yes, it is the time of the year again. Everyone will take this chance to fill up their sms mailbox and blogs and email box all over the world with thousand different versions of Chinese New Year greetings and wishes. so you are also getting one from me :)

恭喜发财，万事如意，主里蒙恩！

so much for the formality... main thing to report is actually our little CNY dinner here in Kassel. Don't believe me? why not? you think we are not capable to make nice dishes to enjoy small reunion here, my wife and i? oooh.. says who i must make/cook myself? we went restaurant instead :)We were at the restaurant Shang Hai near Bahnhof Wilhelmshoehe.

to make a quick review, just take a look at how simpe the dinner was:

need no introduction. It was a great dinner. We invited a friend along, and we had a great time. It is just the typical stuff: laughters, sharing, talking, joking, and of course eating :) The boss of the restaurant kind of knows us, and have always been kind to us. We even got some nice treats at the end of the dinner like:

It is nothing special, yes. But to someone who are not at home with the luxury of getting everything easily, these stuffs are God-sent. TzeYing was so excited seeing those candies, and keep telling us and the lady-boss how she used to eat them back in Penang provided by her granny. I think when we have these around us, we don't usually treasure them so much as when we cannot have them. Same goes to people too, actually.

The lady-boss even brought us some mandarin oranges, and we spoke to both the boss and his wife on and off about some common topics: chinese new year in foreign land, different cultures, and of course happiness being still able to celebrate new year with the people we have around us.

i think as compared to you guys back in malaysia, our little simple dinner is nothing. But for us, it is another great opportunity to meet up, keep up with the tradition, and enjoy time together as we have our reunion with people we treasure.

how did you had your new year reunion? i hope it is not just another (duh boring) reunion, but an event that will remind us of our roots and culture, and a time to enjoy the fellowship with our families and love ones.Â

ps:
just in case you are scratching your head, thinking what does the funny chinese characters mean... they are as follow:

mandarin: 恭喜发财，万事如意，主里蒙恩！
pinyin phonetics: gong xi fa cai, wan shi ru yi, zhu li meng en!

it means: Wishing you prosperity, and may everything works out as you wished, and be blessed in our Lord...