It has become a tradition that we have dinner at my grandma’s place on Chinese New Year eve before everyone play Judi Bola or situs poker online with rolet. Online poker real money got chance to win bonuses, best slots offers, progressive jackpots, free slots, payouts, customer support and much more. Of course, it also deals with the legal aspect of gambling on slot machines to ensure safe play and payment methods. We can also check score 88 poker news and played casino at home. My uncles used to be the dealers when I was a kid but as that generation passed the dealer was me today. All my cousins come over to my grandma’s house to play and to spend some quality time together.
It’s small stakes only, just to pass the time until about 11 pm before I get ready to let off the firecrackers and fireworks. Thus, I ended up with this stack of 100 x RM 1 bills. I exchanged RM 100 for this and it’s in mint condition and still has the band on it.
You can see the start of the serial number – ACJ7895101
…up to ACJ7895200 – exactly 100 pieces of RM 1 notes.
I also had a special jackpot giveaway where you can automatically win RM 20 from the dealer (that would be me) if you get “2012” e.g. three cards – two 2’s and a 10. It’s all for fun, just money changing hands.
I only realized I’m up by RM 13 when I went to exchange the notes for proper ones.
It’s the most popular firecrackers around. Shun Lee Hung firecrackers. The yellow boxes of Chinese firecrackers that goes for RM 15 each. You can’t go wrong with these…but then again it’s helluva boring to wait for the tiny plinks and plonks while the 3,000 individual firecrackers go off.
…so how do we spice it up?
Just open the box, drag the first strip out as a “fuse” and keep the rest in the box.
Don’t hang it up.
LIGHT IT UP!
Imagine the stacked firecrackers going off all at once. It’s fast. It’s furious. It’s fun.
I only let off Chinese firecrackers on:
Chinese New Year Eve before reunion dinner
Chinese New Year 12:00 midnight
Chinese New Year 1st day before you head out in the morning for family visitations
Of course, there are many times you can actually do that, those are just three personal *musts*.
The acrid smell just reminds me of childhood. It’s a connection to the past.
Yes, there is commentary from my extended family. This was taken at my grandma’s place. It’s part of Chinese New Year. 🙂
Optional: You can pick up the banner with *insert prosperous couplet* (that I can’t read) and hang it on your gate if you want.
Setting out the fireworks and firecrackers for tonight to dry out in the afternoon sun for the last time. Yes, this actually has a logical basis behind it. I’ll explain some other time. Heh.
3:00 pm
Went to see Ah Beng The Movie – a Malaysian production. It’s a Chinese New Year movie, wanted to catch one before the reunion dinner later. Anyway, the ticketing counter wrote Cineplex 2 on the stub and we waited until 3:10 pm and finally went to ask at the counter if the movie’s starting.
It turns out it was at Cineplex 3. The person made a mistake. I complained and the person at the counter gave us RM 7 tickets instead of RM 9 – got RM 2 each back and got the RM 7 “movie night” tickets instead. I was pissed off coz I hate missing the start of movies but that’s the best they could do. Oh well, that’s Sibu for you.
It’s CNY eve so it was good to catch a CNY movie. 🙂
5:45 pm
I’m about to head out for the extended family reunion dinner. I’m bringing some Chinese firecrackers along, it’s a tradition to let it off before the dinner. I can hear my neighbors already – the sound of firecrackers going off is almost unbroken, everyone starts burning the long Chinese fireworks before the CNY eve dinner.
My dad filmed me playing with this old skool traditional triangle shaped fireworks. It’s called Judas Belt in the Philippines when it’s in a long string, but we get single ones over here – the Chinese name translates to “triangle firecrackers”. I do not recommend you play with firecrackers like I do, I’m actually pretty blase about these things coz I’ve been letting them off for as long as I can remember.
The video is actually quite funny, you can hear my dad’s commentary. Heh.
6:30 pm
The Chinese New Year eve reunion dinner! This is my grandma. I really like her. She’s one of those people that’s cheerful and jovial against all odds. Always love spending time with her when I’m back.
We’re Heng Huas and one cultural thing about the CNY eve dinner is that we don’t eat rice. We eat longevity noodles tossed with lard. It’s not the Foochow type where you eat it in soup – that’s actually totally not cool with Heng Huas coz eating soup during the reunion dinner is supposed to make it rain.
