CNY Reunion Dinner 2010

Short note: I had my final two papers this morning, and provided that there isn't any papers for me to re-sit, I can say sayonara to my college's years already. The only things remaining now are my research presentation next week and graduation ceremony next month! After that, it would be bye-bye Nagaoka for good.

I guess it is still not too late to wish everybody GONG XI FA CAI.

It's the TIGER year this year and Tigger must be so excited haha! This years marks my third year celebrating the Lunar New Year in Japan. However, if there's one thing that I have not been missing for the third straight year, it has to be to have these two combo meal on the first day of the New Year.

and...

Mee suah is a specialty of Xiamen, Fujian. It is a fine dried wheat noodle with a smooth texture and is used mainly in soup. It is a tradition for Hokkiens to eat mee suah at all important festive occasions such as birthdays, weddings, and Lunar New Year. It signifies the love and bond among people, and also a symbol of longevity. On the other hand, the dried longan sweet dessert soup is usually cooked with red dates and rock sugar.

Back to the main topic of this entry (I find that I have the tendency to detour to other topics very often lately haha). This year, we didn't have steamboat like we usually do. Instead, we went out for a dinner as a few other Malaysian seniors who are currently studying and working in Nagaoka invited us to join them to celebrate the New Year's eve. Here is a surprising thing; when I went to meet the rest of them before we headed to the restaurant, I found out that all the other six of them were wearing red! And I was in a blue and black striped long sleeve shirt. People wore red, and I was in black; damn bad luck lor haha!

So, I decided that the first thing I'm gonna do once I reached the shopping mall (the restaurant is located inside the shopping mall) was to get a red shirt, because I didn't wanna be the black sheep (pun unintended) on that night haha!

Uniqlo, one of Japan's leading clothing retain chain.

After less than five minutes, I walked out of Uniqlo with something red, and headed to the nearest jamban (no thanks to your genius idea, Pinky haha) to change into my new red sweater. When I joined the rest of the group, they rhetorically asked me if I really went to get a red shirt. What now? Just now said I was not red at all, now ain't I red enough for you all? Haha!

Shopping for my red sweater caused me to be the last one to reach the restaurant and someone joked and asked me to foot the bill for the night haha wtf!

Dinner was at Grand Buffet.

Round #1.

Round #2.

Raspberry cheese cake.

Cakes, puddings and fruits as desserts.

Tea in different colors.

Okay-lah, being a Malaysian, when it comes to food, especially buffet-style meal, the kiasu attitude will always be there and actually I took more than two rounds of food haha. But I think putting pictures from the first two rounds is sufficient already; otherwise people might think I am an elephant or what lol! But then, surprise, surprise. When I turned and look at the table behind me, that Japanese family took even more than us that their table was damn full, and you can't even find an empty space to put your hands on it!

Fine, fine; maybe I was just over-exaggerating but pokoknya (woah, feels so nice to use this word haha), they took really a lot-lah!

We got an assistant professor, a researcher, and a happy family here. Plus the red mascot of the night, of course haha. See, I told you I was super red on that night haha!

This table is even redder.

This was my third or forth time dining at the restaurant and overall, the food was not bad. They offer a mixture of western and oriental food, including Japanese food of course. On that night, there were even a corner which specialised on Chinese food, in conjunction of the Lunar New Year, I guess. Price was reasonable as well - ￥1,470 for lunch and ￥1,680 for dinner course, with a time limit of 90-minutes.

Before we headed for the next activity, one group picture of us after the so-called reunion dinner.

The Chinese Malaysian in Nagaoka.

It took us a while to decide what would be the next destination. Some wanted to go for karaoke, some wanted bowling, some wanted to crash at some of their houses, etc. In the end, we decided that going to throw some balls would be the best option. However, too bad that due to some miscommunications, two of the four cars on that night ended up at a different bowling centre haha! So, in the end, there were only nine of us who went for bowling.

But let me tell you an embarrassing story of mine, the moment I reached that bowling center. I think I had either overstuffed my stomach with too much of food from the buffet, or maybe I had food poisoning because once I reached there, the first place I headed was not the reception counter but the jamban haha!

I spent some good fifteen minutes inside, doing you-know-what and came out a relieved guy lol. When I came out, they pointed me to go to Lane 7; so I went to take my shoe from the counter and walked to that lane. I felt weird as I didn't see my name on the score board. So, I asked them why wasn't my name written on the score board, only for them to tell me that they put my name as Agva.

