That's My World Tuesday - Chinese New Year Decorations

Shops in Petaling Street at downtown Kuala Lumpur have put up Chinese New Year decoration stuffs up for sales. Chinese New Year music was blaring away from the speakers. What a festive mood all these loud and bright red decors create! The shopping for CNY has also started. This is indeed the best time to hang out at Petaling Street.

This photo is posted as a participation to That's My World Tuesday posting. Please visit the portal to view pictures featuring lives from around the globe!

Happy Dong Zhi

It's Winter Solstice celebration for all Chinese today. In Chinese, it's called Dong Zi celebration. The first character means “winter” and the second character means “arrival.” Combined together it means winter has arrived. In traditional Chinese society, the arrival of winter meant that the farmers would lay down their tools and celebrate the harvest by coming home to their families.

Dong Zhi is celebrated with everyone in the family gathers to eat tang yuan or glutionuous rice balls (as seen in today's photo). These alls are made of rice flour shaped into small balls and boiled with water, sugar, ginger and pandan leaves (for Malaysia version as the pandan leaves exude nice fragrant that improve the flavour of this dessert).

Today's posting is for That's My World Tuesday posting.

My World Tuesday - Wedding Season

Since the 8th month of the Chinese lunar calendar (that begins on 19 Sept), there have been many weddings been held. The Chinese believes that it is auspicious to have weddings from the 8th - 12th month of the year. A friend of mine said he has to attend 7 weddings in Nov & Dec and that would burn a big hole in his pocket. During Chinese wedding reception, guests would be bringing ' angpow' (red packets contain money) as gifts to the wedding couple. The monetary gifts could help the couple to pay for the wedding reception. That's the pragmatic approach practised by the Chinese.

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Picnic by the Ayer Keroh Lake

A lovely day to be outdoor having a picnic with my nieces and nephews by the lake at Ayer Keroh. The children had lots of fun playing at the playground. See the laughter plastered on their faces in the photo below.

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My World Tues - Morning Walk in the Park

The school holiday has just started. I went back to my hometown, Melaka, to spend time with my little nieces & nephews. On Sunday morning, we woke up early morning to go for a walk at the Tun Fatimah Stadium. Here's a photo of my 2 young nieces leading the walk in a crowded park.

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That's My World Tues - Night Hawkers at Jonker Walk

Jonker Walk is a night market located in the old part of Melaka town and held only on weekend. My family lives on the street where the night market is held. It is always fun to go home and join the tourists who visit Melaka and savour the local Melaka delicacies at this night market.

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A video of Melaka's Night Life, courtesy of Malaysia Truly Asia TV website.

My World Tuesday - Grocery Shop in Petaling Street

It is very common to find Chinese grocery shop like the above in Malaysia. This photo was taken early this year, when it was nearing Chinese New Year celebration. So the shop is stock up with many goodies that is used for preparation of Chinese New Year celebration, for instance, Chinese mushroom, sausage, dried scallop, red dates and melon seeds.


What are the ingredients that stores in your city usually stock up in preparation for festive holiday?

It's My World Tuesday posting today! More photos from participants from around the world can be viewed here.

My World Tuesday - Spring Roll (Popiah)

For today's That's My World Tuesday posting, here's a photo of the Spring Roll seller on the old street of Melaka. This old man has been peddling his fresh Spring Roll on a tricycle since I was young. He used to push his cart around town in the afternoon. But these days, he parked himself by the roadside in Jalan Bunga Raya. One can hardly find such food pedlar in Kuala Lumpur.

Upon order, the fresh spring roll skin (the white, round dough) will be filled with steamy hot, stewed yam bean or jicama, a piece of lettuce, fried eggs, lard, fried shallots, scalded bean sprouts, cubed fried bean curd with some chilli and sweet paste. It is best eaten fresh! Yummy snack!!

He also sells fried spring rolls. You can see the fried spring rolls placed in the green basket.

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Saw this video of Lee Ann Rimes performing Can't Fight the Moonlight, soundtrack of the movie Coyote Ugly at Hazel of Bangkok's blog. This is one of my favourite movies and songs. Hope you will like it too.

My World Tuesday - Little Angel

Sweet dream

Sleepy Yawn




Chubby fingers

Pink Fingers

I am so glad to share these beautiful shots that I took today of my friend's baby girl. She was delivered yesterday, Sunday, 27 September 2009. This little infant's brother, Zhe-Hern, was featured on my blog last year under the title of A Second Bundle of Joy and Little Zhe-Hern. Like her elder brother, I took this photo when she is one day old. Doesn't she seems like a little angel?

My wish for this little darling is that she will bring more joy and love to her parents and her brother.

My World Tuesday is back again! Do visit the portal to find out what other photo enthusiasts are posting from around the globe!

Uniquely Malaysia

During the Selangor Chief Minister's Open House held on the 1st day of Hari Raya (also known as Eid ul-Fitr celebration), Malaysians of various races came together for this event! That's the one thing that I find unique about us Malaysians. Growing up in a country with different races, we have got used to coming together for each other's festivals celebrations. That's what I always miss whenever I am working abroad.

