Hi there!
Hope you are having a great week so far! This is a continuation to my previous blog regarding the Chinese New Year Eve celebration: The event at George Square and the long awaited reunion dinner :p
THE EVENT AT GEORGE SQUARE
So, my CNY eve commenced with attending an event in George Square. It was basically the usual performances commonly seen back home during the festive season. They include Lion Dances, Dragon Dances, Martial Arts Performance as well as the Traditional Chinese Dance.
First of all, it wasn’t a great start to 7th Feb. Bloody rain and wind. Oh don’t you just love a typical Glasgow weather…. -_- Not gonna lie, we almost called it off but to hell with the rain and the 40kmph(is this how you describe the speed or what?? Do I even bother?? Oh sod that!) wind! Ain’t gonna let that stop me from havin fun yo! Anyway, we braved the weather and walked to George Square. We didn’t manage to get a good view but hopefully the pictures do justice.. Here’s what happened 🙂
Well all the performances were amazing but my ultimate favourite has definitely got to be the Lion Dance. I have been(and still is, and will always be) a huge fan of this particular dance. I have no idea what element of the dance that hooked me in but I think it may have to be the drums. It gets me everytime! Every CNY back in Malaysia, there’s always an amass amount of lion dance performances everywhere I go, from the local shops to individual homes and I remember seeing one every year at one of my neighbour’s home two houses away from where I live.
These performers always arrive in lorries displaying two flags(decorated in Chinese characters which I do not understand :/… I know, I am such a disgrace as I should know how to read and speak a Chinese dialect but I don’t…*cue the bells from Game of Thrones and a woman shouting SHAME!..) and the moment my eyes spot these lorries, I’m regressed to being a 5 year old. Being the child that I am, I always have to be at the front of the crowd and the earliest of the earliest as I love watching the performers prepare for their show :). And as soon as the first beat of the drums are heard, Oh My God, my heart starts beating rapidly(I swear it was about to explode) that I could even hear my own heartbeat.
This performance still amazes me to this day as I find the rhythm of the drums riveting. Even without music, the beat of the drums is music on its own.
Another plus point, the way the STUNNING handmade lion costumes, I repeat STUNNING HANDMADE lion costumes moves to the cadence is just pure art. It’s something so beautiful, I ended up with my jaw wide to the ground at the end of every performance. You can watch these performances on YouTube if you want to know more about it 🙂
Yes, that was the first part of my CNY eve. We came home drenched from the rain and shivering from the cold strong wind but we got back feeling like we were back in Malaysia again ❤
ALAS! THE REUNION DINNER
Hell yeah! It’s food time!!
Preparation started at 4.30pm with all the chopping and peeling. Dinner was a pot luck, different from last year where we had hot pot(or we call it steamboat). A pot luck is technically just us cooking a variety of dishes and let me tell you… I had never cut that much meat in my entire life! The amount of meat that was used scared the living shit out of me like imagine eating that at one go.. I’d get so sick of it I’d puked…
BEHOLD! The dishes!
- Boiled Meat Wanton in Soup Base
2. Stir- Fried Sambal(Spicy) Prawns
3. Steamed Fish in Soy Sauce
4. The Infamous Roasted Pork Belly
5. Stir-Fried Mixed Vegetables
6. Braised Pork Belly in Soy Sauce(and also the sexy eggs)
7. And of course, a CNY reunion dinner isn’t complete with a delicious and must-made Lou Sang(Prosperity Toss): Raw Shredded Vegetables and sometimes raw meat(like salmon) mixed with variety of condiments and sauces
Three words for you: BEST FOOD COMA
We were all monsters that night.. Just to let you know..
The evening continued with our usual bonding session filled with extreme fun and laughter 😀 We even made our own firecracker….
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All in all, it was a fun and spectacular night. No wait, it was a good day overall 😀 So yeah that was it!
We were exhausted by the end of the night, and by 12 am, we called it a day. Had the best sleep in years! (cause I was full with food :P)
True enough, CNY wouldn’t be the same without these guys and I love them to bits!
Well that was my 7th of Feb! By the way, there will be a vlog about this day so do keep your eyes peeled(I will still inform you anyway) and I hope you enjoyed this blog 😀
Do any of you have celebrations as grand as this? Would really wanna know!
In the meantime, until the next blog, have a great day/week ahead and take care! ❤
Eunice signing off…
In sessions with..... 