Heng Huas eat dry longevity noodles tossed with lard and some deep fried shallots for the reunion dinner. I love the stuff, it’s very flavorful and tastes good with the dishes. That’s one of my favorite on the plate – braised pork with fatt choy (it’s a type of bacteria, seriously).
I’ve always made it a point to get some fireworks every year during Chinese New Year to properly get into the festive spirit. I have a lot of photos of the variety available this year at the store but I took it using my iPhone, which was stolen during CNY so I’m left with the ones taken using the digicam I used to film this year’s pyrotechnics. T_T
No matter – even though my budget for firecrackers and fireworks this year is significantly reduced, I still managed to get some gems.
25 shot cake configuration (RM 100)
This 25 shot cake contains 5 different types “effects” in a cake configuration. You’ll notice that this is taller than the other one – the reason for the height merely indicates how high it will go. Taller cake configurations shoots the conflagration higher up in the sky while more compact ones goes lower.
It also has a larger diameter, which allows for bigger fireworks. However, the optimal viewing angle has to be taken into account – you’ll need to be further away to fully appreciate this without craning your necks. The shorter ones can be let off at a lesser distance and it still goes high enough so you can admire the bursts of color and sound.
Here’s the video of this firework in action. It’s rather disappointing since the next one (which is half the price) produces a better effect. I’ll give this a pass next year.
49 shot cake configuration (RM 50)
This beautifully made firework cake produces 7 different type of effects with an amazing ending. Kudos to the manufacturer for this impressive display.
This is the video of this cake – there’s a nice variety among the shots and the climax is beautiful. I’ll say this is the best value for money this year.
This comes highly recommended and I’ll be getting more of this next year. 🙂
2” display shell (RM 15)
This is a consumer grade firework that shoots out 2 inch shells instead of the usual 1.5 inch ones. I was very surprised at the price since a similar looking 1.5” display shell was going for RM 30.
It contains 6 individual shells which you put into a disposable cardboard launcher (included) before lighting the fuse.
This is what it looks like – you can see that I accidentally burnt my fingers on the fuse in the video. Heh!
I finally realized why this box of “fireworks” is so cheap. It’s not fireworks at all – the 1.5” display shells launches with a burst of color while this just produces a sound.
It’s basically just a glorified firecracker but for the price and the sonic effect, I can’t complain.
The only downside to the cylindrical design is that sometimes the entire shell does not eject, leaving the cylinder still inside the launcher. This can be a Bad Thing (TM) if you don’t realize it coz if you put another one in, it’ll stack up and run the risk of blowing up on the ground.
I’ll still buy this for the bargain basement price but be sure to check the launcher after you let one off to see that the shell has been fully ejected.
Anyway, I got this idea to play Jackass Badminton during Chinese New Year – this requires two people with two rackets. One person lights the firecracker and serves, and you both hit the burning firecracker with your badminton rackets until it explodes. I didn’t get to play it but Willie managed to find some original Thunder Kings when this idea was conceived.
Thunder King / Crazy Bang
This is what the original Thunder Kings are like – it’s a huge ass firecracker with much more flash powder and explosive potential than other similar high grade firecrackers (e.g. chai lei, da di lei gong etc).
Interestingly, this time it’s labeled Crazy Bang and it is ALSO called da di lei kong (literally “gigantic earth thunder”) in Chinese. It comes in a pack of 5. There is no fuse visible – you’ll have to break the paper at the top to pull the fuse out.
Check out the video of this baby.
Despite the similarity in name to Da Di Crackers, this is much more powerful than the red ones. It’s exactly the same as Thunder King with the base removed.
Intense. I remember people using this during my schooldays with a delayed fuse (usually a mosquito coil) in the toilets to break the cistern. Pity the fool who is taking a dump when one of this goes off.
Chap Goh Meh marks the last day of Chinese New Year and traditionally sees the whole family sitting down for dinner. Unfortunately, none of our family members are in one place this year so my grandma did an early one with all of my favorite dishes.
I’ve always loved fish cooked with soy sauce. I can’t remember the name of this fish but it’s kinda like empurau in texture.
