Lunar New Year 2008 – Part 2
We woke up pretty early on the first day of new year as we are expecting visitors coming to our house for ‘pai-nian’. PiggyBeng’s 3rd uncle was the first person to arrived. He had breakfast at our place before adjourn to his mom’s place (PiggyBeng’s maternal grandmother). For us we have to pack everything as we have to leave for Kulim and Ipoh after our guests leave.
At around 11+, the first group arrived comprising of PiggyBeng’s uncles, aunties and cousins. They were here for almost an hour. Most of us were busy chatting while Darrius was busy playing with his cousins.
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We left for my maternal grandma’s place in Lunas at about 1pm. Lunas is a very small town located near Kulim and Bukit Mertajam. This place was very ‘ulu’ but recent developments has changed it outlook quite a bit. My parents and my brother’s family were already there when we arrived. My Ah Kim (uncle’s wife) prepared steam boat lunch for us. Darrius did not eat much as he was so excited playing with his cousin and uncle. We left for Ipoh at around 3pm. Traffic was quite ok along the way but heavier than normal days.
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That night my 4th uncle had a open house cum CNY party. He used to do huge CNY party with lots of food and beer. In fact he will get a whole roasted pig for his guests to enjoy. However, for the past two years he has toned down and only invite family members and close friends only. To us, this is the place where all my other relatives (my father’s side) will congregate every year. All my uncles, aunties and cousins will come with their family. So, it is a time to catch up with everyone.
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We were in Ipoh for 2 nights staying at my 2nd uncle’s house. M mom and my cousins were playing mahjong when we are not going out. Darrius being the inquisitive little boy was so super amused by these ‘blocks’ that he kept bugging my mom to let him play.
My mom taught him some of the blocks and surprisingly Darrius can remember them. He was so keen that he occupied the table playing alone while we busied ourselves with other stuff. What a good way to keep him away! 
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On the 2nd night, we had dinner at a nearby restaurant. Most restaurants were filled with diners and we were lucky to get a table. As we did not order the set meal, we have to wait quite a bit. After dinner we went to visit my 5th uncle’s house which is nearby the restaurant. And guess what? My 2nd uncle decided to spoil our little kay-poh-chi with an ice-cream cone!
It was such a rare occasion that he can have the entire cone by himself. Too bad the ice-cream was melting away too fast so mommy was lucky to get the final bite! 
That reminded me to get some to keep at home so I can have some when I have the craving!
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On the 3rd day of CNY, we went to have breakfast before we stop by one of the local delicacies shop to get the famous Ipoh pamelos (giant citrus/grapefruit). I love the sweet and sour type but PiggyBeng prefers the sweet ones. We bought quite a few to be given away to our relatives back in Penang while my mom got some for her neighbors. Obviously Darrius is having some much at the shop and he even willing to post for his daddy!
We left Ipoh at around 5pm and reached Penang around 7pm. Traffic was heavy and we got stuck in the bridge for a while.
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oh.. Darrius got quite a lot of cousins his age ya..? that’s so fun for him