REUNION DINNER AND FINDERS KEEPERS

Reunion dinner seems only yesterday but it was celebrated on the 14th of Februaury. What is it with getting older that makes time seem to move faster. I still remember when a day takes soo... long to move from waking up to bed time and then suddenly... waking up and bed time are seconds apart.

This year, the reunion dinner with my brothers and families was at my place. It was "pot-luck" so I did not slave over a hot "wok" and look drenched in prespiration. The temperature this February was hovering at 38 C with a humidity of over 90%. Sweating is what we do best in Malaysia. Together with pre-menopause and the hot flushes, I can get really get sweaty in a jiffy. Why is God so unfair that he made men with "no-pause."

My brother did not want to spent his Saturday cooking so he bought take away - satay (skewered beef and chicken) with peanut sauce and "ketupat" (rice pieces). My 14 year old daughter, MartianGirl made fried rice (very Asian) with parmesian cheese (very Italian). She wanted to contribute something.
I baked some coca cola pork ribs and

tamarind prawns.

For vegetables, I had button and Chinese mushrooms, clams, snow peas, dried oysters and cauliflower. My brother said it looked more anemic than a ghost. I should add some red capsicum next time.

There were gifts from everyone - pineapple tarts for good luck,

barbeque pork,

oranges and chocolates.

When buying the barbeque pork, I lost my wallet. I didn't realise it till I got home that my wallet with money, credit cards, identity and driving license was all gone and this was at 10 pm. My husband, GizmoMan, and I drove to the police station to make a report. The officer was a super kind and patient gentleman helping me type out the report in Bahasa Malaysia and that little gesture reduced my frustration level as it was already midnight. When he told me that the printer was not working and that I had to pick up the report from another police station the next day, I really couldn't get angry. After that, we drove to the bbq stall which was still open to meet the heavy orders for the New Year. No, he did not see the wallet.

Then at 4 am, I got a call from the guy at the bbq stall that some one had left all my cards on top of a public phone booth next to his stall. He found my number from my name card - one smart guy. He said he recognised GizmoMan and MartianGirl from the family photo. But the money and wallet was gone.

Lesson to learn - keep your name card and family picture in your wallet. Findes keepers but they only want the money. Some Good Samaritan may just return the rest to you.

FOOD ON THE REUNION DINNER TABLE

I am not quite sure why the Chinese place great emphasis on homonyms or even how or when this came about. A word is not just a word to the Chinese cos' it can mean something quite different when its pronuciation "sounds like" another word. This is especially important during the Chinese New Year Reunion dinner.

The Reunion Dinner is like Christmas/Thanksgiving dinners where families meet for the one big annual gathering. Flight, bus and train tickets are booked one year in advance for the exodus from the cities back home. Even schools close for a one week holiday and there is a national two-day holiday for the occassion. The Reunion dinner is at our parents' home. If our parents are no longer living, the honour goes to the eldest son. In my family, we take turns to hold the dinner as it involves a lot of cooking. It is not fair to my eldest sister-in-law to be bestowed with this "honour" every year.

WHAT FOOD must be served to ensure a New Year filled with prosperity and good fortune? PLENTY and they are all dictated by homonyms.

FISH - a silver white pompret. Fish is "yue" which has the same sound as "excess." Serving fish measn to have excess/abundance every year. Never serve a BLACK fish.

Arrowheads - Not the arrow heads for archery but a bulb that is only available during the New Year period. In Chinese it is called "nga ku." They are sliced and added to other dishes or more popularly deep fried into chips. Symbolically, "nga ku" has a tiny shoot at the tip and as all plants grow towards sunlight, it signifies a bright new start. I am not particular fond of "nga ku" in my food so I have planted them in water and in earthern pots for my family's shinny New Year.

Mandarin oranges ("kam" - gold) - treasure boxes of gold Waxed meat - Waxed duck, chicken and sausages bring abundance for the year and they are specially imported from China. The meats are hung and dried by the winter winds, after which they are preserved in wax in hugh drums for export. We steam them to melt the wax and eat the meat which is quite tough but it has lovely salty flavours. Waxed duck was my dad's favourite and he always got the drumstick but, we kids did not mind at all as none of us wanted dried tough and chewy meat.

Reddish pork sausages and dark brown liver sausages

Leeks - I hate leeks as much as President Bush hates brocholli. I believe it must be an acquired taste. But leeks in Chinese is " shuen" and this sounds like "counting." "Counting what?" Money, of course, thus leeks are associated with wealth. I absolutely never eat this and maybe that's why I am just "cukup" (enough, not rich or poor).

Lotus root - Haa... I love this. "Lin ngau" rhymes with "every year got" in Chinese and this means the year will bring everything that is needed. I reckon it is true as I am not counting money but I got everything in life - happiness and good health.

And it is a noisy affair right from the start. Respect and filial piety like all other cultures is practised. No seating at the table until the elders have sat down, no picking any food until the eldest has taken and the most fun is calling every elder to eat. We have to call the elders (all grand parents, uncles, aunties and parents) to eat before us.

So it goes like this, "Yeye, seet fun (paternal grand father, eat rice); "mama, seet" fan (paternal grandma eat rice), pak-pak (paternal uncle); ah ku (paternal aunty); mummy and papa, "seet fan." Just think the table is filled with children and grand children all wishing the same words at the same time. The elders reply "seet, seet..." which means "eat, eat...'