Being away from family back home in Malaysia does feel tough every once in a while, no matter how much I love it here. Don’t get me wrong, Australia definitely feels like home to me now, but especially when Chinese New Year comes around, which used to be my favorite time of the year when I was a kid (yes, CNY tops Christmas AND my birthday!) I actually do get quite homesick.

It’s not just about the festivities and the red packets – it’s the getting together with family for the Reunion Dinner, and then again for “Chap Goh Meh” on the last day of Chinese New Year, it’s the sumptuous glorious FOOD and visiting friends and family, some we only get to see once a year!

When Micah gets a bit older, I will be sure to start our own family tradition for Chinese New Year in Australia. In the mean time, we seem to do quite well in “crashing” other families’ Reunion Dinners haha! A few years back we actually had dinner with hubby’s family at a Chinese restaurant. Last year, it was a CNY gathering with friends and we also went to the CNY Festival in Springvale. This year, we were kindly invited to our dear friends’ house for their family dinner cooked by my friend’s lovely mother. She’s a great cook! The proof is in the pictures… click on the “Yee Sang” picture below to access the Photo Album on my Facebook page:

So we had quite an amazing feast last night, and today’s the actual first day of Chinese New Year. Micah and I spent our morning at Coles grocery shopping. He was so well behaved, and he eventually fell asleep so I continued shopping at a very leisurely pace so he can get some rest. Besides, it was good to enjoy the cool air-conditioned supermarket when it was hot and over 32 degrees outside!

When we got home, I put him to sleep and put away the groceries, did the dishes, folded the laundry and now I still have time to write this blog entry! Our aircon at home is doing a great job at keeping us cool. I guess I probably have enough time now to watch some TV before he wakes up for his next feed 🙂