The 8th day of Chinese New Year 2010

21st of February. It was the 8th day of Chinese New Year, 2010. Some Chinese families of the Hokkien dialect group have a special praying ceremony when it's midnight, during the beginning of the 9th day. (Not mine though.)

Here's from Wikipedia about the 9th day of Chinese New Year.

Chinese New Year 2010 Day Two

This is a flashback to February 15th. The 2nd day of Chinese New Year. The photos I took that day were the last ones I took before my original camera, the Panasonic LX-3 had its untimely death.

I had just brought the camera to the Panasonic Service Center in Akihabara for repairs, and had been forced to convert to using DSLR since then. (In case you hadn't noticed, the production photos of THE TIGER FACTORY, and the ones of my dad's birthday dinner, those were taken with my new Canon 7D).

Chinese New Year 2010 Day One

As usual, on the first day of Chinese New Year (which was also Valentine's Day this year, not that it meant anything to me) we visited my uncle's (dad's elder brother).

He and his family used to live in Malacca until recent years. They now live not that far away. (perhaps 20 mins via car, as opposed to the near 2 hours back then)

Chinese New Year Eve 2010

Heya folks and Happy Chinese New Year.

It's been a while since my last update due to the slow internet connection (I feel demotivated), the sudden malfunctioning of my camera (couldn't open its lens suddenly on the second day of Chinese New Year, when I was in Ipoh), and mostly because I was busy preparing for this new film with Ming Jin that I'm producing (and editing).

Did anyone miss me? Guess not.

Anyway, I'll start it off by sharing with you all photos from the Chinese New Year Eve (13th of Feb).

Snapshots of Chinese New Year 2009

When it comes to taking photos, I like taking the candid moments, when people are just talking, eating, doing things normally, everything without having to pose for the camera. Posing is fine, but I often ask people NOT to look at the camera when I'm snapping photos. I want... REALISM.

I didn't have my camera with me, I think I left it in Tokyo. So I used my sister's Nokia N78 instead.

The first day of Chinese New Year, as usual, was a visit to my uncle (dad's elder brother's) house. He and his family used to live in Malacca before moving over to Shah Alam 2 years ago, which is great, because going to his place takes only around half an hour as compared to nearly 2 hours in the past.

The entire family from my father's side were gathered, on that day, at my uncle's place. My dad's elder brother and his wife, my dad's eldest sister and her husband, my dad's youngest brother, my cousins, my cousin-in-laws, and the like. Seeing that one of my cousins is pregnant, I know that there will be more people at the family gathering next year.

Just some snapshots from my uncle's house.

A Bittersweet Return to Ipoh for Chinese New Year 2008

I'm back from Ipoh, mom's hometown.

Some of you may know that last Dec, my Alzheimer Disease-ridden grandmother was hospitalized after being attacked by two snatch thieves just outside her house.

These are two photos of her in the hospital early January.

What I Miss About Chinese New Year Eve

Photos by Hugo*

During my childhood, Chinese New Year Eve had always been one of my favourite days of the year.

Because it was so magical.

I could stay up late at night, and watch endless Hong Kong films (mostly those comedies starring Sam and Michael Hui) showing on TV then, I could see my neighbours burning incense and other stuff outside their houses, and most of all, once the clock struck twelve, there would be the deafening sound of fire crackers to signal the beginning of Chinese New Year.

Yet over the years, Chinese New Year Eve had lost its magic to me.

Since I stay up late almost every night... Chinese New Year Eve felt just like any other day.

Since there are less Hong Kong films these days, and most probably I've been watching more films now, most HK films aired on TV are stuff that I've already seen before.

I was going to lament about how firecrackers have been outlawed in the country... but since I was interrupted by the faint sounds of fire crackers while typing this, I guess there's really nothing to lament about.

This year's the Year of the Rat, just like the year I was born. I've already reached the second cycle of the Chinese Zodiac. 12 years ago today, I was in the last year of my primary school.

Has it lost its magic? Or maybe it's just because I'm not a child anymore.

Nonetheless, I'm still looking forward to the angpows.

Happy Chinese New Year and Gong Hei Fatt Choy, everyone.

Tags: happy chinese new year, gong hei fatt choy

Video of Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner. Wong Kar Wai-style.

Haven't been able to go online for the past three days. PAINFUL! PAAAAAAAAAAAAIN!