Wednesday, February 02, 2011

CNY Eve



It's Chinese New Year's Eve today.

My mum texted me in the morning to remind me to do a spring cleaning for the house so we can have a fresh start to the new lunar year.

After all, it's Bee and I's first Chinese New Year together in our very own home.

Well, I see the point, and I really did give some very serious thought about doing it, but after a few hours of serious contemplation (ha!), I decided against it.

I'm just not feeling very festive this year.

I mean, we still don't have most of our new furnitures yet, and the house is in pretty much a mess. We still have lots of unopened boxes in every room, my shopping bags are everywhere, even all the paddings and wrappings for our new sofa are in a corner of our family room, imagine that.

Besides, I definitely do not have plans to entertain or having guests over for CNY this year or for the near future. The house is simply not ready!

Also, I'm currently feeling a bit on edge because I haven't heard back from David Jones or the sofa manufacturer about my Marcus or Barneys about the dust bag for my Manolos Blahnik. :|

And technically, maybe spring cleaning in not even mandatory when the house is situated in a country where Chinese New Year is not even a public holiday.

Oh blah blah blah. The truth is, I was just lazy and couldn't be bothered. :|

But at the same time, I felt bad for not doing the spring cleaning because I was brought up in a household where the tradition is taken very seriously. You know, to get rid of the old and bad things of the previous year and usher in new and better things of the coming year.

I posted my dilemma on my Facebook, and surprisingly, received many encouraging responses. It seems that a lot of new age couples and young families these days prefer to embrace Chinese New Year in their own ways instead of sticking to the old superstition and taboos.

That was not only enlightening, but refreshing! (Not to mention how relieved it made me felt!)

This is our household, and every household is entitled to make their own rules.

And in the spirit of making up our own rules, I've decided to make next year our official Chinese New Year in our home.

Who knows? I'll probably have to do the spring cleaning then. *Grins*

(Yes, this is your procrastination queen speaking.)

Being our usual anti-social selves, Bee and I avoided reunion dinners with relatives in Melbourne.

And because yours truly forgot to make a reservation at Nobu (again, procrastination), Bee and I had our very own simple reunion dinner at home.

With takeaway dishes from the local restaurant. *Hides head in shame*

We had assam fish (because fish is a must have during reunion dinner), spicy chicken with cashew nuts, fried vegetables, and some sort of red beans in coconut milk as dessert.

It was, um, a Malaysian-Chinese fusion reunion dinner.

Which very much resembles who we are, Malaysian Chinese! *Wide grins*

(The real reason is we didn't book early enough at those Chinese restaurants that cater a full banquet for reunion dinner, but I'm sure you've figured that out already.)

Oh well, it worked out well. We enjoyed the food, each other's company, and the comfort of our new home.

So yes, I guess we are gonna have a quiet one this year.

For those of you who are going all out and celebrating CNY in full fledge, good on ya! And I hope to join in the festive spirits next year.

Till then, a very happy Chinese New Year of Rabbit to everyone.

Gong xi gong xi!