新年快乐！

恭喜发财！万事如意！身体健康！年年有余！

It's that time of the year that makes me wish again and again that I'm back home. This is the 5th consecutive year I'm missing Chinese New Year celebration with my family and friends in Malaysia. I think back to the times before 2003 and I feel like I had totally taken for granted the opportunity to celebrate it with them last time. I never bothered to find out what are some of the traditional practices or how to prepare CNY dishes--I just blindly followed. I miss my grandma's special curry chicken and "giam chai ak" (a.k.a. "salty vegetable duck")...believe it or not, despite enjoying it for over 15 years, I never found out how she prepared them! I never even helped her out in the kitchen! If I had the opportunity to celebrate Chinese New Year back home one of these years, I will definitely make it a point to be more involved in the preparation instead of just waiting to enjoy it like the rest of the "younger generation" in the family.

But, nevertheless, I'm grateful for having friends here in Lincoln to celebrate with too! Once you're outside, friends really are the closest thing you have. I'm looking forward to pigging out with my friends here soon!