Church Farewell

A member of my BEC was leaving KL for Kuching after spending 18 years in Peninsular Malaysia. Let's call her ZZ. She organized a CNY gathering at her flat for several friends, and mum and I were invited. It was actually our first time visiting her flat in Taman Medan. Typical of low cost flats, the place looked pretty run down. When we arrived at her floor, the whole lift lobby was a playground for a bunch of kids. From the lift lobby, there were four radiating corridors. We went down one of them and tried looking for the correct unit which was quite difficult due to how to house number was nailed right on top of the grill. Two kids tailed us like puppies and asked us which unit we were looking for.

Kids: "Rumah nombor apa?”
Moi: "Lima puluh dua."
Kids: "Bukan sini, belah sana."
(They beckoned us to follow them)
Moi: "Oh sini. Thank you!"
Kids: "You are welcome."

Should have enlisted their help earlier. Practically ushers. The whole party was actually waiting for us to arrive. Opps. ZZ's flat was cozy and well-decorated for CNY. A fantastic spread was prepared-- lou sang, stir-fried Korean glass noodles, dabai, springrolls, stir-fried arrowroot with leek and roast pork, curry taters, char siew, mui choi pork, and goji berry tea. The food was fantastic.



That evening, Pasar Raya CH Healthy Fresh, a grocery store in my neighbourhood organized a major CNY celebration. The lion dance consisted of eight lions, and a long string of red crackers. There was also a man dressed as the God of Prosperity, taking over the role of the traditional Big Head Buddha with the straw fan. I prefer the traditional version rather than the modern, cartoon-y CáiShén that looks like a mascot. In my opinion, the lion dance troupe was kinda disappointing with their flimsy footwork, and weak performance. Quite difficult to see a good performance these days.