Probably this little Sikh boy would grow up to be like many of us ~ enjoying the cultures and festivals of different races that we grow up with! Let's together enjoy the uniqueness that we have in our country and be proud to be Malaysians!

My World Tuesday returns again. Check out the portal to find out what is happening around the world!

My World Tuesday - Street Medicine Man

The street medicine man was drawing lots of attention from the tourists that visited Jonker Walk last Saturday. There were a huge crowd circling him as he performed the act of breaking a hole into each coconut with his forefinger and threw in a lot of humour as he went on. He will then use the ointment he sells to soothe his forefinger to prevent it from swelling. It was so impressive that he was able to sell to many of these spectators.

Don't miss him out if you ever come to visit Jonker Walk!

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Even though Moon Cake or Lantern Festival (also known as Mid-Autumn Festival) falls in Oct, my friend has planned an early party to celebrate it. Here are the children with their lanterns.

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My World Tuesday - Influenza A(H1N1)

Caught this family in masks at the PC Fair in KLCC on Sunday. It is wise of them to wear a mask as prevention from possible transmission of Influenza A(H1N1).

In Malaysia, there have been 8 deaths caused by this influenza. Some schools and universities have been closed. Even National Service has been stopped temporarily. Hospitals, airports or even gyms are taking close precaution, such as health declaration by individuals or taking temperature of people entering their premises.

How is this influenza affecting your city?

My World Tues - Operafest Children Choir

Enjoying a South Pacific evening with the talented children of Operafest Choir was indeed an evening well-spent! More so, when the fund raised will go to aid abused animals in two sanctuaries in Taiping. Tickets are still available for this weekend's performance. Please contact Mrs Kam Sun-Yoke (012-3990073) or Mdm Lim (017-6368830). Please go and cheer for these children and at the same time perform a charity act to save some animals!

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For those who have children interested in singing, you can to join the Operafest choir group. Please see the details below:

My World Tues - Hazy & Hot

Words to describe my world right now ~ Hazy & Hot!!!! The forest burning is happening now. Everything seems blur in my world now. The smell of burning permeates the space we live and the air we breathe. I wish that Mr. Rain would arrive soon and take away the suffocating heat!

Just to share this announcement with all. Today is my birthday!!! Yup, another major milestone in my life!

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My World Tuesday - Rope Skipping

Rope skipping is one of the games that I used to play with my siblings and friends when I was a kid. Seeing these children playing it during the recent Walk for the Children 2009 reminds me of the fun I had.

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My World Tues - Plant A Tree

Together with Rev. Mahinda and Sis. Sumangala, we plant a tree in the compound of Alokarama Retreat Centre during the recent Green Thumb Workshop. The sapling of this fragrant flowering plant was brought back by Rev. Mahinda from Sarnath, India (which was the deer park where the Buddha preached his first sermon).

I really had lotsa fun learning about herbs gardening and nutritional diet during the workshop. It was also a spiritual uplifting weekend for us as we were able to take time off our hectic lives to calm our mind with meditation and minful living.

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A video of the above session:

My World Tuesday - A Dying Profession

This man is making paper dolls for prayers in Taoism traditions. These paper dolls are usually burnt after prayers for deities or in funeral services.

This man told me that his own children are not keen to learn the art of this craft from him. He will have no one to pass on his skills. I find his craft requires lotsa detail work. Wonder if he would be keen to teach his art to school children. I think it would be fortunate for children to learn this craft from him. Check out his beautiful pieces of work.

This posting is my participation for My World Tuesday's meme. For more photo of lives around the world, check out the link to the portal!

My World Tues - Children & Wishing Tree

Last Sunday my friends and I had a fulfilling moment helping out at the Young Buddhist Association Malaysia (YBAM) booth at the Shah Alam Buddhist Association in Bukit Rimah, Shah Alam. Our role was to get subscribers for YBAM's quarterly publication called Eastern Horizon.

Coincidentally our booth was just in front of the Wesak Wishing Tree. Thus, we also took the opportunity to encourage devotees to write their Wesak wishes on a card (in the form of a heart shape, similar to the leaves of a Bodhi Tree). When the Sunday School students finish class, our booth was surrounded by adorable children. I can't resist approaching them and encouraging them to write their wishes on those paper Bodhi leaves and hang them on the tree.

The children are naturally pure in thoughts. They wished for their parents to be happy, their sisters/brothers to be well, that they will grow tall and healthy and even that they will love their parents, and some older ones who are in Standard 6 (examination year) wish they would score 7As in their exam at the end of the year!

I had a really good time chatting with the children and hanging up their leaves for them! The children bring so much joy to me. And we even met some old friends. It was such a meaningful moment, well-spent!

This is a posting for My World Tuesday meme. More photos of lives around the world can be viewed at that portal. Do visit it!