Foodelicious!

and a warm bowl of tong yuen, nicely sweetened and spiced up to end it all..... Yes!! I survived yet another year and am glad the worst is over. Hehehe! With that, I celebrated Kor Tung or what is known as Winter Solstice Festival with hope for a great year ahead loaded with plenty of great things and laughter.

What did you people do for Winter Solstice Festival?? I noticed many Chinese people are slowly forgoing their tradition and for some, it is a sigh of relief of not having to do so much and get all excited over nothing.. but for some, like me, it's a shame. What are we as human if we dont have traditions and heritage? I was made aware of the significance when my monster was a little girl and went around telling everyone that she is an English girl!! Her rationale at the age of 3 was that, she dont speak Chinese, dont eat much Chinese food, dont know anything about Chinese tradition because her parents dont practise any of them and therefore, is not Chinese. I was so ashamed.. and from that day onwards, I make it a point, no matter how small the gesture might be, to practise the tradition and heritage.

Practising tradition and heritage doesnt mean one is all about worshiping a different God or idolism. Practising tradition and heritage is about keeping the essence of one's race alive in a fun way. We dont burn jossticks or candles and worship idols.. we just skip that part.. but we make it a point to emphasize the importance of family bonding, trust in each other and at some point entertain the monster with tales and stories from those bygone era. The act of telling stories handed down from one generation to another is part of the tradition! Hopefully, when it's her turn, she would do the same.

So, coming back to this Winter Solstice Festival, what is the significance of this festival to you? Many people are not aware of the story behind this festival.. some say it is the beginning of winter, some say it is new year. some say it's a time to feast and eat tong yuen.. I say, from what my grandma tells me years ago, Winter Solstice festival is to celebrate the passing of the harshest part of winter. In olden days, life is a constant struggle and when winter comes, not many will make it thru as people were poor and winter can be very harsh. And in any season, there will always be a peak for that season.. the worse day.. the harshest where temperature drops drastically.. and if you survive thru that, you made it! The worst is over and one can look forward to better weather and soon, a new year. As usual, to celebrate, people then make little balls out of glutinous rice flour and flavor it with sugar. That's thanksgiving for them.

Yes, thanksgiving is part of our culture too... I have plenty to be thankful for.. good health, good kid aka monster, good family, good friends.. good business.. and for that, as I roll and drop each tong yuen into the broth, I say a word of thanks...