CNY 2008 - distinctly different but splendidly superb!

One good reason to go bek to Malaysia during the winter break instead of the long long summer holidays is the chance to celebrate chinese new year with frens n family bek at home. Im always looking 4ward to CNY every year 4 the chance to meet my relatives, eat lotsa good good food, play aeroplane game n carrom, get lotsa red packets n so on... This year being the year of the rat, i had to spend my new year abroad, where CNY is never celebrated by the people here.

Scenario in Malaysia a few weeks b4 CNY: New year songs played all day long at restaurants or shopping centres. Shops r decorated with red red stuffs (haha, dunno hw to translate 春联 in eng), new year delicacies r sold almost everywhere, etc. The atmosphere of CNY can be felt almost everywhere.

Scenario in Germany ON CNY 1st DAY ITSELF: Class as usual. yawn... Until 6pm some more.. Germany as usual= cold, cold, cold. No new year songs at all. Have to download them from the net. sien. No new year cookies or 肉干... arghhh!! worst of all, no Ang Pows at all... No ang pow=no money. =(

Thank God that my CNY wasn't an entirely boring or a non-existing affair. In fact, i have learnt quite a lot of new things during this period, which i am quite thankful of. Have u tried celebrating CNY with the people whose ancestors were the ones who "created" CNY itself? in short, have u tried celebrating CNY with ppl from China? i have n had lotsa fun! =)



Ever tried 饺子 from China? It looks like wonton (云吞) with minced meat n cabbage as the filling. Dat was our main dish 4 ur so called reunion dinner during the eve of CNY. We, malaysians of the chinese origin, decided to spend our new year with frens from China at their hostel. There were about 17 of us cramped inside a relatively small kitchen. Each one of us has his or her "chores" to perform in the preparation of our dinner. To make the above dish we need lotsa flour n eggs. It is then made into a dough n had to be cutted into small parts. The small parts r then flattened into a thin piece which looks like a candy wrapper. The final procedure is of cos the inserting of the filling into the wrapper itself. The whole 饺子 is then cooked under boiling water. The end-product shud look like stg in the picture above after the addition of vinegar n soy sauce. =) Taste quite nice!

Here r the uncooked 饺子. We made too much of them until we have to keep them in the fridge 4 the next day.

That's me trying to help out at the kitchen. haha. I was at the "wrapper" department trying to flatten the dough.

Feasting time!! We brought beers n other beverages to their hostel while they prepared the ingredients 4 the 饺子.

After dinner we played games together. Here's the picture of 17 of us together. Everyone had fun that night, eventhough we were far away from home...

Never underestimate the chinese n their beer-drinking abilities. We brought a carton of beer over n all was taken. By the way, beers n wines are very cheap here in Germany. By returning the flasks n bottles we can get refunds for it as well.

I thought that my CNY celebrations this year would be a dull one n it was kinda depressing to see other frens in Malaysia going bek home to celebrate it with their own families. Little did i know that God has other plans 4 me as well. This experience with the chinese from China rily is unforgettable. Thank God 4 that!

I know it's a little too late to say this but chinese new year does goes on for a full 15 days. Happy Chinese New Year to all of my frens n family n relatives out there! May peace n happiness be with u all always! Gong Xi Fa Cai! =)

My first time blogging~

Hi everyone! Dunno how many ppl will come n visit my blog, but anyway, just create onli lo... too free here in Germany. =) First time blogging not sure exactly wat to write leh.. haha.. sorry if wat i post here doesn't interest u... haha.. but i will try my best to make everyone happy!

Im sure many r curious about the title of my blog. "ish..." a simple but non-existing word in the dictionary. Ever wonder when do ppl use such an expression in their conversation? Ish can be used in different situation to express discomfort or uneasiness. For example, Ish... can have roughly the same meaning with "cheh..." Scenario: a person comes to u n tells u a joke that he thinks is very very funny. However, u felt that the joke was lame or probably u had heard it b4, this is when the "ish" or "cheh" word might surface. Guess so... haha... it depends on the individual though... I hope those reading my blog wont go ish... or cheh... after reading my post leh... i will be rily sad if dat happens... By the way, the expression "ish" is usually used by a gal rather than a guy. But somehow i find this expression rily cute n interesting. Thanks to Michelle 4 teaching me the word "ish" unintentionally. =)

Since i came to Germany, i had many "ish" experiences. Many might think that studying abroad is a superb experience. Can get to c how other ppl do their living in diff parts of the world, can view the scenery there, can enjoy the food n drinks there etc. No doubt we are entitled to do the above-mentioned stuff, but sadly, living in a foreign country is not dat easy oso. I have to be independant, independant, independant!!! Cooking sounds simple when others r doing it but it turns out to be a tedious task when we r expected to do it ourselves. Despite having 3 "chefs", the outcome is always: burnt, tasteless, too salty, too little, smells etc... sigh... Guess im not talented enuf to be a good cook. During my time in INTEC, all i have to do to please my tummy is just a short walk to the nearby mamak stall n all is done. Here in Germany we have to wash our own plates n utensils after meal. sigh... Studying in Germany is also very stressful. "Can pass then good enuf ady lo" When one hears such a statement from the seniors, it's discouraging enuf.. Studying is even more "stress" in Esslingen, my future University. It is the best uni in Germany for Mechanical engineering n Automotive engineering. The word "best" is enuf to make me "suffer" for another 4 years... Hope i got enuf within me to go thru these tough times. Need God's strength a lot!!

First impression of Germany===COLD. Eventhough many ppl told us that this winter is a hot one, still, as a Malaysian, it's simply too cold 4 me. i have experienced temperature ranging from -5 to 10 celcius. I know it's nothing compared to the climate in Russia. But it's still very cold ar!! I have to wear 2 layers of clothes while sleeping inside my "professor" room. Heater not working well i guess. =.=

Pictures of my hotel-lookalike-room:

Study-desk, where i put my laptop =)

My cosy bed. Behind is the heater. =)

My small kitchen. With stove n fridge. =)

warm, warm shower....

Looks more like a hotel than a hostel rite? haha... But anyway, going to cook dinner lo... sigh.... thats all 4 my 1st post i tink. Hope it's readable! =)