Happy Chinese New Year!

Chinese New Year at the "Ma Family" clan is a complete different experience. Week prior to New Year's, Grandma Katy and all the other Grand Aunties (Mary, Ellie, and Sally) make the New Year snacks from scratch. Many many hard labor goes into it.

New Year's Eve

On New Year's Eve, Grandma Katy, Grandpa Tom (they are the well-known chefs in the Ma Family clan) along with the assistance of Grand Aunty Mary and Grand Aunty Ellie are busy all day long in the common kitchen cooking up more than 12+ dishes!! The house was filled wonderful aroma of yummy food throughout the day.

As for Erik, we prepared him for the evening festivities by helping him take a long 3 hour nap in the afternoon!:o) hee hee Erik was having wonderful time having to be pampered and babied by all of his Grand Aunties and Grand Uncles. The entire clan of more than 26+ family members descended onto the main house in Phuensholing just to enjoy the very delicious food! Erik was able to play and enjoy himself also until way past his normal bedtime; he stayed up until 10:30pm!

Of course, the party still continues way past midnight! We could hear laughter throughout the house and a bit of drinking games going around. Grand uncle Bobby even showed how to make your own Irish Bailey when the real stuff ran out :o) hahaha!

New Year's Day

Bright and early on New Year's Day, everybody dresses their very best and give offerings to the ancestors and Gods for blessing us our good fortune. Afterwards, its a whirlwind of family events that will go past the the afternoon and well in to the early evening!

Erik woke up exactly at 6:45am this morning, clapping his hands and smiling away. He keeps saying "bird" in Cantonese! Seriously, Daddy and Mummy are now quite worried that when we return to reality (i.e. in the States), Erik will definitely miss all the attention and things that he's experiencing now.

Also, Erik was able to get a lot of red packet (Lucky Money) today! WhooHoo! For all those who may not know, being the youngest in the family have the utmost advantage when it comes to Chinese New Year as all the older aunts, uncles, and siblings must give red packets of lucky money! :o) hee hee. Erik will be the oldest of his generation but for now, he's the youngest one also! hee hee

After the tradition of family picture taking, we all go around the property to visit the different houses. First, we visited Grand Uncle Bobby and Aunty Dinki's house to wish them a prosperous new year. We were given lots of yummy snacks and drinks. Then, it was off to Grand Uncle John and Aunty Sonom's house for more snacks and drinks! Erik had a blast discovering that there were even MORE area for him to explore!

Then, when all the visits are done. We came back to the main house and began a good game of "10 1/2". Think Blackjack but instead of getting 21 you must get 10 1/2! :o) hahaha. It was a great game for Daddy and Mummy! We went in with 200 (local currency) each, and came out 150 and 110 ahead! WhooHoo! With all the Red Packets we had to give out this year...Whew! Thank goodness we recovered something, right?! ;o) hahaha!