Woah, what a glamour name for an ah kua-hor haha wtf!

As you can see, they already played three frames while waiting for this Agva to finish doing his business haha!

These three boys spent more time to camwhore that to play bowling that night haha!

Red bowling team from Nagaoka. Even the balls are red lol!

I think my red sweater was really lucky that it brought me luck right away. In the two games we played, my average score for each game hit three digits, which was not bad to my standard. I think next time, whenever I go for bowling, I will make sure I wear something red haha!

Later that night, we had another dinner; this time it was more to supper, while counting down to the stroke of midnight.

We waited until one in the morning because Japan is one hour ahead of Malaysian time zone.

If you have read the entry last year, then you should know that they took out the clock's battery when snapping the picture above lol!

Earlier that night, I am not sure whose idea it was, but Hong Yao and the gang came out with a video. It was well-wishes from the rest of the Malaysians in Nagaoka Kosen in-conjuction of the Lunar New Year. Initially, I thought it was just another video, but not until I watched it. I guarantee that you gonna laugh your ass off when you watch it. So, no matter how busy you are, spare ninety seconds of your lifetime because you just gotta watch this!

Pay attention to the second half of the video and something unexpected made its special appearance lol! You are sure to enjoy it haha!

See, who says there is no lion dance in Japan? I bursted into laughter right at the moment I saw them using the futon as the lion costume. Not enough with that, Shah wore the ski goggles to replicate the lion's face, while Bai used the uchiwa (round fan) to fan around. His spiked hair made him look so similar to the Laughing Buddha who often accompanies the lion haha!

By the way, yesterday afternoon, I got my first ang pow for this year.

Only if I have Doraemon's pintu ajaib.

It was from Mom and she gave it to me through Skype haha wtf.

Cross-Cultural New Year Get-Together 2010

Short note: I'm supposed to blog on this entry last month, but due to my hiatus for more than a month, I put it on hold. It is the Chinese New Year's eve today, so what will be your plan? Mine would be a buffet dinner among us tonight. That should be fun and great!

Just about a month ago, I attended an event organised by the Chikyu Hiroba of the Nagaoka International Affairs Center in the Nagaoka Civic Centre. They call it 世界の仲間とお正月 (Sekai-no Nakama-to Oshogatsu) in Japanese, but the translated version was "Cross-Cultural New Year Get-Together". Well, it wasn't exactly the best translation from them but anyway, the meaning is almost there.

Some decorations they put up to get the New Year mood.

Kagami mochi (鏡餅), literally "mirror rice cake", is a traditional Japanese New Year decoration. It is usually consists of two round mochi (rice cakes), the smaller placed atop the larger, and a daidai (a Japanese bitter orange) with an attached leaf on top.

A miniature of kadomatsu (門松), literally "gate pine" on the right, which is a traditional Japanese decoration of the New Year placed in pairs in front of homes supposedly to welcome ancestral spirits or kami of the harvest. On the left is a small lion head as decoration.

This year marks my first time celebrating the New Year in Japan, as I have been back to Malaysia for the previous two winter breaks. Just in case to those who have no idea about this, the Japanese celebrate the New Year's Day on January 1 each year. It is considered by most Japanese to be one of the most important annual festivals, and has been celebrated for centuries with its own unique customs. I didn't get to visit any temples on the first day of the year, so I hope I will be able to do it next year. By the way, the first shrine visit of the New Year in Japan is called hatsumode (初詣).

Anyway, back to this New Year party, it was opened to all international residents in Nagaoka, as well as the local Japanese to participate in its mochi pounding and various games held. On my way there, I met up with Carine, my Penang junior in the bus and we both headed to the venue, Nagaoka Civic Center as soon as we reached the last stop.

There were more than fifty people on that day.

It started with an opening speech by the President of the Nagaoka International Affairs Center.

Preparation for the mochi pounding was ready.

Everyone started to take turns to pound the glutinous rice into mochi.

Meanwhile, I was at the other corner, chatting with a local Japanese lady who was there with her daughter. I was quite surprised that she started to talk to me first, because we all know most Japanese have that shy and reserved attitude, especially when dealing with alien like us.

