I am not a big fan of Chinese New Year. The crowds, the hum and the buzz, the horrifying scores of people that swarmed the Chinatown, the long neverending queues at the supermarket, most annoying chinese new year music that loops endlessly ( yeah, right after a month’s worth of Christmas music, we get earful of CNY music ) and my most hated activity of all, visiting relatives.

Not that I am anti-social… no… but when you visit relatives, they all seem to have one thing in mind or one thing they are concerned about – your marital status – single? boo hoo… have a steady? When getting married?… married? When having your first kid? But that’s not the worst… the worst is when they have to give out angbaos or red packets with money in them. When I was a kid (below 20), angbaos were always the biggest reason to celebrate CNY. Not anymore… If you are not married, you are still entitled to get them. At my age? It’s pretty embarrassing…

Thus, what’s so good about CNY?

The only thing that I probably love about it is the usual goodies that my mom will make. Her repertoire includes pineapple tarts, fruit cake, egg rolls, prawn rolls and cookies. Her pineapple tarts are the best – she does the uncommon version which is a covered pineapple tart instead of those opened face ones. The layer outside is buttery and melt in the mouth when the pastry hits your tongue. The pineapple filling (which she makes from fresh pineapples) is fragrant with a delicious sweet ( just enough sweetness ) tangy bite that complements the creamy buttery pastry when you bite into one. It is really different from what you get out there….

Ok… who ate mine?