Welcoming in the Year of the Ox

Today is the eve of Chinese New Year. The biggest event of any Chinese New Year's Eve is the reunion dinner every family will have. So not forgetting this tradition, we had a little feast and invited the family over. We were also fortunate to have our friends, Selena and Phillip, over for the weekend.

It is also believed that the color red is commonly worn during Chinese New Year because red will scare away evil spirits and bad fortune. So here we are in red...


Here are other beliefs :

For Good luck

• Opening windows and/or doors is considered to bring in the good luck of the new year. (It's going to be really cold tonight)
  
• Switching on the lights for the night is considered good luck to 'scare away' ghosts and spirits of misfortune that may compromise the luck and fortune of the new year. (maybe the night light counts)
  
• Sweets are eaten to ensure the consumer a "sweet" year. (chocolates are sweet. So that counts)
  
• It is important to have the house completely clean from top to bottom before New Year's Day for good luck in the coming year. (however, cleaning the house on or after New Year's Day is frowned upon)(Hmm... I tried. But the house is never completely clean, but I can be sure I won't be cleaning tomorrow :))
  
• Some believe that what happens on the first day of the new year reflects the rest of the year to come. Chinese people will often gamble at the beginning of the year, hoping to get luck and prosperity. (so I should play poker on Facebook?)
  
• Wearing a new pair of slippers that is bought before the new year, because it means to step on the people who gossip about you. (Check. Yes, I am wearing one. So stop gossiping about me you people)
  
• The night before the new year, bathe yourself in pomelo leaves and some say that you will be healthy for the rest of the new year. (Would showering in handmade soap that smells like pomelo work?)
  

Kong Hee Fatt Choy!!!

Weekend in Sneads Ferry

Here are some photos from our July 4th weekend in Sneads Ferry at Ronald and Tammie's place.
Details of our trip is posted here.

The dock

Jason raking for clams

Ronald knee-boarding

Tammie on the tube

Tammie, Asia and Bernie

Partied all afternoon

Jason's boss hosted a party at her newly built home this afternoon. She lives way out in the country, and almost everyone got lost heading there. Saw lots of horses and cows and goats on our way.
They built the house themselves. Huge and rustic. Feels like a vacation home.


There was NC Bar-B-Que and everyone brought a dish. Loads of food, drinks and homemade ice cream. Jason wanted to bring a portable grill and we skewered some Char Siu and Satay which we had marinated for a week.

Kristy also brought a game which was quite fun. Looks easier that it actually is. The goal is to get the bean bag into the hole.
My teammate and I won the game by one point. Yayy!


Then, Barry and Todd had a jam session with the drums and guitar. Very Cool.
Funny how a laid back party can wear you out. I'm ready for bed. Tomorrow, I am embarking on an internal cleansing ritual. If I am alive after 10 days, I'll blog about it.

The weekend

Saturday was spent over at Jason's parents'. The guys installed and put up a utility shed in the backyard. Pretty neat. We brought two dozen donuts over. Donuts are always a good source of energy and packed with nutrition :) After a couple of donuts, the nephews were running wild. Such fun watching them.

Sunday, James called up and we met up for lunch. He was in town for a race. We met at Tin Tin Buffet and stuffed ourselves. That place is always so good.
Skipped dinner, but had room for ice cream.

Weekends are always too short!

It's all about food again

Took Fiona and James to the Chinese restaurant at the Asian Mall for some Dim Sum. On weekends, they have carts of Dim Sum going around the tables and you can just pick your choice. We all stuffed ourselves. Yumm!!

Then we took a drive to North Davidson (NODA) and walked around and checked out some of the artsy stores. Stopped at Smelly Cat cafe for some frappes, coffee and smoothies.

For dinner, we rode the LYNX to uptown Charlotte and had some Irish food at Ri Ra's. Jason and I shared the Boxty Shepherd's pie which was some crepe + Shepherd's pie and long beans. The chips and curry was also pretty good. We cleaned our plates and proceeded upstairs for some live music but we left shortly after. I think we were all tired out.

The weekend do

We had The Carans over on Friday night. On Saturday morning, we all walked down to the clubhouse for the neighborhood Easter Egghunt. Athena was all out hunting for eggs and putting them into her cute little pink hat, while Marcus lounged on mummy Elizabeth.
At noon, we all drove over to the Lefebvre's mansion for Elise's 1st birthday party. The party was held at their deck at the back of the house which was absolutely gorgeous. It was built like a dock. Brian was the grill master, diligently feeding us with hamburgers, wings and hot dogs and Sophie was ever the perfect hostess who had everything perfectly themed. The highlight was ofcourse the birthday cake and the cute little birthday girl. I posted some pictures yesterday.

After the party, Jason and I went home to run some errands and do some housework. Around 5pm, we proceeded to Brian & Sophie's to hang out with them and the Carans. Instead of going our usual route, the beloved husband decided to take a scenic drive. What was supposed to be a 20 minutes drive became an hour long journey all over kingdom come. We took a few wrong turns and ended up in Monroe and Mineral Springs, and saw lots of horses and cows and pastures.
We ordered pizza and played a new game that the Carans brought and came home around midnight.

I was really tired this morning and having spring allergies didn't help. But I managed to drag myself out of the house to get my car washed and went to the nursery in Indian Trail to buy some plants (Jason had to go into the office today) and spent the day gardening and inhaling more pollen.

Malaysia comes to us!

Fiona arrived late last night. Today, I took her to do some shopping and had lunch at Fontanellas. Then we picked Jason up from work and headed on to the in-law's place for dinner where Fio got to meet everybody. The nephews were all over her and didn't want her to leave. Very cute.

It's so great to be able to catch up and have a friend to hang out with! I don't want her to leave too!

Very nice folks

Sophie's parents invited us and my parents over for dinner tonight. It was really nice and an honour to finally meet her parents, sister and brother-in-law whom we've heard so much about. They are from Belgium and have many interesting stories from all the places they visited from all over the world.
Her mom served us a really fancy meal of salmon quiche, dumplings in dim sum baskets, asparagus, salmon and a wonderful pudding with blackberries and redberries. Everything was truly delicious.
We had a wonderful time. Thank you Mr & Mrs Lefebvre, Sophie, Brian, Mary & Matt, and ofcourse Elise for a great evening !