Chinese New Year Celebration

15 days of Chinese New Year (CNY) fled past.. It hasn't been much change this year; visiting of relatives and friends.. indulging in food we only get to eat during CNY.. gambling (yes we're allow to gamble during this festive period!).. AND.. collecting of red packets ($$$)!!! Hee hee.. As long as you're not married, you can shamelessly collect them from married family members/ relatives /friends no matter how old you are. ;)

On the first day of CNY...

See how packed my grandma's place was. Everyone was walking around, catching up with one another.. laughing and eating. I didn't even know where to point my camera. lol

Grandparents visiting usually lasted for a few hours.. After which is 'BLACK JACK' time! I know I sound like a compulsive gambler but I'm not okay! That's the only time where beloved cousins sit together to have some fun, just like the good old days where playing catching and hide-and-seek was our greatest pleasure. For most of them, each bet would not exceed $3. For me, NEVER more than $2. I'm stingy. lol.

Oh this was fun too - the BINGO game!

Here's my ticket. I won the grand prize together with my mom (we happened to get the same result for the final round) and so we had to SHARE the prize! :( lol lol.

My cousin as the dealer, looking all serious.. lol. All thanks to him who made this game especially fun and exciting.

Gathering with friends...

Posing with mandarin oranges! (A pair of madarin oranges are something we need to bring to the family we visit during CNY - bringing blessings and wealth to them).

Poker cards time again.

Yusheng (raw salmon mixed with shredded vegetables and a variety of sauces) is what we eat during CNY too. It symbolizes abundance, prosperity and vigor.

After pouring various ingredients and mixing them together, everyone is suppose to toss the mixture HIGH up in the air (some would stand on the chair. HA) while saying auspicious greetings.  

Catching up with ex colleagues......

The person who took this pic clearly needs some basic photography lessons ..it looked much worse before editing.. -.- 

BEST colleagues ever!

Finally I'm going to show off all the red packets (symbolizes blessings and wealth) I've collected this CNY.

I feel so blessed!

All my blog friends who are huge fans of Hello Kitty, I know where your eyes are staring at... I keep some of the nicer red packets.. Ask me, and I'll send one over to you.. ;) (of course without the $ inside).

This HAS to be a lucky year for me; I won $9 on the first day.. $14 plus grand prize of Bingo game on the second.. $12 from some friends last week.. $6 on mahjong 3 days ago.. AND so many red packets!

Thank you for a beautiful CNY~ :)

PS:  If you're not familiar with our Chinese New Year tradition and are keen to learn more, you may visit this website.