This is the final day of CNY and it’s an important day for many. We call it “Chap Goh Meh” or Hokkien for “The Fifteenth Night”. It is also the first full moon of the Chinese calendar. Let me thus give thanks to the following:
- Family. I had a surprise text from my sis last afternoon inviting me for Chap Goh Meh dinner tonight. It turned out to be a lovely curry fish head dinner with her and my brother-in-law. I am glad and thankful that I am able to spend this special day with family - a day when many gather for a final round of CNY reunion.
- Dinner. We had a curry fish head zichar dinner - an unusual dinner for a CNY get-together. But as I had reflected previously, having such multicultural fare is something very normal for us. The curry fish head, together with dishes such as ginseng chicken, sinchew noodles, made for a sumptuous meal - a very nice treat from the usual home-cooked fare that I had been eating these days. And we had another round of yusheng too!
- Blood Moon. Today is an auspicious day for us. And to have a total lunar eclipse on this particular day is certainly rare. Some may call it an ill omen, as a lunar eclipse is said to be akin to the dragon swallowing the moon - which I was made to believe when I was a kid living in the kampung - but not to me. I’m glad I lived to experience such a rare occasion, although regrettably I only get to see the partial eclipse as it was cloudy during the full eclipse.
As the first full moon marks the close of this festive season, I end the day with a quiet heart - grateful for family, for simple joys, and for the rare moments the heavens choose to remind us how small, yet blessed, we are.
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