It’s customary to go to the houses of friends and family during Chinese New Year.
I didn’t do a whole lot of Chinese New Year visiting this year. My family is back home so mostly I just went to a couple of good friend’s houses.
I went to Arthur’s house and had some of his home-made cookies. I also met a new friend and reader there – that’s part of the fun of it, you get to meet visitors who are already there and make new connections. I was also hoping to eat some of the durian tempoyak dishes that I missed last CNY when he cooked a buffet at his open house. Haha!
He was kind enough to give me a (very generous) ang pow despite my age. I was a little shocked when I opened it and saw the amount. I must buy him lunch before I go back.
I also went to my mate Eddy’s house – haven’t seen him in quite a while and he just got married!
There were rabbit candy there! It was a trip down memory lane for the snacks in his house. I also found out that these White Rabbit candy (the ones with edible paper) is only sold in pharmacies in the Philippines while the other type with glossy wrap is sold in supermarkets!
A couple from the Philippines also came over to see how CNY is done in Sibu. Cain is originally from Florida and migrated to a lot of different places (and even did an Amazon cruise the local way last year) before settling in Cebu.
I’m glad I had my phone with me so I could take all these memorable photos while visiting and meeting old (and new) friends on Chinese New Year – after all, it only happens once a year!
There’s a large liquor selection at Eddy’s place and I noticed I can do something very nifty on my smartphone!
Short Mention:
There’s a function called Info-eyeTM on my Sony Xperia Z1. It activates your camera and can show you all sorts of information about the places and objects around you. It’s the best and most practical feature of AR (Augmented Reality) that I’ve ever seen and it’s propriety to Sony so you can only get it on this phone.
You can scan everything from buildings to barcodes and even text! Info-eyeTM allows you to *share* the results (where you are, bottles of wine you like etc) right from the camera app so I thought that was really cool! I found a nice bottle of wine which I’m not familiar with at Eddy’s place and we decided to use Info-eyeTM to see what goes well with it.
The results are simply amazing! It shows you everything from the location of the vineyard on Google Maps to search results and there’s also relevant information on wine pairing when you take a photo. The helpful wine bottle overlay guides you when you take your photo. We were all very amazed by this feature – I think I might have sold the Xperia Z1 to a lot of people just on this demonstration/experiment alone. 😀
Gong Xi Fatt Chai
Me too…paisay when i opened Arthur’s angpau :p
Happy CNY Kathy! 🙂
Yeah, he always gives me ang pow despite being so old dy. He says I need to disqualify myself by getting married. Haha!
Here’s to a great Year of the Horse to you and your family!
Hi Eddy!!! Looks like he’s slowly but surely catching up with me. Muahahahahaha!!!
Thanks for dropping by, buddy. Too bad I’m under the weather right now – could have spent a little more time with you…or could have gone around to buy nice stuff for you to try like I used to. Ummmm…I wonder who KT is…Kathy as in smallkucing?
No worries, we can always catch up next week! 🙂
My mom is still here anyway, so I’m spending more time with her.
Yeah, that’s the smallkucing Kathy! Thanks for having me at your open house, it was good to catch up with you and your missus and daughter.
Happy CNY to you and your family mate!
Oh My Goodness!!! This Arthur is such a rich Sibu Mayor who often pretends to be a poor retiree! Now kena caught liao! Bwahahahaha!!! I cannot imagine the amount that stunned you!!!
Yeah, it was a generous amount in the ang pow! 🙂
Haha! You’re right, it’s usually timber tycoons who gives out that kind of ang pows. I have once received a 4-figure ang pow, from an ex-boss and I asked him if he had given me the wrong one and he said no, it’s the right amount.
That was at an ex-company dinner and he had given everyone else except me, who wasn’t working at the company anymore. He could afford it though, his family is involved in timber and he owns a public listed company himself.
