the year of the golden pig

as usual, we had two reunion dinners, one to accommodate lay bee's siblings and their families and one for my mother, unmarried sister and my brother's family. in the past, we had the two reunions on the same day - my own side having it at around 5 o'clock and her side, at around 7 o'clock.

at this year's reunion for her siblings, her eldest sister was not around, neither was her sister's husband but her two children, together with her daughter's spouse and new-born child were present. her second brother brought along two uninvited guests, so we ended up with fifteen persons at the dining tables.

we normally do not have the same kind of food for the two reunion dinners. this year, i opted for steam-boat dinner for my side while lay bee bought and prepared prawns, meat balls, vegetables, noodles and soup for her side.

on the first day of the chinese new year, my siblings and their families would visit my mother at my place as she would have stayed over for the lunar new year. this year, i cooked fried bee hoon and a vegetable dish for lunch. there were also kong bak paus and stewed mushrooms. this year's turn-out was almost full; only yew huay's husband and her married daughter did not show up.

the young adults took turns to play mah-jong while the rest sat around and talked. they moved on to geok wei's place in tampines at 3.30 p.m.