Lunar Year End Dinner

Known as 'Sou Gong Jiu' in Mandarin. Also known as 'lunar year end dinner' for Chinaman companies.

Every year, be it good or bad, all Chinese around the world will have a reunion dinner with family members on the last day of the year. A week or two before the year ends, companies will have another dinner with staffs within the company and all business related friends. It is a symbol of togetherness and also a way for bosses to thank all staffs who have worked so hard all year round.

Since I'm in Langkawi and unable to attend my company's dinner, I've decided to organise a dinner here with my maincon and subcons. Altho' a small dinner, we were happily munching and drinking, and also recalling our earlier days of the project. I guess most of us were happy because in a day or two, we'll be back to celebrate CNY with our families.

Last year has been tough. With prices of petrol, steelbar and copper up and down, we, in the construction industry were badly affected. In the first half, many projects were put on hold due to the higher than expected prices of raw materials. In the second half raw materials were much cheaper (esp. after the Beijing Olympics) but buying power is low, not only that, the Gov. also has lesser money to spend. Many people got retrenched due to the economy crisis.

Nevertheless, life still goes on. If you have less, spend only on your needs. If you have more, be careful with your spending. It is going to be a very very quiet Chinese New Year. Other than meeting relatives and friends, I guess I'll just stay at home watching tv. One thing that amuses me is that, during CNY, you can just sit in front of the tv all day long and won't get bored.... of course with a can of Tiger in one hand, and a piece of 'bak kua' in the other hand la...

Ok, here are the pics I took during the dinner. I only managed to snap a few shots because those fellas were too hungry and too fast for my camera.

Yee Sang symbolizes abundance, prosperity and vigor. You can see that the raw salmon is sorrounded by veges.

The mixture of all the shredded ingredients are tossed in the air with chopsticks while saying auspicious wishes out loud for a prosperous new year and it's customary that the higher you toss, the greater your fortunes

Shark fin's soup

Pork symbolizes.....arr....I dunno. I just like to eat pork...hehehehe...

Double steamed garoupa

I'll be back in 2 days. This year, I'll be trying some the recipes I learned from cookbooks. Hopefully, those food turn out to be just as nice.