CNY in Penang 2011

The first day of Chinese New Year in Penang is always a busy day. And this year, the busi-ness escalated by 6-7 fold.

My father-in-law, being the oldest in the family line, or something like that, gets a visit from the relatives on the first day. Hence, we hold an open house approximately from 9.30 am till about 5 pm. Under normal circumstances, the relative comes in staggered batches, making entertaining a bit easy for us.

They would normally be entertained in the living room with drinks and CNY cookies upon arrival, until the next group of visitors arrive. They would then be ushered to the dining room where satay is provided. When the third group of visitor reaches our house, the first group (who would have finished enjoying the satay by then) will know that it’s time to make a move and make room for the second group to enjoy their satay.

All these years, somehow the timing seem to have coordinated itself perfectly, but this year, all hell broke loose. All, except for one group, came at more or less the same time and that was between 9.30 to 10 am. Hence, from 9.30 am till about 11.00 am, there were like 35 persons in the house.

You can imagine the chaos and the confusion (forget about calling my relatives by their chinese designation like Jee Khor, etc, etc. That day, everyone was “uncle and auntie” to me).. :-D

Wrong “ang-pows” were also given out it seems.

Everyone attacking the satay. But the satay is super succulent and yummylicious..!!! Feel free to click on any picture for a clearer view.

Then someone realized that I was taking picture, and quickly they put up a nice pose, before continuing to rummage through the satay box..

The other end of the dining table. An old family friend also decided to visit on that day, an Indian family..

There were like a few families here and in the living room..

At the peak of if. The living room was full and the dining room was like this laa... -___-

Keong Hui Lay & Keong Ai Lay caught in the act of raiding the satay box. Can pose so nicely some more..

One end of the living room..

                                            Leong, June & Hui Lay

                                                 Eve & Amos

Cousins catching up, between the living room and dining room...

No place to sit, had to stand between the living room and dining room, and anywhere else that doesn't get in the way of anyone, like sticking to the wall or something.. :P

By 1 pm, after everyone has left and we had our lunch, it was FREEDOM for all of us. Our duty was done for the day. We could take a long and peaceful nap that afternoon.

ST's face after everyone has left..

That's me, the photographer.
Picture too small? Here's another one..

 

Sorry I didn't managed to take picture of the scrumdidlyumcious satay, coz the hoards took us all by surprise. But this year, we had a lot left, probably because of the crowd size, lack of space and proper dining facility. Most of our guests had to eat while standing or walking around. Hence, I don't think they ate like previous years. That's why I ate 20 sticks on that day (excuses, excuses). Yeah, you heard right! 20 sticks...!!!

--moon

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