cny2008: day one chillout
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the first day of Chinese New Year sees most folks visiting their (most) senior relatives and elders, to offer well wishes of good health and continued prosperity ... and let's not deny it, for the ang pows (auspicious chinese red packets filled with CASH! muahahaha) - which meant for children and younglings, and sometimes even for unwed adults (*cough*) ... altho after a fashion, it is a tad embarassing to be accepting red packets at my age (but i have no grumbles with cash LOL) ... hence, i would/will bare with my elders' yearly incessant memory-laned comments on how tall i was when i was but ye cute toddler running about (without directly asking why im not married as yet, with my own kids running about) ... altho my shoulder-length hair has begun to affect their comments, or rather, lack thereof (heh).
for the past few years, the Heng Family has kept pretty relaxed about the 1st-day-visitation "tradition", opting for a more chilled-out atmos at home (also grand-parents have all passed-on), with visits-proper starting only on the second day of CNY (hence i have time in-between gorging myself silly on new year-goodies blogging this ... *burp*), with the rest of the subsequent days left for friends and collegues.
the 1st day usually starts late with a simple all-vegetarian meal (which is believed to ensure longevity, in Buddhist-belief), with the previous night before staying up as late as we can, for what we call Shou3 Sui4 (守岁 / "Keeping Virgil"), ie: staying awake and "reminisce about the year that has passed while welcoming the year that has arrived", which is believed to bless our parents with long life and good health. this is done most times with inane television programming keeping us company in lieu of gaps in coversation - with last night's (properganda-ish) focus on the relief efforts of the Chinese Government in lieu of the devastating snow-freeze situation in China ... and the warmth of having the entire family sitting in front of the telly, all healthy and awake, is already a blessing in itself.
meanwhile, hoping you folks have a fab and chilled 1st CNY-day as well! and for those out on visitation: May Your Ang Pows be bountiful! LOL
