Woe

[oyceter]

I am so homesick right now! Not that I am not already grateful to be able to go back twice this year, but I left right as New Year celebrations were starting, and I miss the music and the noise and the red decorations everywhere and the food. It's just not the same here, and all Borders has, holiday-wise, is Valentine's Day stuff. Pah!

At least shopping at Ranch 99 today was extremely New Years-esque: hordes of people, lots of lines, cheesy music, and all the proper foods right there.

I was going to try to steam a fish, but I decided that was rather iffy and am going to make savory nian gao instead. And dumplings. And mi fen. And maybe souffle.

But really, there should be tons of noise and gambling games and firecrackers everywhere!

Comments

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

Happy new year! But I'm sorry you're homesick.

[oyceter]

Happy new year to you too! I feel much better now after hanging out with Taiwan people for a while and cooking tons and tons of food.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I heard a bunch of firecrackers a few minutes ago.

I'm sorry you're missing the fun. I wish you were there right now, and I wish I was there with you.

[oyceter]

Oooo firecrackers! That is what we are missing here.

Oh well, it is not the same as Taiwan, but I still had a good dinner party with Taiwan people and cooked tons of stuff and wrapped dumplings! And talked about horrible Chinese puns for New Year like "HaPig New Year" ;).

[sparkymonster.livejournal.com]

It's just not the same here, and all Borders has, holiday-wise, is Valentine's Day stuff. Pah!

WOE.

Happy New Year though.

[oyceter]

Happy New Year to you too!

[chomiji]

Awww, I'm so sorry! (The food you're planning sounds fantastic, though!)

[oyceter]

Thank you! Turned out fish and souffle was no go, but definitely made lots of dumplings and mi fen and nian gao yay!

[yeloson.livejournal.com]

The owners at Imperial Tea Court invited me to their celebration tomorrow night, which is good, I need my infusion of chinesium!

[oyceter]

Yaaaay! I hung up the red chun lian yesterday and it made me feel so much more proper. And have had year cakes/nian gao today, yay!

[yeloson.livejournal.com]

The New Year's dinner was good.

It's interesting because my family was already so far detached that pretty much all we did was dinner- the specific foods, etc. we didn't do at all, so all of it is still a bit distant to me (like, I intellectually understand the long noodle, don't cut your hair, etc., but it never was a specific tradition for us).

[oyceter]

*nods* Yeah, I think it definitely depends on the family and such... mine does some things but not others, and other traditions (like the dumplings) grew out from celebrating away from home.

[parallactic.livejournal.com]

Happy New Years!

Also, I did not know nian gao came in savory. I've only had the sweet kind, and the weirdass walnut bread/nin gao hybrid my aunt baked.

[oyceter]

They do! They're usually these flat white slices stir-fried with pork and pickled mustard greens, very Shanghainese and chewy.

Hee! Your aunt's hybrid sounds really interesting.

[parallactic.livejournal.com]

The hybrid nian gao was crunchy on the outside and sticky rice chewy/gooey on the inside when warm from the oven. When it cooled off, it was a lump of rubber, and tasted like coconuts. So it was actually a coconut flavored/walnut bread/nian gao.

/end oversharing

[oyceter]

Oooooooo tasty! Er, except the rubbery bit, but that seems to happen to all nian gao.

[parallactic.livejournal.com]

I've noticed that with store bought nian gao, but I mostly eat my relatives' homemade nian gao which is more on the gooey side.

[tatterpunk.livejournal.com]

Um. And I completely forgot to say my main point: I'm so sorry to hear you're homesick!

[oyceter]

Hee! Thank you! I am much better now after throwing a New Year Eve party with people from Taiwan yay.

[tatterpunk.livejournal.com]

Sounds AWESOME!

[oyceter]

Oh! I hope you went for dinner if it was ok socially! Because New Year Eve dinner! Then again... foreign language!

[tatterpunk.livejournal.com]

It didn't go off because of some technical snafu -- oh well, I still love my landlady and am going to ask what's an appropriate "sorry I couldn't attend" present. I erased the comment because I realized it was pretty insensitive in the light of your homesickness (I was just freaking out all over the place).

[oyceter]

Oh, no, seriously, don't worry about it! Homesickness is almost always helped by hearing about Taiwan, and it didn't bug me at all.

[tatterpunk.livejournal.com]

Oh, great, then! :) I actually have to start blogging (with pictures!) more often about Taiwan, now that I'm over the two-month hurdle. (My landlady might actually be a good place to start. She is AWESOME and is forever bringing me food when she picks up my rent.)

[oyceter]

Yeeessss! I encourage the photo blogging! Very much!

[tatterpunk.livejournal.com]

Tonight's trip to Ximending has confirmed a troubling pattern, however; usually when I buy food, I eat it too fast to take pictures. :( :( (Onion pancakes and candied strawberries. I did manage a snap of candied tomatoes, minus only one specimen.)

[oyceter]

Ohhhhhhh I so jealous! Candied strawberries!

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

Happy New Year!

And sorry you're feeling homesick.

[oyceter]

Happy New Year to you too!

[bravecows.livejournal.com]

I was going to try to steam a fish, but I decided that was rather iffy and am going to make savory nian gao instead. And dumplings. And mi fen. And maybe souffle.

That sounds delicious! (I typed that as "that's sound delicious" initially, omg, face-palm.)

恭喜发财！！！Hope you have a great CNY!

[oyceter]

新年快樂！恭喜發財！

It is only two hours till New Year here, although I think over half a day where you are. I set off digital firecrackers!

[jinian.livejournal.com]

*hugs* I'm so sorry you're feeling homesick. I suppose the Valentine's tat is largely red, but it can't be much comfort. Is there anything we can do to help?

[oyceter]

Thank you! I think I am ok now; cooked a ton of Chinese food and fed people from my old high school and talked a lot about Taiwan, which made me feel better. And another dinner tomorrow yay!

Because holidays don't count unless they are celebrated with food. ^_^

[seajules]

I'm so sorry you're missing out on the celebrations, though I still hope you have a good New Year.

[oyceter]

Thank you, and you too! I feel much better now that I have cooked a ton and fed people and eaten and talked about Taiwan a lot!