Chinese New Year Dinner

        In Singapore Chinese New Year is one of the biggest events of the year. The population is heavily Chinese, with Malay and Indian decent following. The celebrations and events usually last about 15 days.

      My residence hall, Hall 9, also decided to be festive and provide a CNY dinner for us. My hall has a student council- the JCRC that organizes events, fund-raises ect. One night someone knocked on my door and offered tickets for this Chinese New Year celebration, to which my roommate and I decided "why not?"

       Our evening cost $12 and consisted of Chong Pang Steamboat, music, and games.  My roommate, Charmaine and I got to know some other exchange students as they placed us in a front table (close to the stage) with the 2 other exchange students that decided to go to this event. There are a lot of exchange students in our hall, although maybe they were busy getting ready for Ladies Night, which coincidentally falls on Wednesday night.

           Here you pick your own meat, seafood, veggies, eggs, (basically anything you could want-they had it all) and you cook it yourself. You can either steam boil it or grill it at your table. I was rather modest the first time I got a little bit of everything and I was told by many people that I wasn't getting nearly enough stuff to cook. The whole night I was just impressed by the amount of food consumed by the locals.

The JCRC sang us songs, played music, and had an MC who gave out prizes all night. It was really well put together and I loved being front row. I should have taken a picture of the crowd however, I was the only person not of Asian decent and definitely the only blonde. Everyone wanted to learn my name and ask me where I was from. They all loved helping me figure out what the food was and how to cook it. Every single person I met that night was kind and so eager to help me eat more.

The exchange student table, representing Canada, The USA, and India. More could have come, there is apparently a lot in our halls, but maybe they were too nervous to try it out!

 This is fish bladder. Apparently it is a Chinese delicacy, that is really good for you because it is so rich in nutrients. I was told that people put it in soups so I decided "when in Rome," dropping a couple pieces into our tables pot. It was crispy until it soaked in the water, then it was slimy like seaweed. I went first and took a big chunk and swallowed it. It honestly did not taste much different than something salty, just the concept grossed me out. After I did it, everyone else chickened out and I ended up being the only one to try it!

My roomate and I getting more food after being peer-pressured that Canadian girls don't eat enough.

 Cooking the food on the grill and in the water.
My favorite thing was the satay or ginger sesame marinated chicken. So delicious!!

 Randomly during the meal I was called up on stage by the MC. Some other students were called up as well and we were told in pairs we were playing a game like bobbing for apples. I had to sit on Chester, a local student's shoulders  (who I am the same height as) and using only my mouth bite down the red envelopes. I won the most due to my height advantage as my mouth was closest to the hanging envelopes. I won some coloured ikea dishware for this valiant effort of talent.

 Then I ate a quail egg. Small and I think not fully cooked.

 My roommate also won a multi-cooker in the lucky draw. We went home, full with our new prizes excited to have met such great new friends.  All in all, a great night!