My Family Tree

I come from a long line of various races in my family. And I don't think it'll ever stop. Well, I hope not. And today, I shall reveal my family tree! Well, I'm actually not sure myself as to how many races there are.

Let's just start with my parents. Well, my dad's side doesn't really have a "happening" heritage. But I'm happy to be able to have a taste of Indian culture.



Everything, from the colours used, clothing, music played, taste of food and even their dramas shown are one of a kind; Unique.

Now comes the complicated part, my mum's side. My grandma is actually a Peranakan straight from Malacca (Melaka).



This culture too had great food (Nyonya food and delicacies are a must try), fantastic creativity (they have traditional methods of beading to make shoes. They even sew their own designs on their Kebaya. ), and strict rules.

On festive occasions, Nyonyas are known to sleep on tins with their hair decorated with pins. They have so much discipline in them, that when they wake up, not a strand of hair is out of place.

They also have strict rules when in the kitchen. From how to use the anak lesong, to serving people, to "restricted words" that shan't be mentioned while cooking.

One has to be feminine when wearing the kebaya. You wear clogs, or Nyonya slippers(modern) and have to walk slowly in them. Well, I'm both happy and sad that I do not have to follow the traditions. Happy, because I know that I'm bound to fail immediately. But sad, because this culture is dying out soon.

Anyway, if you wanna' read more about Peranakans, Click Here!


But truth to be told, my grandma is totally Peranakan. There's Javanese, Boyanese (Baweanese), Eurasian and so on.


Now this post is in fact not about showing off my family tree, well maybe alittle. But the main part actually has a lot to do with celebrations.

Chinese New Year is celebrated because, well, my mum's side is termed as Chinese. Deepavali is celebrated with my dad's side. My mum and brother are Christians, and my mum's side celebrates it as well, some are Catholics, whereas the rest... Just celebrate it for the joy of it. One of my aunt's fiance is a Malay, so we more or less have Hari Raya celebrations as well. We don't do the fasting and all, but we do eat!

Moving on...

Whenever I share with my friends, or strangers about my mixed heritage, most of them would go "wah, so good. Get to celebrate so many festivities. Sure got a lot of money right?".

Well, that's not really true. I know that celebrations are really about collecting money nor counting money, but I am going to talk about it. Sue Me.

Anyway, while most of you receive from both sides of your family on CNY/ Hari raya/Deepavali, I only receive half of it per celebration. Get what I mean? So you guys are actually more "blessed" to receive all the money in one celebration whereas I, have to wait till October/November to receive the second "round" of cash giving.

Who's the poor thing now? Hahah.

But if you're talking about food, yes, I am blessed to sample the various types of dishes. But you can too. Just head to the nearest Kopitiam, and order another races' dish. That'll do the trick.


Loves.

Happy Chinese New Year

From Wikipedia.org:

Chinese New Year or Spring Festival is one of the most important traditional Chinese holidays. It is sometimes called the Lunar New Year, especially by people outside China. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first lunar month (Chinese: 正月; pinyin: zhēng yuè) in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called Lantern Festival. Chinese New Year's Eve is known as Chúxī. It literally means "Year-pass Eve".

Celebrated in areas with large populations of ethnic Chinese, Chinese New Year is considered a major holiday for the Chinese and has had influence on the new year celebrations of its geographic neighbours, as well as cultures with whom the Chinese have had extensive interaction.^{[citation needed]} These include Aboriginal Taiwanese people, Koreans, Mongolians, Nepalese, Bhutanese, Vietnamese, and formerly the Japanese before 1873. In Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and other countries or regions with significant Han Chinese populations, Chinese New Year is also celebrated, and has, to varying degrees, become part of the traditional culture of these countries. In Canada, although Chinese New Year is not an official holiday, many ethnic Chinese hold large celebrations and Canada Post issues New Year's themed stamps in domestic and international rates.

Although the Chinese calendar traditionally does not use continuously numbered years, its years are often numbered from the reign of Huangdi outside China. But at least three different years numbered 1 are now used by various scholars, making the year 2008 "Chinese Year" 4706, 4705, or 4645.^[2]

The 2009 date for Chinese New Year is January 26.

This is the season to be jolly... Falalala lalalala. Okay, I do know that it's Chinese New Year. And that phrase was supposed to be for Christmas. So why sing it during Chinese New Year?

Well, the days of rats have long passed us, and now we shall welcome the days of bullshit! Okay, no, it's OX.

Well, Chinese New Year to my family is just like any gathering; there's loads of food. We get to enjoy mixture of Peranakan dishes, western dishes, Malay dishes, Chinese dishes and even the chocolate fondue!

My Uncle's place would be bustling with the young and the young at heart. There will be loads of laughter, and the day shall not be over till over belly is bloated with food!

But just like every Chinese family, we do eat the Yu Sheng.

We also have loads and loads of tidbits.

And who can ever forget the famous Bak Gua?

And for those who are looking forward to buying that hot dress, cool shoes or game, this is the time to go all dreamy over money!





As for me, all I need is a carton of oranges.




For what? To eat lah!


As I watch my all time favourite activity, the Lion Dances! (My aunt knows that I love watching and would buy some CDs for me to watch them).





I'm a happy kid.


And I hope you are too!







Loves!