Understand the family values and cultures are important in knowing who you are. Celebrate different cultures together.
Our first morning in Penang! After two and half years of border closers, we are now able to travel back to Penang. Initially, we were not sure of what to [...]
Happy Chinese New Year 2022 Year of the Tiger Chinese New Year’s day, 農曆新年的第一天 or 初一 ) this year falls on Friday, 1st February 2022. I would like to wish [...]
Your Traditions and Your Values – sharing cultures February 16th 2018 is Chinese New Year; it is also known as the spring festival or lunar new year. It goes for [...]
It is the start of a brand new year and I would like to wish all of you good health. May the New Year bring happiness, health and joy to [...]
Glutinous Rice Balls Making Kuih Ee (Tang Yuan or 汤圆), or in English - Glutinous Rice Balls, was one of the highlights of the many festivities we celebrate [...]
Photo courtesy of my cousin Gunn Kean Keat Pungat or Pengat is how we call this Nyonya dessert in Penang. It is usually eaten on the final day of Chinese [...]
Chinese New Year marks the beginning of spring and it is also to welcome the lunar-new year; the Chinese New Year celebration goes on for fifteen days. On the fifteen [...]
For the past many months, since the pandemic lock down, it is wonderful to see so many very good home cooks sharing their creations on social media. While going through [...]
Happy New Year - The Year of the Ox! Chinese New Year’s day, 農曆新年的第一天 or 初一 ) this year falls on Friday, 12th February 2021. I would like to wish [...]
A steamboat dinner or reunion meal for my family is traditionally held on Chinese New Year's Eve. It is one of the most important meals for family members as they [...]
Traditions travel with people, and as we are gearing up for the Chinese New Year 2020, as Chinese families living away from their own families, are we still keeping up [...]
I hope you are keeping safe and well. I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a blessed and safe Christmas. It has been a [...]
Moon cake is made with rich pastry and lotus seed paste, traditionally eaten during the mid autumn festival Wishing you and your family a happy Mid-Autumn Festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival [...]
What does food represent for you? If you have watched the most recent Masterchef Australia, you would have seen judge Melissa Leong was moved to tears with Poh's Malaysian Curry [...]
The tradition of having Australia Day as a national holiday on 26 January is a recent one. Not until 1935 did all the Australian states and territories use that name [...]
Chinese New Year 25th January 2020 The year of the rat Wishing everyone a Happy Chinese New Year. How are you celebrating Chinese New Year this year? As for my [...]
Just a short message to wish all of you a Happy New Year 2020! I hope you are enjoying your end-of-year break and getting ready to welcome the New Year. [...]
It is that time of the year again... and the busiest time of the year as well. Busy with end of the year concerts to attend, family gatherings to plan, [...]
Source: Lillian Tong @ Peranakan Museum Penang http://www.pinangperanakanmansion.com.my/ Growing up, I would sometimes hear the phrase “so and so is doing a Tok Panjang” or my grandmother would say, “kemai [...]
The nostalgic food memory from through a bowl of porridge I woke up to one cold winter morning, and all I could think of was a warm bowl of porridge [...]
Chinese New Year 2019 5th February 209 The year of the PIG! February 5th 2019 is Chinese New Year; For Chinese, those in China and in ethnic communities around the [...]
Re-posted from blog post dated 12th February 2013 Today is the third day of Chinese New Year. There were so many greetings being sent through Facebook, New Year cards, e-mails [...]
Chinese New Year is commonly known a Spring Festival. For Chinese, those in China and in ethnic communities around the world, the lunar new year is the most important and [...]
Chinese New Year is just around the corner, and everyone is gearing up for the most important celebration in the Chinese culture. In Australia, Chinese New Year is not a [...]
Have you ever tasted a dish and feel nostalgia and sentimental about it? Possibly remembering how you enjoyed this particular dish with your family or friends? Or when reading a recipe [...]
Christmas time is a time to re-connect with your family and friends, re-evaluate your priorities and make time for what is important in your lives. I would like to take [...]
