Chinese New Year is not complete without Cake Fireworks

I have carried a life-long fascination of fireworks. Injuries have not dampened my enthusiasm for them.

But I no longer set off the big bombs that have the highest potential for severe injury.

Instead, I now prefer the quieter, prettier fireworks like big fountains.

They are a bit safer with children around, and still a lot of fun to be had in my opinion. Think of them as big sparklers for adults! 

There is still a burn hazard risk, so we had plenty of water and burn ointment handy as a precaution.

When our supplies of kid-friendly sparklers and poppers ran low, it was time for our finale. 

I had splurged and bought a bow of 'cake fireworks' that look like a big sheet cake with something like 200 shots set off by a single fuse. Pretty awesome...

What was magnificent was that others had joined us for the barrage in this spot and they brought even bigger cake fireworks which were set off minutes after ours were done. 

One cake was the size of a medium U-Haul moving box! 

I did not mind being one-upped by the size of theirs as I could sit back and enjoy the awesome show! Theirs flew higher with bigger bursts, but our group did acknowledge that mine had prettier colors. I would agree :)

~ Shien

Chinese New Year Celebrations

Think of Chinese New Year as Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year holidays combined for the Chinese.

Since Penang has a substantial Chinese population, they go all out decorating the malls.

The city streets are hatefully congested for the 15 days of the event, and significant planning must be made as to buying groceries and eating out.

Most vendors would be closed for much of the 2 weeks, especially when the economy is doing well.

Our condo sponsors a Lion Dance every year to usher in good luck and prosperity. 

It is held at 10:00am on a day announced to residents who are invited to gather for the festivities. 

They bring the troupe from tower to tower, dancing in the luck until a long strong of raucous firecrackers are hung and fired off to scare away bad luck. 

It certainly scares young children and adults with sensitive ears.

~ Shien

Putu Bambu--an endangered food

We often take interest in new vendors that appear in our neighborhood, and this was no exception. She had set up one afternoon and kept returning. It was unusual if only because most vendors leave late afternoon. But they arrive late afternoon and sell through the early evening.

On closer inspection, we discovered this delicate, sponge-cake like confection made of rice and tapioca flour sweetened with palm sugar and grated coconut. The first time we bought a small bow to try, and it was devoured before we made it up the hill, so we turned around and had to buy a bigger box!

Later we found out that this street food is endangered and becoming increasingly difficult to find.

~ Shien

Exploring Air Itam Dam as a Family

I had heard about an over-ridge crossing from Air Itam dam behind KekLokSi Temple to Balik Pulau and wanted to explore it for myself.

After I did so, I was so taken by the beauty of the dam that I had to bring the family!

Walking the well paved road around the dam was very pleasant as there was a thick canopy providing a pleasant shade.

The air was certainly fresher and felt a bit cooler than the city below.

There were also many things to look at and distract us during our walk.

Some items more menacing than others... but there was plenty of eye candy to gaze at and photograph.

A massive troupe of monkeys marched by as we returned to the parking lot.

We were quite wary and respectful of these critters as they have been known to be quite obnoxious when surprised or threatened.

Hmmm... looks like not all the wild-life stayed behind in the woods.

On the way back, our car magically wandered into our favorite cafe--Que Huong Toi for a Vietnamese Lunch.

~ Shien

Monica Discovers the Spice Mixologist

Monica and Ian spent the morning in Georgetown sampling some very local streetfood stalls, like this rice porridge stall on the corner of Lebuh Cintra.

It has been around for generations and serves up very humble and inexpensive bowls for porridge.

Later, she was brought to a spice mixologist at Jalan Dato Koyah who would blend his spice pastes to order based on the recipes you are about to cook and based on the amount and type of meat you were planning to use!

Quite an awesome find--of course you can customize and fine-tune the proportions to taste once you know the product, but he only speaks Hokkien and some Mandarin.

~ Shien