Friends

Jim Beam came in from Kentucky, Absolut from Russia and Dona Patrizia from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. It was good times with good friends, just like the way it should be. After the party, my cousins and I hung out in the patio, talked, had mixed drinks and live music by Dion.

When the Kohs throw a party, they throw a party. I have a feeling we outdid ourselves this year. On the third day of the New Year, we always have family and close friends over for a feast and last night, we had FORTY (40) guests. Dear me. That's 10 bottles of wine, 20 cans of beer, 30 boxes of iced tea and the following spread:

- Yu sang
- Keong chou (braised pork hock in a sweet vinegar sauce, a Hakka specialty)
- Buah keluak (a Peranakan dish with a nut and chicken in a rich sauce)
- Two gigantic fried fish, one in a sweet soy sauce, one slathered with oatmeal
- A stew with auspicious seafood like sea cucumbers and abalone and mushrooms
- Braised oxtail
- Sayoh lodeh (a malay vegetable curry)
- Lap meh fun (a platter of steamed rice with various types of Chinese sausages)

We had Uncle Robert's home-made yogurt for dessert.

To kick off the feast, we had a lion dance troupe perform in the garden and driveway. According to legend, a ferocious beast, Nian ("year"), would terrorise Chinese villagers every new year, but was finally scared off by the beating of drums and cymbals and a costumed lion. The lion dance is now a symbol to remember the heroics of our ancestors. My cousin Pei was part of a lion dance troupe in high school and declared this year's performance of a higher quality than the previous year's.

Tonight, the fourth day of the New Year, my dad hosts the annual company dinner where he treats his employees to a lavish meal. As with previous years, it's at the Shangri-La Hotel, one of the best in Singapore.

I'm going to work out this afternoon.