I later found out that she lives in the vicinity of my college, just a few stones' throw away. We talked so long that I didn't have time to join the mochi pounding. No big deal though, because I have done it a lot of times.

After the mochi was ready, the staff put them into paper cups and added the toppings.

This time, they had sesame seeds (goma) and soybean flour (kinako) as the topping. The salty sesame topping was something new to me and it was really nice!

The locals and the foreigners sat together and chit chatted while enjoying the mochi and tea.

Everyone were later divided into groups because the next activity was to play some traditional Japanese New Year's game. But before that, they requested a representative from each country to talk in brief about the New Year's celebration in their respective country. They come from different countries around the world, including from China, South Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia, Hawaii, and Nepal.

There were only two Malaysians there, Carine and me, and I was the one who went out to talk about the Chinese New Year.

The interviewer had to look up (pun intended) at me haha!

"Wait, wait, lemme recall that..."

One thing that I notice from the descriptions of the New Year celebration in other countries is the fact that they are similar to each other. On the days building up to the big day, people will be busy cleaning their houses, baking cookies and traditional cakes, and make sure that everything is ready to welcome the New Year. Most of them also have a gathering among family members and have a meal together, either on the eve or the New Year's Day itself. On the New Year's Day, they will usually visit temples or shrines, followed by the exchanging presents or monetary gifts like ang pao, for example.

The activity after that was to play a traditonal Japanese game, called 煎餅釣り (senbei-tsuri) or literally, fishing the Japanese cracker (called senbei) made of rice. Apparently, during the olden days, without much choices of entertainment outside, Japanese family will gather at home on the night of the New Year's eve to play this game. This game appeared in the anime Keroro Gunso as well, and here is the link. You gotta watch it to see how "smart" Keroro was when he played the game haha!

Before we were shown how this game is played, everyone, including most of the Japanese there were left wondering how to play this game.

All you need are pieces of ソース煎餅 (sauce senbei) and a long and thick needle with a thread. Sauce senbei is very much thinner than normal senbei, and it is given such name as we can spread tomato sauce or jam on top when eating it.

One of the staff showing everyone how to play the game. He claimed that he stayed up the whole night practising and polishing up his skills to make sure he got it right haha.

So, here is how the game is played.

Several pieces of senbei are pile up on each other; for beginners, the senbei can be made scattered apart from each other. From a distance of about 10-15 cm from the senbei, throw the needle towards the direction of the senbei until it pricked through the senbei. Then, slowly pull the thread up to see how many pieces of senbei you get. The person who got the most pieces is considered the winner.

Sounds very simple, but not until you try it yourself. Each of us were given three tries, but most of us failed on our first attempt. After seeing so many different ways of poking the senbei, we found out that the best way was by throwing the needle slanted from an angle, and not from right above the senbei.

This pak cik was damn good-lor! He got like three to four pieces in every attempt!

This Thai lady, who is married to a Japanese is not bad either. That was two pieces of senbei, I think.

This Chinese boy who tried to make sure that the needle remained stuck to the senbei when he pulled up the needle.

The top senbei fishermen of the day haha!

I only got four pieces of senbei in three attempts. But guess what? That pak cik on the right was super good! He got more than thirty pieces of senbei in just three attempts. Can you believe that? I'm not sure whether he got play cheat or not-lor. Who knows right, maybe he copied Keroro by sticking a magnet underneath the paper plate haha! Aiya, I'm so bad, lost already but still not satisfied, and only know how to accuse other people play cheat haha wtf!

Nevertheless, we had great fun during the game, as everyone was so anxious whenever someone was gonna throw and pull up their needle.

Mr Haga Tomonobu gave his closing speech right after that.

Babies everywhere lol! That on on the right is Manami-chan, who was still a little baby back in 2008.

Manami-chan was still busy chewing on her senbei, that she couldn't be bothered to pose for the camera haha!

Let me tell you a short tale. I was talking to that five-year-old girl on the right while playing to some sumo games with her. She first thought that I was a Japanese, but I later told her I'm from Malaysia. Not surprising to hear that she has no idea what is Malaysia. So I made it simpler; I said I am a foreigner or gaijin (外人), and asked her if she knows what does gaijin mean.

Her reply was, 「知ってるけど、どんな人が分からないの」("I know, but I dunno what kind of people gaijin is") haha wtf!