andy Ooi.

Starbucks Coffee had a booth there too! Java Chips Frapuccino!

Compare to last year, I feel last year has got more people, there’s people like sardine cramming on the street, but this year didn’t have.

Met Cai Qian.

Met Chin Keong, Kelvin, Kok Sheng and more.

Met friends but not many. The Magnificent SIX was not there, they went to a movie and there’s only me from the SIX was there. But I saw a lot of Leo Club friends. ROAR.

What was Kok Sheng doing there?

I like happenings place. If there’s place in Penang that’s always so happenings then it will be nice and cool. I don’t like to see a dead city or dead town, it’s not fun. I know some people like to be alone, but do go out some times to take a look what’s happening and go back again. Me, myself is a weird person, I like quiet but I also like happenings, weird right. Haha.

Found Spongebob hanging somewhere. ^^

Happy faces for CNY!

There’s cultural dances on the stage but every year, I didn’t bother what happen on the stage. Feel bad for all the performance, I know their tiredness and effort in performing and I am talking cock. Haha, but anyway, if got chance, I will check the stage performance again.

Governor of Penang, Abdul Rahman bin Haji Abbas was there too! For like less than 15 minutes. He came here to “hi and bye”. So high post and high class people, at least must come and “hi and bye” for a while to give face.

Cool CM.

My favourite Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng stayed a little while longer than the Govenor for media interview. Hehe.

Boss! a.k.a. Lion Alan Thoo, my Leo Club’s District Chairperson. Rocks!

I like to call him Doctor Yew. I.T. support man for Digi.

My employer did actually ask me whether want to work on that day or not because Digi was a major sponsor for the event, but somehow, I decided to go for photoshooting rather than promoting. =)

Pinky.

Met colleagues a.k.a. friends that I’ve work before with.

Met Amanda the blogger.

Sometime I feel headache when I’ve taken so many photos, I don’t know want to put it up, obviously I have a bad mind in presenting it to you all. So I am splitting the post up. Stay tune for more about this Chinese New Year celebration evening, Miao Hui.

 

Tags: Celebration, Chinese New Year, cny 10, Event, Festival, Friends, Happenings, Lifelog, Many People, Penang
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Visit Friends on Day 3 of Tiger Chinese New Year

Written by Nicholas Chan on March 4, 2010 – 1:25 am -

Spent day zero, day one, and day two with my lovely family and there’s no more family day on the 3rd day. Everyone at home seems like have nothing to do and for me, I went out early morning to Air Itam to meet up Fang Juinn who came back from Singapore, Chin Tatt and Hua Ken who came back from National Service for a short period during Chinese New Year. It had been a long time didn’t see them already.

Hua Ken and Yong Chieh.

Woke up early and went to meet up with them at a kopitiam at Air Itam, talked to them but ate nothing because have got no idea what to eat at there. No feel.

Wuan Xin and her uncle.

OMG. Fang Juinn is getting taller!

Met a new friend, Wuan Xin, a friend of friends’. She brought us to her grandma house and her grandma was very friendly and chit chat a lot with us. She talked about her young and even showed us her traveling photos and photos when she was young. Real friendly old lady, can talk whatever with us, youngsters. I spent like whole morning at there, later on to another friend, Yong Seng’s house for a Chinese New Year visit.

Boys rape.

Dick shaped candy.

Noob fencing-kia.

Uncle’s Chicken are always yummy!

Yong Seng.

Kenny and Victor.

They’re all my junior in Leo Club. A year younger than me, we eat, we play, we gamble. Chinese New Year is always about gambling, but I lose that day. Damn. Bad luck, Kenny won the most. After losing so many, we decided to stop. They went else where and I went to Gurney Plaza to walk around because I didn’t feel like going home yet.

Min Xun and Jueqi.

Met people there. Walkaround and afternoon tea at there for a couple hour. Then it’s already evening already, went to another friend’s house again.

It’s Chen Yuen’s house at Perak Road. So nice that he was at home and I received ang bao again. It’s the last stop of friend’s house visiting of the day. Me, Ammerlynn and Chen Yuen was actually at there waiting other friends to come back to Penang so we could had dinner together. After dinner, I went to the cinema with my brother to watch Percy Jackson. It’s really tiring afterall, run here and run there, but then it’s fun and filled!

Tags: Chinese New Year, cny 10, Friends, fun, holiday, House, tired, Visit
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Second Day of Tiger Chinese New Year at Pengkalan Hulu

Written by Nicholas Chan on March 3, 2010 – 1:50 am -

If you are a long follower of my blog, you must have already know that every second day for Chinese New Year, daddy will drive us down to Pengkalan Hulu, Perak, somewhere far inside, near to the Thailand border where my uncle’s house is located. It’s the same every year ever since I was small. Why there? It’s my grandma’s hometown.

