Of all the festive celebrations that come and go through the year, my favourite of all would have to be Chinese New Year.
Families & friends host open houses, celebrating the joyous event with lots of food, drinks and warm smiles. The color of red flood the streets, buildings are brightly lit, and oriental symbols wishing a happy and prosperous year decorates the cityscape. This is Chinese New Year in Malaysia.
However, I cannot say the same for Australia. The streets of Melbourne remain unchanged as people roam ignorant and unaware.
So celebrating Chinese New Year in Melbourne would require a different mind set.
This new years, I made it a little more special by preparing a surprise feast at TamVilla!
Oranges! Although they aren’t the proper mandarin orange, Chinese New Year is never the same without them.
To start off, I prepped some snacks. There was Seaweed Biscuit Crackers & Hot Peanut Balls, followed by a serving of Tau Sa Pie.
When dinner time rolled around, I plated some “Fish” Siu Mai & Man Tao as an entree.
And as a main, we had a whole Roast Duck a la our local Chinese Restaurant!
Tish also cooked up a delicious serving of Tofu & Beef.
And to top it all off, a bottle of Single Malt Glen Morray Scotch Whiskey! (Man, I am getting old…)
Chinese New Year is a time to celebrate with family. But although my family was scattered across the globe, I got to spend the beginning of the Dragon New Year with my Aussie family.
My housemate Daniel had never heard of, let alone experience, Chinese New Year, which was a treat I’m sure he enjoyed. He’s even learn to say “Gong See Fa Chai”!
Gong Xi Fa Chai from the TamVilla family!