My girl’s school took the day off on Monday for Chap Goh Meh – in fact, if I am not wrong, all the schools here had their cuti peristiwa (occasional holiday) on that day. No, they would not need to replace it on a Saturday. Every school is given four occasional holidays and they can use them for some cultural or religious festivals or events that is not a public holiday…and this was one of them for the year. I hear the next one will be on Easter Monday and Good Friday being a holiday here, it will be an extra long long weekend.
However, classes would resume the very next day so we had no choice but to send my girl back to her school on that very day which meant that we could not have our dinner on the actual night. She probably could have applied for one day cuti rehat khas (some special leave, not too sure what they call it in English now) – every officer is entitled to seven days in a year and may apply in the event of a marriage, a convocation or death in the immediate family and things like that but that girl of mine would not hear of it! She is always so serious in her work so taking leave is out of the question, even when she is sick. Tsk! Tsk!
That was why we had our Chap Goh Meh dinner a day earlier on Sunday night instead. No, we did not have anything special – just a simple steamboat dinner…
…at home with all the usual stuff – fresh meat balls, fish balls, sweet corn on the cob, green vegetables and baby corn, quail eggs and so on…but I did go and get those big prawns to go into the soup. My missus also went and got some crabs…
– RM40.oo a kg for these small ones and some scallops and sotong (squid) as well and I did get a box of New Zealand mussels and a bit of salmon too…
My girl loves those imitation crab sticks which are definitely not my favourite, so the mum went and bought a packet. I think this was a wrong brand, not the kind that my girl enjoys so we ended up throwing all of them away.
It was raining all day that day but luckily, it stopped towards evening so I was able to catch a glimpse of the full moon that night…
…or almost. The next day was fine and sunny, lucky us, so it was a pleasant and enjoyable drive all the way to my girl’s school and back…and good grief! The firecrackers and fireworks started around mid-afternoon and went on and on and on into the night.
So Chinese New Year came and went and it was time to take down the decorations…
Somehow it was so much fun putting them up while taking down could be so very tedious and tiring. Thankfully, it would be one whole year, more or less, before I would have to go through all of that again.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
My CGM was like any ordinary days, nothing special as my boy was not working on shift that particular weekend. Your steamboat looks great with all the ingredients. Crabs, not for me. I prefer prawns. Those arches are beautiful & your sliding door glasses are sparkling.
Old-school Chinese people do not like those arches, some superstition. I love them!
The glass doors? You came and see lah…all the stains, the scratches…only you can’t see them in the photo. Hehehehehe!!!!!
Your boy has got his transfer back to Kuching already? At SGH now?
Nope, still at Sri Aman. Baru one year there, not that easy to get transfer back so soon.
Same with my girl. Third year already, fourth year coming up and the bond ends after that. Will get her to resign, see what she can do around here then…if she cannot get her transfer back to a school in Sibu. It will be their loss – she works very hard and takes her profession very seriously. π¦
Come, get Melissa to transfer here. We need some good teachers like her. Then you have excuse to come here often. haha
LOL!!! All Sarawakians there are fighting tooth and claw to come back, no place like home! π
The moon has been putting on a magnificent show over here too. You know I’m attracted to all of those greens in your steamboat. π
I heard from a friend in KL that she cannot get it there – “curly vegetables” we call them, great for soups. If you fry them, they will shrink badly and you will not get much left. I used to have them in Singapore, 1974 – in a bowl of soup with rice, $1.00 only then – student days.
Simple steamboat dinner, but with good “liew” like those expensive crabs+squid+scallops+mussels+salmon, then it’s not simple already.. It’s YUMMYLICIOUS steamboat, haha π
Oh even if Mel’s sick, she won’t take MC and still come to work as usual? If me cannot lor, sure take MC and “mengular” at home *shhhh*
I guess you would find any good ol’ excuse to stay home with the kids. Typical maternal instincts, not surprised.
Ummmm…not simple kah? No abalone, no oysters…no lobsters…no sea cucumber… Hehehehehe!!!!!
Now I could not wait for the next semester break and Easter holiday. ^^
Your girl is so dedicated and diligent. Salute to Teacher Melissa!
Over here, it was sunny the whole day on Chap Goh Mei. But it was back to gloomy day the next day. Haha. Glad we get to see the big round moon in the sky that night.
Nice steamboat. And got crabs some more.
Very small the crabs, so expensive RM40 a kg but nice, fleshy and sweet – good enough to buang gian. Cannot afford to enjoy them all the time anymore.
Fine weather here too, Chap Goh Meh, lots of fireworks and firecrackers.
