My First Chinese Birthday

My 1st Chinese Birthday falls on the eve of Wesak Day. In fact, my chinese birthday is actually the eve of Wesak Day. Hmm... is that why Daddy call me Little Buddha? Look at these pics and you'll know what he meant...

We had a little ceremony just like what Jie Jie had ~2.5 years ago. It's a Friday, and Mommy & Daddy took half day off to celebrate with me. Amah had boiled mee suah and red egg for me. My babysitter gave me an ang pow when Mommy fetched me back that day. At home, Amah and Mommy fed me mee suah to symbolise long life. Since my Poh Poh was not around, Mommy was supposed to represent her to feed me chicken drumstick. According to Amah, this would ensure that I always have good food to eat later in my life. They got me KFC's drumstick :) I hold on tightly to it and wouldn't want to let go!

Ah, did you see how I wanted to eat the egg too? The last photo at the bottom right. Mommy had to quickly pull it away, because she didn't want me to eat it since I was not exactly 1 year old yet according to the amoh calendar.

Later, Daddy, Mommy and Amah gave me ang pow to symbolise good luck. Did you see Jie Jie in the pics with me too? She kept wishing me Happy Birthday and was very nice to me that day.

After we're done with the food, next came the ritual. An abacus, a ruler, a book and a pen were placed in front of me. It seemed that the first object that I picked would represent my first career inclination. Guess what I took first?

Yes, like Jie Jie, I picked the abacus first. So, I'll be an accountant too next time? Mommy guessed that it's because we've not seen an abacus before, that's why we were more inclined to pick that first. Anyway, Mommy didn't really believe all this, just followed Amah's wishes for a traditional chinese custom to celebrate my 1st Chinese birthday. I played with it for quite a while and needed some promptings from Mommy to pick the next item.

What came next?
Ah, a pen, which symbolise a writer. And after the pen, I chose...

A book. I've seen Jie Jie writing before, so I made some gestures as if to mimick writing with my pen and book!

Unlike Jie Jie who picked all 4 items, I didn't. I didn't want to pick that ruler. Maybe because it's so hard to pick up? Instead I went off to play with Jie Jie :)

P/s: By the way, today I learnt to use the potty, and I managed to deposit some gold bars in it :)