Chinese New Year Day 1 was always celebrating with family. It was an auspicious day, so we all tried to wear red colour, the colour of Chinese New Year. Red is our symbol of good fortune, luck and vitality. Besides, it was believed it can ward off evil spirits.

We started the day with family photos with my parents who stayed with us. Later on, they would go out for Lee's family gathering. As for me, I had married into the Wong Clan, so I would be with my husband's side.

Visit the In-Laws

After family photos were done at home, we quickly went to my husband's side. It was for a short gathering for the children to receive red packets aka 'ang pao' from their grandparents.

The Children Receiving Angpaos

The boys got to say some words of blessings before receiving the angpaos, and they received good blessings from grandparents too. We also gave angpaos to our nephews. Husband also gave angpao to the parents. May our year start with goodness from God Almighty.

Some Chinese New Year goodies time too!

Greetings from the Wongs!

Lunch at The Linc

After all the angpao ceremony, we proceeded to a mall called The Linc for family lunch. There is a famous eateries here called Gurney Drive Penang, we wanted to try since we loved Penang food.

Everywhere was full of lanterns and dragon since it is Dragon Year.

Gurney Drive

I loved the setting at The Gurney Drive. They tried to imitate the real look at Gurney Drive penang with tables and chairs at the road side and many small stalls selling specialty food.

Below were the food we ordered.

Otak-otak

This was super delicious, steamed fish with egg and coconut milk, infused with herbs and one special leaves. Although it looked different from the photo shown, but tasty enough. Almost similar to the one at Penang. We shared this among us so that everyone got to taste it.

Nasi Lemak Bungkus

A small pack coconut milk rice with appetising chilli paste aka 'sambal' and a half hard-boiled egg. We shared this among us for tasting.

Kuey Teow Theng

I ordered this for my youngest son after my parents mentioned that it was delicious. It was flat rice vermicelli soup noodle. True enough, the broth was so flavourful, with good amount of chicken and fishballs. I got to eat some of it because my son couldn't finish it. Yums!

Fried Kuey Teow

I ordered this, to be shared with husband. This was a must-try because fried kuey teow is a super popular food in Penang. So we wanted to try to know how authentic it was. It was almost same taste as Penang except this did not contain pork oil to cater to Muslim customers who abstain from pork. However, it was delicious enough.

Nasi Lemak Ayam Berempah

My eldest son super loved this. He said the fried chicken was so flavourful, crispy on the outside, juicy inside. Huge portion too. Totally worth the price paid.

Mee Mamak

Basic spicy stir fried yellow noodle with super tasty flavours, ordered by my brother-in-law. I tried one mouthful, oh so yummy but also very spicy to me. But he was alright.

Assam Laksa

This was another famous dish at Penang, so my husband ordered. Tangy, sourish, sweet, appetising broth, with Assam laksa noodle, loaded with mackerel, bits of pineapple, onions and mint leaves. Flavourful and tasty enough but still could not be on par with the Penang ones.

Coffee and Tea

As usual, for us, every meal had got to have coffee and tea. My husband ordered milk tea and I ordered milk coffee. One special thing was that the drinks came with crispy biscuits we called 'roti kok'. Always good to end our meal with tea and coffee.

It was a great lunch together, with my mother-in-law's sister (my Tua Ee) and brother (my Gu Gu). We got to meet them once a year. And you know what, my Tue Ee forked the bill for us. Thank you so much, Tua Ee. After lunch, we went to do grocery shopping together. A very fruitful half-a-day together.