The easiest way to share your culture and heritage with younger generations is through the cuisine you grew up with. I wrote about why it is important to embrace our [...]
"If you don't know your roots, you are like a leaf that does not know you are part of a tree". Source: The Little Nyonya drama series I told myself [...]
Our breakfast in Penang I just came back from visiting my parents in Malaysia. Even though it was a three week trip, the time just flew by. We spent most [...]
I am going to take this opportunity to thank you for your support with the launch of my first book - United We Shine!. It was definitely a surreal experience [...]
Nyonyalicious store - pdf format Amazon: https://amzn.to/2M5vcvh (Kindle version) I would like to share something really exciting with you today ... Over the past few years I had been thinking of [...]
Building relationships and bonding with relatives - Make every opportunity to connect and bond count. I have just communicated with my relatives overseas about planning our travel itineraries for the [...]
Tok Panjang setting courtesy of PAA NSW Tok Panjang Chinese New Year Dinner While helping to plan for the Peranakan Association NSW Chinese New Year dinner, I was asked about [...]
I know Halloween is not as popular in Australia as other countries;however, I used to take my children and their friends for “treat or tricking” in our neighbourhood when they [...]
Why are values important? Values are your beliefs and philosophies in life—things that are important to you. Your values determine your priorities in life, your interactions with people, and how your conduct yourself. . [...]
Last weekend was my daughter's birthday. So how do we celebrate birthdays in Australia? Do I still follow the ritual from my childhood? It is not possible to do everything [...]
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and family. Christmas time is a time to re-connect with your family and friends, re-evaluate your priorities and make time for [...]
Simple ways to connect to your community Even though I have left home more than 30 years ago, I still miss all my family and friends in Malaysia. This is [...]
Festive times are a time to share, give and reconnect with the family. As I was doing my weekly grocery shopping and met a few friends along the way, we [...]
When I moved to Sydney from Melbourne some 22 years ago, the local library in Chatswood was running a wonderful program to help migrants learn conversational English. I thought it [...]
Festive seasons are great opportunities for connections and to introduce your culture to your family It is few more weeks to Christmas, and I hear people dreading this time of [...]
It is only a few more days until Christmas. Have you organised your greeting cards? What about your gifts? Your presents? Your treats? Your guests? Family gatherings and hosting people? [...]
I attending a function on Saturday, meeting up with many fellow Malaysians for a nice Malaysian meal - Sarawak style. I am not familiar with the Sarawak style dishes, so [...]
Guide and share your culture with your grandchildren from your kitchen! I was at a tea shop talking with the manager about various teas... and somehow our topic of conversation [...]
Start reconnecting to your childhood dishes with readymade ingredients! One of the many things migrants miss most is the food they grew up with. Are you one of them? I [...]
be daring....be innovative...be expressive! On the weekend I had the pleasure of demonstrating the making of otak otak for the Peranakan Association of NSW, with a group of amazing cuisine [...]
The health benefits of herbs and spices and how they were incorporated in our traditional dishes by our ancestors. Last week my aunt sent me a link from Penang's newspaper, [...]
Nonya cuisine made simple! I want to bring back the nonya cuisine to the Peranakan community; however, I want to do it in a way that is conducive to the [...]
Photo: Nonyaware from my grandmother's collections On Saturday 16th September 2017, I had the honour of being invited to be the MC for the Peranakan Association Australia NSW's 6th Annual [...]
Lay Ean Eng, MC PAA NSW Annual Dinner - wearing my grandmother's baju kebaya Photo courtesy: Peranakan Association Australia NSW Do you believe things happen for a reason? Allow me [...]
Have you experienced chit-chatting with friends, and somehow the conversation ended up about your favourite childhood dishes/games. And you get very excited about it? I was having lunch with a [...]
I am going to refer back to this article – http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-18/childrens-literacy-study-links-hearing-words-to-reading-ability/8697138 ” – Children’s literacy study links hearing words to reading ability for first time, researchers say”. (Do check it out; it is [...]
