Happy Birthday everyone! (Ren Ri)

Today is the 7th day of the lunar Chinese new year (Chu qi), which is also known as "Ren Ri" which means "Everyone's birthday"

Back home in Singapore (if I'm not wrong in Malaysia too), family and friends will celebrate with a feast of "Yu Sheng" also known as "Lou Hei". Its a dish of pickled ginger, shredded vegetables, lime, raw fish (the main star ingredient as raw fish is 'sheng yu ' in chinese), raw cuttlefish, sometimes there's spicy crackers as well and some sauces. This 'Yu Sheng" dish is to ensure prosperity and good fortune. Everyone will use their chopsticks to mix and toss the ingredients as high as they can while saying all the auspicious words like 'pu pu gao sheng, xin xiang shi cheng, long ma jing shen, nian nian you yu' etc etc. The higher you can toss, the greater the prosperity you will enjoy throughout the year. I always enjoy the fun of mixing especially the tossing and making a mess on the tables! oh and not forgetting who gets to find the first slice of "yu sheng" hahahaha...

Wishing everyone Happy Ren Ri!

Cheerios and keep smiling,
With love from PoohBear

Picture courtesy from: http://www.tourismpenang.gov.my