LSE's Biggest CNY Potluck

Yes folks I have just experienced LSE's biggest CNY potluck and cookout! (At least I think it was!) Many, many, many of us Singaporeans and Malaysians (at last count 26) and one half-Korean, half-Chinese Hongkonger in the person of Hailey gathered at Bankside Hall (for those of you back home this hall is the farthest away from LSE but the biggest and with the most kitchens). Yvette and I contributed Beef Rendang to the feast (hehe it was a real instant mix, just add meat, even water is not needed!). All in all I figured there were 15 over dishes maybe as many as 20! Let me descibe some. First of all there was Sam's masterful Or Lua, Jian Loong's homemade Tang Yuan, Ben's excellent Bak Kut Teh and Chic Kut Teh (hehe), marvelous oatmeal and raisin cookies, curry chicken with potatoes, Jon's painstaking, 4 hr odeal fried rice, Zhijia's braised chicken, Cass's shitake mushroom with brocoli, longan and nata de coco jelly, Wee Yang's delicious Sweet and Sour Pork and MANY MORE! Heaven! We arrived at aound 1800 but had to wait till around 2030 to eat cos stoves and pots were limited and everyone had to take turns ... poor Yirong had to wait more than 45 min for her turn! It was really a taste of home away from home and although the SingSoc dinner on Sat was really good I actually prefered this one because it was home made, done with sweat and labor (and many instant mixes!) and less formal making it easier to chat, make a ruckus - all the stuff that Singaporeans and Malaysians generally do at CNY celebrations! Of course to top it off we played cards! Yup for some reason or another Justin's Luck chose today to make its return and I lost roughly 75% of all the games I played! Hopefully this is NOT a bad omen for the Year of the Rooster! Its events like this that really bring people together. Although we are all friends of circumstances and not of choice it doesn't always have to remain that way ... at the end of these three years most friendships built here will last a lifetime - of this I am sure.
Looking forward to Saturday's dinner with Uncle Kenny where there will be even more fantastic food! Yeap Uncle Kenny is a great cook and dinners with him never cease to amaze me! I also called home to speak to Dad and wish him a Happy CNY! Somehow CNY makes me miss my family even more because dis was one of the few times every year where the family would gather in strength to celebrate, (grab ang pau hehe) and make merry generally. Ah well I can't complain in some ways I already have the best of both worlds!