I would say many teachers are like my girl, me too before – sick also we would go and teach but of course there are the black sheep. I had a colleague in Kanowit once, sick all the time – then we agreed to charge RM2 per lesson we replaced…and suddenly she was never sick anymore, after that. Quite a lot like her too, unfortunately. π¦
I first saw crab sticks about 30 years ago and I fancy they had some real crab in them in those days. Very nice steamboat – love the salmon.
Never a fan of those, not fond of the very artificial smell. With the prices of crabs these days, it would be a miracle to find any crab in those. Even the canned ones, the crab meat, are over RM10 each…and totally bland, tasteless – I would not bother buying those anymore. First time having salmon boiled, usually we would grill it in a pan – not bad too this way.
See your steamboat makes me feel like having it now..
We would have our own at home whenever we feel like it – very much cheaper and can add all the nice stuff that we like, will enjoy it a lot more. The ones outside, msg overload usually. π¦
Ahh… steamboat.. my mom does not like having steamboat at home as there are just too many things to wash
What is there to wash? Just one big steamboat. Everything can be put in one big container or tray prior to throwing in to cook. Not having guests so no need to bother about nice presentation. Would be worse to cook a number of dishes – one each, and also all the bowls and plates and whatever used to hold the uncooked ingredients before cooking. Ummmm…you never bother to help kah?
The school that my children go also had their holiday on Monday. I heard not all have it though. Good thing is no need to replace back the holiday.
Yup! My girl’s school in the jungle – they have a permanent agreement that there most be nothing on on Saturdays, weekends free, which is a good thing. But sometimes they have things going on the the afternoon, sometimes even into the night. So busy, teachers these days.
I like having steamboat with my family. The steamboat ingredients of yours look so colorful. I don’t quite like crab stick either.
I miss CNY… why it passes so fast lar…
Wahhhhh!!!! It has just gone past and you’re missing it already. No choice, you will have to wait till the year has gone past until the next one comes along. No worries, time seems to fly these days – it will come sooner than you expect. π
Over here, the Chinese schools took the day off too… I remember I was still feeling very full after a heavy lunch in Batu Caves on Monday so I just took two slices of bread with jam on a Chap Goh Mei night… Indeed Melissa is very responsible and a dedicated teacher, no doubt about that… today is Friday again… days do pass by pretty quick even when we have retired.. hahaha…
Yes, even faster…when we’re having fun! Hehehehehe!!!! Oh? Batu Caves? Read the news today about a terrible forest fire there. Lucky it did not happen then.
Yum! Yum! I do enjoy steamboat once in a while. I wish there were more people with Melissa’s attitude. These days I find the young graduates do not have commitment towards their job. They just want to be well paid and go home early. Tsk!
Yes, sad, isn’t it? Our time, we quietly took up anything dumped upon us – these days, the moment they come in, they would tell you they do not want this, they do not want that…everything they do not want. Terrible, the attitude! Performance-wise too, a lot to be desired and they are not in the least bothered to try and improve.
Maybe Melissa’s passionate about her work that she wants to devote every time she has. We rarely see teachers so devoted to their jobs nowadays. Back when I was in the elementary school, there were a couple of times when my teacher called in sick when she didn’t want to teach us. *sighs*
Steamboat dinners are nice too; it actually brings the family closer, I reckon?
I couldn’t help but stare at your picture of the full moon. =)
Why? You’re expecting a werewolf to jump out or something? π
Steamboat’s good – the ones we have at home, msg-free and it is simple, less of a hassle compared to having to cook a lot of dishes…plus I love clear soups.
Nothing new to me, a dime a dozen – that kind of teachers…and the worse thing is there is this time-based thing and they get promoted automatically when their turn comes…for doing nothing. I do think they should do away with that. Credit only by true merit! Let the dead wood rot away!
On the contrary. π It’s because I always feel peaceful whenever I see the full moon – be it in real life or in pictures. π
Exactly, they should promote the teachers based on merit and not on years of service.
I see. That’s good. I feel peaceful looking at sunsets.
My sentiments exactly regarding those teachers – give to the truly deserving only.
We love steamboat too, easy and yummy!! And i love imitation crab sticks too just like Mel, must have it for my steamboat.
Eyewww!!! Not me, but I know many love ’em, like you and Mel. This Chinese New Year, they cut into thin long strips and fried – Mel loves it!!! I tried one… π π π
Yes, so easy, so convenient to have steamboat – dunno why somebody said it is such a hassle, so many plates to wash.
I love steamboat and even love seafood more, I remember when I was in Malaysia my and my colleagues usually go in places like that in a regular basis.
Me too! I love steamboat but I prefer having our own at home, cook our own rich bone stock. Not so much msg in it.