It’s Chinese New Year, once again. Here we go…

Unlike last year where my family decided to have a family road trip to Kuala Lumpur, this year we’re back to what we normally do during Chinese New Year – heading back to Taiping!

It’s my parents’ hometown and most of my relatives are living here – which is roughly 45 minutes drive north of Ipoh. Taiping is a small and quiet town I believe. Nothing much to see except for Taiping Zoo and Lake Garden.

Anyway, the traffic was smooth along the highway.

It felt like ages since the last time I’ve been to Taping. Not much excitement to be honest, more of the oh-I’m-seeing-relatives mood. Or… WHAT ARE THEY GONNA ASK ME mood too.

Nevertheless, it’s the place where my relatives reunite and as expected, we had our own lou sang lunch.

After lunch, we went off to the houses of other relatives.

So one by one, we visited. Wished “Happy Chinese New Year”, munched on cookies and delicacies, collected ang paos, some long-time-no-see talk and the usual. You know the drill.

You know, the conversations that were brought up are always an interesting one. It’s so common that every year you visit the relatives – they ask the same questions, and say the same stuff.

Here are some general and widely discussed topics…

I’ve grown up so much that it’s always an amazing discovery to find out whether I’m still depleting my parents money, or working my ass off and earning my own money.

But yeah, I’m already working my ass off. This then led to the next question…

*Dai gor chai = Big boy.

That’s what I refer to as “The Job Talk”. I’m currently in an IT Consultancy field, and explaining what “IT” itself is to the older relatives is quite tricky. What more trying to explain “Consultancy”? Uhh…

Therefore, I always resort to saying “Computer Stuff” in the end. I bet they must be thinking I’m a Computer Technician who fixes computers, or some sort. :/

Anyway next, another trending question…

This year on five (5) separate occasions during the relative visitations, the aunties brought up “The Girlfriend + maybe Marriage Talk”. Got girlfriend? When marriage, look for me I check feng shui for you!

Am I that old for that already? :/

But what’s next is worse…

Aunties asked my dad when is he gonna have grandchildren? He said he doesn’t know and instinctively pointed at me.

What?! O.O

Besides that, a very regular statement…

Oh yes, thank you Uncle and Aunty Obvious. You’ve been saying that every single year.

Anyway, it’s fortunate that the trip to Taiping was just a 1 day trip. By night, we headed back to Ipoh.

For me, the Chinese New Year “fun” doesn’t end there. Meeting up with the buddies are inevitable.

I was summoned to OverTime Ipoh for 2 nights consecutively. I’m not a drinker (as you all would agree), but I had 3 and a half pints from both sessions. Cheers!

By the way, it used to be Kinta City/Jusco or Ipoh Parade when it comes to meeting up back then – but apparently OverTime is the new meet up point in Ipoh.

Other than that, had lunch meet ups as well.

This is definitely the best lunch to have in Ipoh. It’s my favourite Hakka Mee + fried stuff from Nam Heong Coffee Shop – the true origin of Old Town White Coffee restaurant chain. :)

It was really crowded in Ipoh during the Chinese New Year period. The traffic in town was madness – suddenly so many cars.

It’s even crowded at eateries – people actually stood beside tables, staring at other customers eating – like vultures waiting to pound on an empty table.

On a quite related note, dad asked if I bought new CNY clothes for myself or not. I said… nope, bought CNY spectacles instead….

This is probably THE biggest ‘investment’ I’ve spent on myself. It surely feels good to self-pamper, something which I rarely do in the previous year. :)

Anyway, as I’ve said earlier, the only exciting thing about Chinese New Year is to be able to collect extra “bonus”.

The trip to Taiping was fine, despite not being able to visit some of the relatives due to their unavailability.

Nevertheless, this is what I’ve gotten from that trip. And I don’t think I’ll get anymore after this.

So, as requested by Hafiz on Twitter, I’m gonna include this part – the Bonus Collection Count! Let’s just see how much I made this year…

Opening up the red packets. Most of the them consist of multiple RM1 notes - totaling RM2, RM3 or RM4 per packet.

Some consists of a single RM5 note.

While only 2 consist of RM10 note. Yeap, that’s it – the conclusion of the bonus collection from Taiping.

Oh wait, you’re expecting bigger notes? Well, I don’t have luxurious relatives – just so you know. :)

So with all the cash out from the red envelopes, it’s time to count, count and count. How much, how much?

And… my total “bonus” collection… less than RM100! WooHoo!

I’m slightly richer alright! :D

But while many from rich families can afford to buy expensive gadgets (particularly iPhone and iPad) from their ang pao collection, I can only afford to buy… what…?

Oh I know… a cover casing for an iPhone or an iPad. YESH!!!

But wait, I don’t even own any of those Apple gadgets leh… Crap!

