Day 242, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Cali has been missing pancakes for many months now. She loved the crepes in Paris, but wanted some familiar pancakes with butter and syrup. Today, she got some!
Chinese New Year is on Sunday, and the shopping malls put great effort into decorations. Even with only one quarter of the population being Chinese, this is a huge deal here, accompanied by a four day holiday. We tend to buy our plane tickets for the next country last minute. So far that has worked out well. But this time, since we didn’t know we were leaving on a busy holiday, it hampered our choices. Originally we were planning to go by sleeper train, but they were sold out. Instead, we are trying a luxury coach, a first for us. They offer beverages, a meal, there is a lounge on the first floor of the bus, large reclining chairs on the second. Should be a relaxing way to travel.
This mall under the Petronas towers is seven stories. Every store and bag says Happy Chinese New Year. In front of the towers is the largest lantern in the world, made out of thousands of smaller lanterns. The red lantern is a symbol of good luck. Red symbolizes prosperity and it is everywhere.
Like any good holiday, the Chinese holiday centers around lots of good food with family. In the grocery stores there are gift baskets, similar to our Pepperidge Farms at home. The carp is a popular dish since the name sounds like “good luck” and “gift.” There are many foods that symbolize different wishes for the year, such as spring rolls symbolize gold bars; tangerines or oranges – success; celery – wisdom; plums – to keep a sharp mind; sweets – for a sweet year; long noodles for longevity.
There are many instructions surrounding Chinese New Year, but one of my favorites is about sweeping. Make sure you sweep your house before New Year’s Eve to rid yourself of any negative events from the past year. And don’t sweep on New Years Day, or a few days after, for good measure. You don’t want to sweep away any good fortune that is coming your way.