Happy CNY and Gong Hei Fatt Choy! That’s Arthur’s house? so big! haha
That’s not my house…unfortunately! Poor ol’ pensioner…small place, thankful that I’ve a roof over my head. 😉
That’s all we need in life – a roof over our heads! 🙂
I live near you anyway and I think my house is slightly smaller but it fits everyone nicely – mom, dad, me, sister, nephew and even her maid from Singapore! Haha!
Happy CNY mate! 🙂
Oh, that’s my friend’s house – it’s actually *two houses* made into one – you can see the divider in between, but it was covered up nicely. He managed to get the neighboring lot and made a lot of renovations to make the two lots into one large house with Balinese themes and lots of mirrors.
Gong Xi Fatt Choy to you and your family Ken!
Wow you also went to Arthur’s house! so nice wei. Gong xi gong xi! So mmm… how much was in the angpow packet? hehe
Gong Xi Fatt Choy to you and your family too! 🙂
Haha! I was taught by my dad to never comment on how much is in ang pow packets. I can’t remember exactly when it was, but it was in Kuching so I must have been less than 7 (since we only moved to Sibu when I joined primary school – my kindy was in Kuching).
I still remember the stern lecture he gave me when he caught me opening an ang pow when we were all walking out of the open house we visited – my dad’s friend. It was my sister, I remember, who asked me to open it to see how much is inside, and I kena from my dad coz I did it while still at the porch of the house.
Wow … I must visit Arthur too..err.. but then I am I’m married. Maybe can ask him for exception. 🙂
You come, I give to your kids lor, Chris…
Haha! Yeah, like Arthur said your kids will be eligible! 🙂
Arthur, I also want angpow !!!!! hahahahaha !!!
HB, I didn’t know Z1 can do such thing wei.. sounds like a cool phone lor.. my HTC One camera is giving me headache again after coming back from warranty. The purple tint effect T______T
Happy CNY Rose! 🙂
Yeah, I thought it was pretty cool too! You can only do it on the Xperia Z1 since it’s an app that’s only available to Sony. It has an outline for whatever you’re taking – in this case a wine bottle, and you just need to align it and snap and you’ll get all the relevant info.
I think it’s very nifty too! I’ve been showing it to my parents too. BTW, the 20.7 MP camera on the Z1 is also awesome, the audio is amazing and the photos are rich and vibrant! Sorry to hear about your problems…
I would recommend this if you’re having so much problems with your current phone – I’m very pleased with my Xperia Z1 😀
Oh dear, ahlost! You did not come by this year…and now it looks like you’re going to disqualify yourself liao lor… Once married, no more. Same goes to Huai Bin. Hint! Hint! Hehehehehe!!!!
Haha!
Okay, I think then maybe I might not get one from you anymore, or at the most get one last ang pow from you from the disqualification rules. 😀
Happy CNY again!! 😀
Cool app in your Z1!! Maybe you can become a successful handphone seller! XD
Haha! I doubt I’ll be going into that line! 🙂
Yeah, the Xperia Z1 is one cool smartphone. I love it to bits, besides the cool Info-eye app, there’s another app called Timeshift burst that captures images 2 seconds *before* and *after* you click the shutter so you don’t miss any pics! I think that’s really awesome.
Happy CNY to you too Charmaine!
gong hei fatt choi Huai Bin!
next time i go Sibu, i self-invite myself to your house ar STP XD
Come, come. Most welcome, anytime…
Happy CNY Constance! 🙂
Yeah, do come by and visit if you’re ever in Sibu. It’s the best place to celebrate CNY! There’s lots of fireworks, lion dances (although fewer as the year go by and with the current economy) and the Chinese are majority in some neighborhoods and towns so almost every other house is letting off some fireworks and firecrackers to bring in some festive cheer.
It’s the best place to celebrate CNY from the list of where I’ve spent CNY before (KL, Melbourne, Ipoh, NZ, Kuching, KK and Sibu). Nothing else beats it! 😀