I don’t think I’m a true Chinese. Eh, what am I saying? Pfftt!

As much as I like having holidays, the Chinese New Year period is just another festive season. Look – it’s Chinese New Year, AGAIN! The CNY last year just feels like yesterday, seriously.

Anyway, one of the typically things about Chinese New Year is the display of lanterns – particularly red ones.

Well, not really. Those at my home are actually left hanging throughout the whole year. They’re only lighted up during Chinese New Year.

Mandarin oranges are another usual must-eat fruit.

Don’t you just love nibbling on the juicy orange wedges? Nom!

Next up, the exciting part – collecting red packets, or also known as ang paos!

Visiting relatives is one thing. Getting extra ‘bonus’ is another thing. :D

And very often, it’s the only time of the year where we receive brand new bank notes!

I love new bank notes. As much as I wish to frame them up and display it, I guess the money are meant to be spent after all. Heh.

Chinese New Year is also the time where we indulge in New Year food and delicacies!

All packed in transparent containers with red covers, it’s always hard for your hands to resist from reaching into them, pick a piece and start munching. Oh well, it’s the season to be fat – some say! ;)

Also, the noisiest thing of all… the firecrackers!

They’re actually banned right? But if there’s a will, there’s always a way – by hook or by crook, the suppliers will bring them into the markets. What is Chinese New Year without the traditional firecrackers right?

Boom boom pow!

Another traditional yet annoying thing about Chinese New Year is none other than the songs, and the TV shows.

When I was a kid, I used to enjoy watching groups of people singing and dancing along to the dong dong dong chang melodies on TV. Syok sendiri much right?

Now they’re just meaningless?

Nevertheless, the best part about being back in hometown Ipoh during Chinese New Year is surely the home-cooked food.

Once again, it’s a season to gain extra weight! There’s just too much stock of food at home. Just gotta love the abundance of food! :D

Other than that, Chinese New Year is the season to be red. In fact, mum told me to wear more red this year – since it’s my year, if you get what I mean. :)

So does wearing the red strawberry comfy home slippers count? :P

Besides that, displaying the God of Prosperity statues is so common.

Surprisingly, they’re all looking nerdy at home. ;)

Well, for the many, Chinese New Year is the season to have fun, fun and fun! For the kids, it’s the firecrackers.

But for the grownups…

Yes! The booze! At least we’re drinking for a sincere purpose – to celebrate Chinese New Year! :D

I may not be picky with the choice of booze, but there’s this particular one that captures my attention – I somehow feel that it’s calling my name…

Oh, Hei… Ken? Is it greeting me? I think it is!

So after getting to know each other, I’m finally a proud owner of a 5L Heineken barrel! My precious!!!

Chinese New Year resolution this 2012 – Not to get drunk!

Okay, just joking. But wait, I’m a good boy – I don’t drink. ;)

Anyway, kenwooi.com would like to wish you a “Happy Chinese New Year”. Have a bountiful and prosperous year ahead. Gong Xi Fa Cai! Cheers! :)

Car number plates can be pretty fascinating.

A few months back, I saw an interesting car number plate – which was “4444″. Thinking of how rare such an occurrence to happen, I decided to set myself on a personal mission.

The mission – to take photos of number plates with 4 repetitive numbers from one (1), all the way to nine (9).

So for the past few months, I’ve been constantly observing the number plates of cars while driving. Sometimes, I even casually looked around whenever I’m at parking lots.

And finally, after months of scouting high low left right up down, I’ve finally done it. Mission accomplished!

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1111 – This photo of the taxi was taken in Kuching, while I was there on a business trip.

2222 – I was on the highway, on the way back to PJ.

3333 – Photo taken while waiting for the traffic light. Was on the way back home from work. Number 3333 was the final photo obtained – felt so lucky to have stopped right behind this car!

4444 – This photo triggered the whole mission. Photo taken at Tesco Mutiara Damansara back in July 2011.

5555 – The Myvi was unexpectedly spotted nearby my place.

6666 – Bumped into it after exiting the toll in Ipoh.

7777 – Another photo taken while driving on the highway.

8888 – This shot was captured at LDP? Can’t remember.

9999 – This one confirm was at LDP. I was actually trying my best to stay close, so that I could get a good photo. Blur though.

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You know, most of the photos are taken while I was behind the steering wheel. Whenever a target was sighted, I’d quickly whip out the camera or camera phone to snap the photo. Oh, there were cases where it appeared, but I didn’t manage to snap the photo! :/

Well, fortunately – this ‘dangerous’ mission was successfully executed. I came out alive, and no one was injured during the process! :D

P/S: Number plates aren’t censored for an obvious reason. Duh!

P/S: It took me 6 months to get the complete collection.