Everyday Food I Love

The 15 days celebration of Chinese new year starts on Friday 31st Jan 2014, with the first new moon of the calendar year. The day marks the end of the year of the water snake and welcomes the start of the year of the wooden horse. Red is a key colour for New Year's celebrations, as it symbolises a bright and happy future. This year will mark the beginning of the Year of the Horse: this animal signifies surprises in adventure and romance, and people born during this year are believed to be good communicators, kind, talkative, independent, and impatient.

Every year, without failed, my mom will prepare vegetarian cuisine on the first day of Chinese New Year. Abstaining from meat consumption on the first day is believed to enhance longevity. Additionally, a vegetarian dish helps to purify and cleanse out the body as well as it honors a Buddhist tradition that nothing living should be killed on the first day of the New Year.

As we usher in the HORSE year in 2014 CNY, we sat down together to sumptuous Family Dinner on the evening of the eve of the new year. Wishes: May the year of HORSE brings Peace, Happiness and Prosperities to you and loved ones. GONG XI FA CAI! Enjoy the photos of our humble, yet abundant food on the night of CNY eve.

Vegetarian cuisine is prepared on the first day of Chinese New Year. Abstaining from meat consumption on the first day is believed to enhance longevity. Additionally, a vegetarian dish helps to purify and cleanse out the body as well as it honors a Buddhist tradition that nothing living should be killed on the first day of the New Year.

My mum rarely choose to dine out, she cook the majority of our meals at home. This is one of the many expenses that she cut from her monthly budget in order to live within her allowance. But there are other benefits of making a choice to cook at home and eat at home. Overall, cooking at home is much healthier than dining out.

Yoga is a highly effective way to stay fit, healthy and lose weight. The best thing is you can perform it at anywhere you want it and any time of the day.  Yoga techniques are helpful in maintaining strong organs and other parts of the body.  Yoga poses focus on the muscles, joints, glands, tissues and vital organs.  The five yoga for weight loss techniques include: posture, relaxation, meditation, deep breathing and movement of joints. Each technique has its own role and function.

During the 2nd Day of Chinese New Year, Chinese will have their 'Hoi Nin' feast at home with family. It is known as the beginning of the year, hence, having a feast will bring good luck and prosperity to the members of the family.

Chinese New year is the most important of traditional Chinese holidays. In China, it is known as "Spring Festival", it mark the end of the winter season. The festival begins on the first day of the first month "Zheng Yue" in the traditional Chinese calender and ends with Lantern Festival which is on the 15th day. Because the Chinese calender is lunisolar, the Chinese New Year is often reffered to as th "Lunar New Year". On Lunar New Year, abstaining from meat consumption on the first day is believed to enhance longevity. Additionally, a vegetarian dish helps to purify and cleanse out the body as well as it honors a Buddhist tradition that nothing living should be killed on the first day of the New Year.

During the Chinese New Year's Eve, without fail, families will gather for a feast known as ''Tuan Yuan Fan'', literally  translated as Reunion Dinner. Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner is the biggest event for this festival, this meal is comparable to Christmas dinner in the West. After dinner, some families go to local temples hours before the New Year begins to pray for a prosperous new year by lighting the first incense of the year. However in modern practice, many households hold parties, even hold a countdown to the New Year and will end the night with firecrackers. Traditionally, firecrackers were once lit to scare away evil spirits with the household doors sealed. Fireworks must be lit before 24:00 on the New Year’s Eve.

A day before the Chinese New Year's reunion dinner, we had our "Lou Sang" Lunch at home with family and friends. Mum cooked a delicious feast for 8 peoples.

Recently I've been practicing Vinyasa Yoga taught by Edwin and Pilates taught by Evon, at Celebrity Fitness Mid Valley and it has improved my yoga practice to a whole new level. I did some yoga photos shoot down the lobby at garden area of my home, as an assessment or record. Vinyasa means "breath-synchronized movement", it covers a broad range of yoga classes. The teacher will instruct you to move from one pose to the next on an inhale or an exhale, which will create a flow because of the smooth way that the poses run together and become like a dance. Vinyasa yoga allows for a lot of variety, but will certainly include Sun Salutations. At Vinyasa class, expect movement, not just stretching. Whether the class is fast or slow, includes meditation, or is very alignment-oriented will depend on the individual teacher. Some very popular yoga styles, such as Ashtanga and Power Yoga, make use of the Vinyasa method. Vinyasa’s strength is in its diversity. There is no single p...

Chili Espresso is a restaurant frequent by many working professionals because 2 of their outlet (Northpoint and Sentral) also located at the heart of many office buildings. They serve western and asian cuisines. This was my second time dining here even though it is located right under the building that I live in.

During the 2nd Day of Chinese New Year, Chinese will have their 'Hoi Nin' lunch at home with family before visiting relatives or friends.

During the Chinese New Year's Eve, families will gather for a feast to celebrate. This meal is known as  ''Tuan Yuan Fan'' or could be translated as Reunion Dinner. Reunion dinner, traditionally, includes chicken and pork.

I am shopping around Mid Valley for some Christmas gifts and at the same time snapping some photos to blog about it. Food Garden is a Food Court located on the 2nd Floor of The Gardens just right next to Borders Bookshop.                  Borders @ The Gardens

 Northpoint Residences Mid Valley City Home Sweet Home I'm happy to have a new camera to play with, something to reward myself. I need to get a hang on it, the more you touch it or practise with it, the more you'll learn about it. I'm having fun snapping photos around the house but mum not allowed me to use her as model, haha.   Tadaa...time to practice Mum tapau Oyster Egg, TauFooFa and Pork Noodle for my lunch Oyster King from The Garden Mid Valley Then I play with Mikey in my messy bedroom and used him as my model...haha...he's photogenic and sexy  Lazy to go out for dinner tonight, so last minute mum cook me a simple dish for dinner Lotus Root Soup Healthy and nice, a little too oily Romaine Lettuce with oyster sauce Healthy, light, fresh, green and simply delicious Steamed Chicken without skin, ginger soy sauce dipping This was a market chicken I prefer Kampung Chicken cause better texture and taste better. Still healthy dish 1...

Celebrity Fitness, 3rd Floor North Court Mid Valley Megamall Started my day with an early 90 minutes freesytle cycling class at 9:30am with the Halloween Ride Themed. Awesome class conducted by our Spinning Master Trainer "Alex" Juice Works, Lot GK-01, Ground Floor South Court, Mid Valley Megamall Tel: 03-2287 7066 After a great cycling class, hydrating myself with a tall great glass of Apple Carrot Juice + 1 shot of Wheat Grass juice Apple Carrot, RM10.95 + 1 shot Wheat Grass Juice, RM3.50 Good for detoxing, hydrating. A healthy boost for the day! Home Sweet Home Northpoint Residences @ Mid Valley City Mum Homecooked Dinner with lots of love Ratings: Food: 5/5 (Haha, in case mum visit my blog!) Services: 5/5 Cleanliness: 4/5 It has been ages I have not dine at home, mum did ask me to eat in everyday but I told her don't cook for me cause I'm going for food hunting for my food blog. Once in a while, you will feel missing the homecooked food so much, I guess...