My uncle’s house very boring one, there’s no Astro, no broadband, no shopping mall, no aircon, very hot at there. There’s only a TV with local TV station and my entertainment at there was watching local TV show and drove there around to see what’s around.

It’s very hot day, don’t know why so hot and there’s no air con. Dad drove us around the town and went as far as to the Thailand border. Too bad we didn’t bring passport, or else we would already get over it to check Thailand out.

Went to Klian Intan again, 10 minutes drive from Pengkalan Hulu town, it’s a kampung where my grandma’s real hometown. No idea why we went there, probably because we had no place to go already.

Very small little place, with population less than 400 I guess.

Back to the house again and watch TV. Still remember there’s Stephen Chow’s movie showing on that afternoon, it got rid a little bit of our boredom.

At 5pm, we had our meal ready, it’s a very early dinner for us. Usually I have dinner at later than 7pm, but at there, they eat at 5pm. Wow.

A very unfortunate thing occurred that night and that’s my mom’s handphone had accidentally dropped into the toilet bowl, luckily there’s no shit or pee. But still it feels yucky and dirty. Phone is dead and I dare not try to turn it on because it had been into the bowl before. A chance for mom to get herself a new phone. Hohoho. She always doesn’t want to change her phone to a better one and now there’s a chance for her already.

We went back to Penang at night and it’s late. Brother and I were hungry again and I brought him to Abu to eat Fried Maggi Mee. We were too hungry and we had double, in the end, full until cannot sleep that night. Shit.

Tags: Chinese New Year, cny 10, Far, forest, Kampung, Ulu
Posted in Around Malaysia, Cool Stuff, Lifelog | View Comments

Ang Bao (Red Packet) Makes People Happy

Written by Nicholas Chan on March 3, 2010 – 12:50 am -

Chinese New Year is always so fun, I am so proud of being a Chinese because Ang Bao (Red Packet or aka Red Envelope) makes me happy. Actually it’s the same, in the west, Christmas gift makes people happy too, it’s just that we Chinese don’t buy gift, and cash is what we get. Simple and easy, no headache what to pick as gift for people.

Received quite a lot of ang bao in the past 15 days of Chinese New Year, now it ended and I got no chance to receive ang bao already. How much money inside the ang bao is not really important, the heart of giving and the happiness of receiving are more important. Some have good design too, mom purposely bought a lot of special designed ang bao from Guangzhou for Chinese New Year.

There’s also other not so pretty and simple design. I like to see good looking designed ang bao, but in the end I will still throw it all away. No point keeping it.

The best part is not the design it’s the-inside! =D

Tags: Chinese New Year, cny 10, Cool Stuff, Talk Cock
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First Day of Tiger Chinese New Year

Written by Nicholas Chan on March 1, 2010 – 8:51 pm -

This year’s Chinese New Year fell on the date same as the Valentine’s Day. Still remember last year that I went to Chin Ping’s place to BBQ and celebrate the day together, this year is different already, I am single, no Valentine, and the whole day was with my brother, my mother, my father and everyone at home. Also it’s also the day people came to visit and received a lot of ang bao. Very fun.

Looking at the Star Map on my phone early in the morning. So bright, where got star?

I then only realized that I took not many photos on that day, perhaps that I was busy collecting money in ang bao (red packet) and eating Chinese New Year’s tidbits. Yummy.

This year was a little bit different, brother and I woke up pretty late in the morning, it’s almost noon. Freshen up, wishes my dear daddy and mommy and I received ang bao from them. Then same like every year, we will go to grandma place for brunch and gong hei fatt choi to everyone. What’s different was that we stopped there, didn’t go visit relative’s place already where the Chinese calls this kind of visit during CNY as bai nian.

Instead, relatives came over to grandma place and they talked and gave me ang bao. ^^

For me, there’s nothing much to do except saying GONG HEI FATT CHOI, eating and drinking.

Stayed there till late afternoon then we went back home to sleep. And at night, no idea where to eat and we ordered pizza and grandma and cousins of mommy’s side came over to my place to eat PIZZA. =D So weird. No cinema for us because it’s damn fully booked and sold out. OMG.

Tags: Chinese New Year, cny 10, home, Lifelog, Visit
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Happy Chinese Tiger New Year 2010

Written by Nicholas Chan on February 15, 2010 – 10:48 pm -

Wow, I am back. When I am not studying right now, I am so so busy with the Chinese New Year celebration and preparation. Finally, at this moment, I get some time off to login to my blog and write something up. So here’s the main point, I want to wish everyone, Chinese or not-Chinese, a Happy and Lovely and Funny and Shioks and Bombastic and Wonderful Chinese New Year! =) All the best, good luck always, healthy and wealthy always. Rocks!

Tags: Chinese New Year, cny 10, video, Videos
Posted in Festival, Friends, Video Posts, Videos | View Comments