February 13, 2008 – 3:27 pm
On the first day of CNY, we ushered in the year of the rat with a big party at home. Little did I guess that on the second day, we will be ushering in a real rat!
I was happily bounding towards my bicycle in the garden when I realized the dogs had abandoned me. This is very strange because they haven’t even wiped the boogers in their eyes on my pants yet.
I saw Kylie & Dino secretly sniffing in the corner and went to take a look.
YIKES! A REAL RAT!
And it was an adorable little mousey too. I stepped to and fro, not very sure what to do. I didn’t want it to die. Remy is a friend, not food.
Kylie kept nudging Remy with her little nose. I couldn’t bear to look and I couldn’t bear to remove it either.
I ran to the bicycle and rode fast and furious for one circle around the house. Then I rushed back to have a look.
Here lies Remy. Nudged to Death. I’m sorry brother. To Kylie & Dino’s credit, they never ate him up.
February 9, 2008 – 6:48 pm
With all my aunties and cousin sisters in full force an the kitchen, the reunion dinner got bigger and bigger. At least that’s my excuse for not photographing every platter.
Instead, let me take you through what we enjoyed on the Second Day of CNY.
First we had a whole chicken stewed in various herbs.
Then we had a fish drowning in parsley and spring onions
Then we had this lobster sized prawn
All washed down with a chilled chardonnay from Brown Brothers.
No meal is complete without dessert, so we brought out the House Special:-
A Flaming Cocker Spaniel!
February 8, 2008 – 3:45 pm
Of course the main reason to drop by Jonker Walk is to shop till your arms are full and weary. And boy have that been made possible.
After dinner, the women got into negotiation mode. The stallkeepers rose to the challenge by arming themselves with mile-wide smiles.
Oh the tingling anticipation!
I didn’t snap photos of every shop, but here’s a rough idea of what’s on offer.
For the nostalgic at heart, there were lots of stalls selling old curios, finely sewn cheong sams, nyonya kebayas, ting-ting candy, calligraphy banners, artwork, et cetera. Unfortunately I missed out on snapping photos of those! Sorry!
February 8, 2008 – 1:15 pm
We came to an intersection in the middle of Jonker Walk and turned left towards the food stalls. What an abundance! We sat in front of this restaurant and ordered food from all the stalls surrounding us.
Originally, we wanted to go for Nyonya Laksa in a different restaurant but we saw a queue. Instead, we ordered one from among the stalls here. It was still a pretty evil bowl of yellow noodles in curry and coconut milk. Ooooh! Aaah! Mmmmm!
My favorite food in the world is Nasi Lemak. This one’s especially generous with the sambal and the fried egg and the Bilis & Nuts. Just how it should be. 
Then we had Mee Goreng on a bed of flowers.
The Ais Kacang was so-so.
So far, all of the food we’d ordered had costed between RM2.50 - RM3.50. Now for the killer from this Japanese stall
Fresh sushi for RM19.00
We were so full, even the burp had trouble squeezing its way out the stomach!
February 8, 2008 – 12:15 pm
Chinese New Year is the biggest festival of the year in Melaka. If you are rotting at home this holiday season, Melaka is the place to hang out.
Just two days before Chinese New Year, my family and I dropped by the city center where it all happens - we went for a walk down the historic Jonker Walk.
Though it was flooded with a sea of people, we didn’t have to hold on to each other as we wade through the crowd. We just needed to glance at each other every few minutes to make sure every one is still bounding about.
The old peranakan buildings were dressed for the party too, in pink spotlights. Chinese lanterns were strung across the street.
A lot more lanterns than previous years. I enjoyed the cool CNY breeze that billowed upon the crowd.
February 2, 2008 – 1:35 pm
CNY is coming! Time to prettify my pretty self. *shy*
I went for a walk around the town centre and knocked on the door of a salon. Forty minutes later, I came out looking like this:-
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