Moving to a new country, whether it is for work or by choice, involves lots of decision making, planning, research, commitment and sacrifices on all parties involved. It may be [...]
What does “I don’t like the dish” really mean? Is there a difference between “I don’t like that dish” and “the dish does not taste the same”? During our many [...]
Recently there was a conversation about the support of new mothers and I was sharing my experiences of the 30 day confinement after both my children were born. Many mothers [...]
Are natural traditional foods important in our diet? I was going through Facebook, and several health posts popped up about turmeric. So I decided to do a bit more reading [...]
Cheng Beng (qingming) is also called the All Souls Day. Recently, on the way back from Malaysia, I came across a magazine on the plane; it had an article about [...]
Today, 8th February 2016 is Chinese New Year, which is the first day in the Chinese calendar. This day is also known as the Spring Festival. For Chinese, those in [...]
I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy new year. May the New Year bring you good health, joy and abundance. Every new year, I would [...]
Nasi lemak traditional malaysian spicy rice dish Fancy a traditional dish that you have not had for a while? When we move overseas, there are times you just [...]
Why is it important to share your culture and traditions with the next generation? Chinese New Year (16th February 2018) is just around the corner. Some of you will be [...]
Even though I left home almost 30 years ago, I still practice the one of the Chinese New Year rituals – cooking a traditional Chinese steamboat. But first, what is [...]
One of the many challenges for migrants is Language! As discussed in my previous blog post, one of the many challenges that migrants may face is language. For most migrants, [...]
The other day while having lunch with a friend, we were talking about habits and beliefs, and we made some comparisons about different cultures, such as: Why do some people [...]
Every family has one - What is your family secret recipe? DO you have family recipes that you love? The past few nights I was on the phone discussing with [...]
Connections is about shared experiences Recently we had family visiting for a week. An aunt and uncle spent about a week staying with my family. We had a good time [...]
When you bridge both cultures, you bridge the connections with your children Your culture is your heritage; it gives you the foundation of WHO you are and WHAT you stand [...]
Our backgrounds influence what we do. My husband and I are migrants from Malaysia. We settled in Australia after we finished our tertiary education. There were things that we introduced [...]
Why are they important when it comes to empowering your children? Your core values are basically your beliefs and philosophies in life – perceptions of things that are important to [...]
Connect and bond through sharing meals together. Life allows us to have many adventures and many new beginnings. It has been a wonderful and memorable five and a half weeks [...]
Every family has it and we probably don't even realise – We have Family Rituals! Family rituals are things that you do with your family members only, and may not [...]
A young child's brain develops at a very rapid rate, especially from birth to 5 years of age. This is a time when they absorb information very rapidly through exploring, [...]
"Language is fundamental to cultural identity." Kakadu National Park, Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre, NT I remembered waiting in a queue at our local post office, and I could not help [...]
A whole week of great food and connections with relatives and friends! Over the past few days I had the opportunity to host my cousins from Melbourne. It was really [...]
Do we really ever stop connecting? Our next stop was Kuala Kurau – Perak – my husband's hometown. Kuala Kurau is a small fisherman's town in Perak, Malaysia. This is [...]
Penang – our next port of call – My home town. We arrived at the KL airport to board our flight to Penang – the place where I spent the [...]
Malacca Connections to our roots can occur in many places... now to Malacca! The next stop of our journey was Malacca – the third smallest Malaysian state. It is located [...]
Kuala Lumpur Going back to where you grew up brings about connections. The whole duration in Kuala Lumpur was relaxing, hectic and fun. We had the chance to relax in [...]
Connecting to who you are can be any form; however, reconnecting through food can be one of the more pleasurable. Last week, I had the pleasure of hosting two guests [...]
Today is the third day of Chinese New Year. There were so many greetings being sent through Facebook, New Year cards, e-mails and mostly via phones for those celebrating. I [...]
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