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Happy Chinese New Year 2012 everyone!

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10:30 am

firecrackers for chinese new year

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

cny reunion 2012

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 hua noodles

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’ll keep on adding stuff until tonight!

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! 😀

2011 fireworks and firecrackers review

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fireworks firecrackers review

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

fireworks review

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)

5 effect

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.

cake fuse

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)

7 effect

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)

display shell box

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.

2 inch shells

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!

display shells

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.

display launcher

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.

cracker

I also got some double report firecrackers this year – click on the link to view what that looks like.

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

crazy bang cracker

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).

crazy bang

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.

crazy bang fuse

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.

crazy bang effect

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. smirk

spent fireworks

It’s been a good Chinese New Year!

I can’t wait for the next one. 🙂

Our advance Chap Goh Meh dinner

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chap goh meh

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.

good fish

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 egg

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. 🙂

chai bo

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 chicken feet

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.

chap goh meh dinner

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.

Happy Chap Goh Meh everyone! 🙂

Chong Tien Pow – Rushing Skywards Cracker

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chung tien pow

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.

cracker

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.

light

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.

history

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 still do stupid things sometimes like lighting firecrackers indoors.

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!

chalk

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. smirk

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.

fuse

…or maybe I’m just going deaf from blasting music from headphones.

More on firecrackers and fireworks when I do my annual Chap Goh Meh roundup. 🙂

Please do not try this at home!

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stealth

I’m quite fond of pranks of the practical nature and once I get an idea into my head, it’s nigh impossible to push it out. I’ll just keep thinking about it until I do it.

left for dead

Anyway, while my parents were out, I got a friend to take a photo of me lying prone on the ground. This by itself is nothing to write home about but what I’m about to do is – mischief. 😉

cctv

I sat at the home CCTV monitoring screens until my dad and mom drove up the street and rushed out and projected this image right in the middle of the road:

prank

ZOMG I could literally hear the ABS kick in as my dad braked HARD to avoid hitting what he thought was a person lying dead in the middle of the road. smirk

I got a good earful from my parents about practical jokes taken too far but it just shows how amazingly vivid and realistic the projection is.

dad car

I repeat – Do not try this at home or at all! No homo sapiens or vehicles were harmed during the prank but it’s still a stupid (but funny) thing to do.

You might be wondering how managed to lug a projector with such speed and grace to catch them just before they pulled in and the answer is…I didn’t.

nikon s1100pj

I used the Nikon Coolpix S1100pj to do it. This compact digital camera has an awesome built-in projection feature that allows incredibly clear photos to be projected onto any surface.

There are a lot of applications I can think of for this:

inducement

Projecting an image of your favorite dish when you only have leftover rice to eat. This is psychologically like the story of the poor man who ate his bowl of rice while savoring the aromas from his rich neighbors’ cooking from outside the kitchen. You know how the story goes – the rich man (being an ass) demanded compensation and the wise judge agreed that gold coins should be paid in reparation…except the rich man only got to hear the clinking of the coins. LOL! Justice at it’s best!

airline

You can also use it to project images of food on the flight back from a long vacation after you used up all your money and can’t afford to buy an in-flight meal but I suspect this would make your hunger worse.

nikon s1100pj projection

What the Nikon Coolpix S1100pj really excels in is showing vacation photos to friends and family. There is a retractable kickstand which you can use to tilt the camera and an IR remote to flick through the photos but I like manually going through the images with the touchscreen – it’s just personal preference.

I just returned from another vacation in Europe so I was showing off the photos of my travels to my parents (to make up for the prank I pulled). They’re heading to Europe later this year too so I thought I’ll give them the heads up on where to go when they’re there.

There are other things I liked about the Nikon Coolpix S1100pj:

The HD movie recording feature

tilt

The tilt sensor that knows when you’re holding it horizontally or vertically and adjust the menu orientation automatically

The 14.1 MP sensor and the option to shoot in traditional (4:3) or widescreen (16:9) aspect ratios.

projection

However, the best thing about the Nikon Coolpix S1100pj is still the built-in projection feature. I’ve shown this to numerous friends and they were all amazed by the bright and vivid projected images. You don’t have to crowd around to sneak a glimpse at the LCD screen anymore – that’s so 2008 – just project it for everyone to see.

You can project it on almost any surface – even on the ground! 🙂

lainey

I’ll be the coolest kid on the block with this!

Gambling during Chinese New Year

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in between poker

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

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/.

in between pot

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

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.

emperor tiles

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.

tiles

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. 😡

cny visiting

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. 😉

Happy CNY everyone!

Chinese New Year Eve in Sibu

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cny fireworks

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.

roman candle

It’s all good though and the best part of CNY for me! Happy Chinese New Year 2011! 🙂

The CNY karaoke session

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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)

eddie

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.

jeanie

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. 🙂

reunion firecrackers

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 CNY everyone! 🙂

Prosperous Mee Sua

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Okay, it’s listverse time! What do you need to do before Chinese New Year kicks down your door and sprays you in the face with FOX 5.3 million SHU OC pepper spray?

sibu haircut

Well, the obvious thing is to (as my grandma would put it) GET A FUCKING HAIRCUT. I’m totally down with that, I totally understand that an untamed mane is a liability when all and sunder gathers around during CNY eve a.k.a. The Reunion Dinner (TM).

I still haven’t figured out what to tell them when they bug me about not being hitched when I’m 30 but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. smirk

jeanie movie

Anyway, I’ve been hanging out with Jeanie the past couple of days and last night we ate this super sized portion of Prosperous Mee Sua (longevity noodles) for RM 18.50++.

It’s pretty good – there are lots of goods in the middle – squid, prawns, mushrooms etc etc but what makes this dish from Tanahmas special is the way it’s served. Mee sua in Sibu is usually soggy and drowned in chicken broth – this version is a crispy and soaked in gravy and it’s very tasty!

mee sua sibu

The portion is a bit too large though coz my stomach has shrunk during my hibernation (not eating for 24 hours) so it took us quite an effort to even make a dent in the dish.

I told Jeanie that according to custom, you’re not supposed to break the strands of mee sua lest the Powers That Be/God/Sol Invictus/(insert deity) frowns upon you and casually strikes off a few years from your lifespan in His righteous anger (at least according to my paternal grandma).

jeanie mee sua

I reckon we sacrificed 20 years (cumulative) of our lifespans coz we couldn’t finish the generous portion but still it was a good dish and I loved the goodies in the middle.

Chap Goh Meh 2010

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chap goh meh 2010

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.

jerine chap goh meh

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.

jerine lay

She came over to my studio with mint leaves, Sprite and Yahweh knows what else.

jerine yee sang

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?

jerine lou sang

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!

jerine me

It was good, despite the Fast Food Inc spread that dominated our Chap Goh Meh dinner.

jerine

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

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