Century eggs are one of my favorite condiments…however, I only tend to eat it in Sibu for some reason. I love the rich egg yolk and it’s an instant appetizer for me. 🙂
This is hands down my favorite vegetable. It’s called chai bo and cooked with a bit of sugar so the taste is slightly sweet. It’s one of the rare foods that hits the umami G-spot and I can eat a spoonful with every bite. I love this and I could never find it anywhere else except at my grandma’s. It’s her specialty. <3
Pork leg with chicken feet. This unique combination turned up at the table during the Chinese New Year reunion dinner with fatt choy (black moss) and I was instantly hooked! I love the texture of pork leg – the chunky meat and exquisitely sinful layer of fat is divine. The pairing with chicken feet is quite ingenious – it’s the brainchild of one of my aunties. It takes hours to cook so everything comes out tender and juicy.
I ate so much I nearly burst but I’m so hungry right now it makes me want to repeat this gastronomic feat again. Home cooked meals with your family is the best – I only get to experience this once a year.
I used to have a bit of a phobia with these crackers – it’s a double report affair, with the initial primer launching the entire cracker skywards before exploding with a loud bang. I’ve never thought of the initial blast as an explosion, it’s the second one that’s the real banger.
Once when I was a kid (with little fingers which would have been mutilated by more powerful firecrackers) one of these crackers collapsed when I lit it. I was in one hell of a dilemma – these things are supposed to shoot towards the sky (thus the name) – but it actually goes the direction it’s pointed to unless it’s firmly on its base.
Anyway, the fuse was going and I got my panties all in a twist thinking of whether to risk handling the toppled cracker and put it upright, or let it be. If I had let it be it would have gone into my house and maybe shattered a window or two so in the end I did a bit of a compromise and kicked it into the drain.
Now, this puts a totally new spin (no pun intended) on things – the second and more powerful blast will go where the cracker is oriented so it’s a bit like Roulette. Luckily both explosions happened in the drain but that scared me more than a little. As I grew older we took to lighting the cracker and throwing it into the sky and dodging the second blast as it came down, it was the sort of stupid fun we got up to during Chinese New Year and neighbors hated us. Heh!
I grabbed a pack when I went fireworks shopping during CNY eve to see if it’s still like what I remembered from my childhood.
The funniest thing is near the end of the video when I got startled by the cracker while my mom was a cool as a cucumber, still steady with the digicam. Haha!
Anyway, I haven’t played with these for a long time and the problem with it is that the initial report (which launches the cracker into the sky) is a propellant of sorts…and it’s HIGHLY (no pun intended) variable. Made in China, yo!
It usually goes up to 12 feet or more but this one barely made 7 feet (judging from the lamp post) and had a diagonal flight path so I was apprehensive and recoiled at the report. I still find it hilarious.
The weird thing is, as a kid you remember these crackers as being one of the loudest things on earth but as you grow older the sound seems…diminished. The sonic effect isn’t what I remembered from my youth.
…or maybe I’m just going deaf from blasting music from headphones.
Yup, it’s a tradition along with fireworks and heavy drinking – the third component of celebrations would be gambling with blackjack el arab! I don’t have photos of the family session coz I lost my iPhone but I have several other ones after that:
In-Between
This is a poker derivative where you get dealt two cards and you draw from the deck to see if you can get a card with a denomination in the middle (thus the name “in between”). You can opt to wager as much as you want up to the limit of the pot. There is no distinction between spades or diamonds and a card of similar value would result in a penalty of double pay. also you can enjoy situs poker online here.Before playing one must check that the casinos and gambling sites,you are prefering should be on the most popular platform of gambling i.e https://bestsitesuk.casino/not-on-gamstop/.
You contribute a predetermined amount into the pot when you first start and roll until it’s empty. The pot was over RM 600+ at one point. You can opt for the entire pot if you have a good hand but if you draw a similar card, you’ll have to pay double – RM 1,800. This tends to make everyone cautious unless you’re attempting to win back your losses. I won about RM 200+ from this (after minimal fluctuating movement in my loss-profit – the most I was up was by RM 300 before paying RM 200) and reimbursed Jeanie for her RM 100 loss.
Poker Terpercaya is also one of the popular online poker platform to play poker, for those who love to play poker online anytime or to consume their time by playing poker. It Provides You to play numbers of games as much as you want.
Four Color
I have completely no idea how to play this – it’s like Chinese chess on Mahjong tiles and you have to make a set of matching components which totals 11 points (minimum) to win. This is my first time playing it and I was using Jeanie’s money to play – it’s a game between her two sisters and brother.
