新年快乐， 万事如意！

Yes yes, I know this is 1 week late. Sorry lah. I was working the entire last week. (:

This is the first year I spend CNY away from home. I miss my bah kwa, my yu sheng, and my mum's traditional steamboat dinner. The CNY atmosphere here is near to zero, except for a small bazaar at chinatown. Most aussies don't even know it's CNY. But well, maybe it's just here is Brisbane. It could be more happening in other states.

So, what do we do when we are away from home, but still want to enjoy CNY?

First, decorate the house like how you would do it back home (I used to nag mum about putting all these "le-longs" in the past..but now I know their significance...Haha)

A long "spring" at our balcony...

Another "spring" donning the living room

Cards from mum and auntie..flown all the way from home. Heart-warming....

And abit of "blessed-ness" for the new year. Emphasis is on the "Fu" word lah. But also important is the tin of egg rolls we bought from chinatown. Another CNY snack in addition to my very successful Batch 2 pineapple tarts. Hee...

Then comes the CNY eve. My neighbours and I cooked a few dishes and we had our little reunion dinner. Nothing too fancy...because we were leaving our tummies for the steamboat feast the next day...

Spring rolls - to welcome the "spring festival" and abundance

Salmon - nian nian you yu (every year got "savings" - same sound as fish in chinese)

Prawns - he ha da xiao (cantonese sound for laugh loud loud - happy for the new year)

The rest - herbal soup, vegetables and chicken wings...were cooked simply because we liked them.

The "gang" at Lissner Street....enjoying dinner under the moon at our balcony

And yes, we had our steamboat feast as promised.

Hungry already?