It's been a mighty big treat to have our guest blogger, Daniel Garibaldi, chronicle our adventures over the last month. But I'm back... This post is already a bit out of date, but I wanted to add in a few extra pictures from February before it gets too far into March:
CNY: We'd heard that the celebration of Chinese New Year in KL is a big deal. But searching online it was hard to find where to go to see the celebration. Several local friends said to "try the malls." Really? But yes, our first CNY celebration was in Publika, one of our local malls. The lion dance, with two guys dancing in a colorful lion outfit (one man is the head, the other is the rump) and dragon dance (six or seven dancers moving the dragon via long poles) were pretty cool. But it felt an odd juxtaposition seeing the the lion dance, deep with Chinese tradition, inserted into the modern, over air conditioned space of Publika. Brian was thrilled (not) that the kids volunteered him to participate in a show with a magician.
Later, our condo held a pretty awesome lion dance, complete with acrobatics and throwing of mandarin oranges from the lion's mouth to the crowd -- all while perched up high on raised pillars. The lion dance is said to bring wealth and good fortune to businesses and there are countless private performances in homes and businesses across town. Daily during the 15 days following CNY, we could hear from our balcony lion dance drums echoing up from Mont Kiara and fireworks being set off each night.
Our return to KL from El Nido also found us making our first KL hospital visit. As we mentioned in our El Nido blog, Brian took a bad fall while jogging. As promised, here's a picture of Brian getting wheeled around in the hospital. Of course, the doc offered Brian crutches. But Brian soon found himself incapable of using the purchased crutches because the cuts on his hands were so deep that he bled every time he was on them for more than a couple minutes. :o(
Fortunately, on our outings to the mall, we found that we could borrow a wheel chair and the kids immensely enjoyed pushing Brian around. That was until they ran him into one too many people/objects/displays -- then I had the honor of pushing Brian with both kids catching a free ride on Bri's lap.
(Follow up -- Brian's healing very well. He's slowly eased back into jogging, he no longer needs bandages, and he's planning to get back to badminton next week.)
So traditionally the 15 days following CNY are marked with family reunions in which the host lays out a delicious spread and invites family and friends to celebrate. Our most wonderful Chinese New Year celebration came from a heartfelt invitation from one of Brian's Malaysian colleagues inviting us to her home. After much debate about what to wear (Is red really good luck? Is white really bad luck? What about a red top with white pants?), we joined the PUGSOM family for the celebration. The party kicked off by the tossing of the Yee Sang, a mix of shredded vegetables (carrots, daikon radishes, something green???) and other assorted savory goodies. Party goers dip their chopsticks into the Yee Sang, raise the pinch up high, and gives it a good toss. This custom, a symbol of prosperity and abundance, was developed by the ethnically Cantonese communities in Malaysia. So it's a Chinese New Year custom really only practiced in Malaysia (who exported it to Singapore and Indonesia with emigration). I think it is pretty cool that the ethnically Chinese Malaysians have developed traditions apart from their mainland relatives. It also helps that Yee Sang tastes really good and I'm already looking forward to having some again next year. I couldn't even get in for a good picture with all that tossing and eating going on.
In other news: The long awaited Bricks and Barrel pub finally opened in Desa Sri Hartamas, a neighborhood very near our home. Despite it being overpriced and my minor squabble with the manager when they refused an equal priced substitution, this place seems like it's going to become an establishment. Brian and the guys (plus Nicole) are already hanging out with the house Filipina cover band...
We also had a tremendously fun (and large) group of visiting PUGSOM faculty during February leading to many nights out for dinners and drinks. We even found a new durian fan or two.
CNY: We'd heard that the celebration of Chinese New Year in KL is a big deal. But searching online it was hard to find where to go to see the celebration. Several local friends said to "try the malls." Really? But yes, our first CNY celebration was in Publika, one of our local malls. The lion dance, with two guys dancing in a colorful lion outfit (one man is the head, the other is the rump) and dragon dance (six or seven dancers moving the dragon via long poles) were pretty cool. But it felt an odd juxtaposition seeing the the lion dance, deep with Chinese tradition, inserted into the modern, over air conditioned space of Publika. Brian was thrilled (not) that the kids volunteered him to participate in a show with a magician.Later, our condo held a pretty awesome lion dance, complete with acrobatics and throwing of mandarin oranges from the lion's mouth to the crowd -- all while perched up high on raised pillars. The lion dance is said to bring wealth and good fortune to businesses and there are countless private performances in homes and businesses across town. Daily during the 15 days following CNY, we could hear from our balcony lion dance drums echoing up from Mont Kiara and fireworks being set off each night.
Our return to KL from El Nido also found us making our first KL hospital visit. As we mentioned in our El Nido blog, Brian took a bad fall while jogging. As promised, here's a picture of Brian getting wheeled around in the hospital. Of course, the doc offered Brian crutches. But Brian soon found himself incapable of using the purchased crutches because the cuts on his hands were so deep that he bled every time he was on them for more than a couple minutes. :o(Fortunately, on our outings to the mall, we found that we could borrow a wheel chair and the kids immensely enjoyed pushing Brian around. That was until they ran him into one too many people/objects/displays -- then I had the honor of pushing Brian with both kids catching a free ride on Bri's lap.
(Follow up -- Brian's healing very well. He's slowly eased back into jogging, he no longer needs bandages, and he's planning to get back to badminton next week.)
So traditionally the 15 days following CNY are marked with family reunions in which the host lays out a delicious spread and invites family and friends to celebrate. Our most wonderful Chinese New Year celebration came from a heartfelt invitation from one of Brian's Malaysian colleagues inviting us to her home. After much debate about what to wear (Is red really good luck? Is white really bad luck? What about a red top with white pants?), we joined the PUGSOM family for the celebration. The party kicked off by the tossing of the Yee Sang, a mix of shredded vegetables (carrots, daikon radishes, something green???) and other assorted savory goodies. Party goers dip their chopsticks into the Yee Sang, raise the pinch up high, and gives it a good toss. This custom, a symbol of prosperity and abundance, was developed by the ethnically Cantonese communities in Malaysia. So it's a Chinese New Year custom really only practiced in Malaysia (who exported it to Singapore and Indonesia with emigration). I think it is pretty cool that the ethnically Chinese Malaysians have developed traditions apart from their mainland relatives. It also helps that Yee Sang tastes really good and I'm already looking forward to having some again next year. I couldn't even get in for a good picture with all that tossing and eating going on.
We also had a tremendously fun (and large) group of visiting PUGSOM faculty during February leading to many nights out for dinners and drinks. We even found a new durian fan or two.
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| The gang out at Taps. |
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| Another satisfied customer. Thank you, durian. |
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