It took me a while to figure out how to win and how to calculate points but the rule of thumb is that if you get the “highest denomination” (think of it as an Ace of Spades) – a tile with the “Emperor” calligraphy on it – it’s calculated as 1 point AND RM 1 at the same time.
I managed to win about RM 20 in a single game due to an abundance of Emperor tiles and it’s quite an interesting game – but I’m still not very good in arranging sets. It’s a bit complicated to explain the rules coz I’m not sure of it myself. 😡
Anyway, Chinese New Year is not over yet – I’m heading over to my grandma’s tomorrow (technically later tonight) for dinner and there are some developments on the personal front which I guess I’ll share when I’m not so sleepy. 😉
It is a source of our pride that the residents of Sibu put out the best display of citizen sponsored fireworks during Chinese New Year annually. Despite the ban on the sale and use of firecrackers and fireworks most people still let loose every year – spending incredible amounts of hard earned money on pyrotechnics.
Unlike most other places, we can get firecrackers and fireworks by just strolling into certain shops, where they are displayed in all their glory. It’s nowhere close to the good ol’ pre-ban days where there’s a booth selling firecrackers outside supermarkets every meter or so but I take solace that despite the ban we still manage to put out an impressive barrage every year.
Most of my neighbors were out in force, and the most popular item this year is pre-loaded “ground cakes” which makes a sustained burst of colors and sound easier than one shot shell launchers.
CNY Eve in Sibu!
This is what Sibu looks like at the stroke of midnight on Chinese New Year Eve – it’s awesome and the smoke from all the firecrackers and fireworks quickly overwhelm the street, making visibility poor and seeping into your houses until everything smells like sulfur.
It’s all good though and the best part of CNY for me! Happy Chinese New Year 2011! 🙂
It so happens that it has become a bit of a tradition for us to gather at Pan Box, book a room and a case of beer and sing (in a completely off tune manner) karaoke. It’s more about having fun than anything and several songs are bound to make the play list:
Hotel California
Friends (it’s a Chinese song – the one in the video)
Isabella (a Malay song from a movie)
Truly 1Malaysia. Heh! My bro Eddie and a bunch of us usual suspects turns up and I usually need assistance to walk to the car by the time it’s over. This is the inaugural photo with my bro.
This year, we’re joined by J who I’ve been hanging out a lot with. It’s really funny coz years ago she told me I’m a total asshole (not in these words exactly), but now we’re really good friends. 🙂
Anyway, the neighbours have been letting off the pre-reunion dinner firecrackers for the past 3 hours (damn, they start early over here) and I couldn’t take a nap but it’s all good coz I’m heading over to my grandma’s for the reunion dinner now!
Happy Chap Goh Meh everyone! For those who understand, Chap Goh Meh in Hokkien literally means 15th night, the very fucking last day of Chinese New Year. I didn’t plan anything for the night, since I just got back from Langkawi and was nursing the tsunami from the duty free liquor available there.
Anyway, I was on Twitter and Jerine tweeted that she wanted to drink some vodka. It’s fine with me, we’re both orphans in this big fucking cold city called KL. However, I didn’t have any mixers (real men drink it neat from the bottle) so she brought a shitload of decidedly feminine mixers over.
She came over to my studio with mint leaves, Sprite and Yahweh knows what else.
It was good though. I was damn sleepy and nursing a fever but I haven’t had dinner yet, so Jerine brought over some Nando’s and I ordered Domino’s to balance out the meal. Yeah, I know, it’s not Chinese food by any stretch of the imagination, but hell, you make do right?
Stranger in a strange land and all that.
This is our yee sang courtesy of Eiling. She brought it over during the lobster cookout but we didn’t manage to eat it so I figured this is the last chance for CNY 2010 to be doing some good ol’ lou sang – see our wishes for the year. Jerine has a bit of an unorthodox wish, but hell, who am I to comment. Haha!
It was good, despite the Fast Food Inc spread that dominated our Chap Goh Meh dinner.
The best thing about Chap Goh Meh (which is supposed to be a reunion) is that you’ll be spending it with people so three cheers for Jerine for taking the trouble of catching a cab over to my place, cleaning up after and eating crap with me during the last day of Chinese New Year! =D
