We have just enjoyed 15 days of Chinese New Year celebrations. Because there is such a large group of Malaysians that is of Chinese origin it is probably the biggest holiday of the year over here.
The Chinese New Year's Eve itself was a bit of a non-event for us as traditionally people go back to their birthplace and have a reunion dinner with their family. Everything was closed and deserted for a few days. After that the real celebrations begun, with lots of different events. Lorelei loved the Lion Dances in which people in brightly coloured costumes dance to deafening music of drums and cymbals. Every Chinese shop in our mall had a Lion Dance. They set an offering of lettuce and other vegetables and fruit for the lions and it is believed that the noise gets rid of evil spirits and the lions bring prosperity.
At one point in the dance the lions hand out mandarin oranges from their mouths (or at least the people inside do...) as that is a symbol of fortune. Lorelei was fascinated by that and even talked about it in her sleep a couple of times. The deafening noise didn't seem to bother her and she was just dancing away in her own cute way. Lorelei and Quinn's playschool also had a Lion Dance, followed by a brunch. You can find links to videos at the bottom of this post.
Another part of the celebrations organised by the mall we live above was a good old Asian eating competition. And Henk participated! Of the options mandarin orange, pomelo and cookies I think everybody can guess which competition he chose. He was called on stage along with a bunch of Chinese people and everybody laughed at the big white guy :) Luckily no big mess or vomiting.... And he made us proud by finishing in 3rd place! Video to follow....
Having booked our flight back to the Netherlands for the end of May we are now extra determined to make the most of our last 3 months here. We have booked a trip to Vietnam for April and are going to Singapore this weekend. Our flight back leaves from Bangkok so we are contemplating going there by train from Kuala Lumpur and seeing a bit of Thailand before then. The trip to Singapore this weekend by night train is a bit of a test ride to see how travelling by train with the kids will go.
In the meantime we're enjoying the life here. We feel blessed to be able to spend so much time together as a family and love soaking in everything about this new culture. I know we will miss so much about living here when we move, but I now also realise that there are a lot of things that we usually take for granted, living in a first world country like the Netherlands or Canada.
Living in a warm climate is bliss. I love being able to take the kids out for a swim every day and Lorelei hasn’t worn socks, full length pants or more than one layer since October and sleeps in just a diaper. At the moment it’s a bit less comfortable though. Thinking of my friends in Canada I know we shouldn't be complaining, but we're stuck in a heat wave at the moment with an estimated humidex of 49⁰C tomorrow... Ugh!
See the videos of Lorelei dancing to the Lion Dance here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx3cIAXGfQk
