I had a truly wonderful Chinese New Year in 2024. It surely is the best Chinese New Year I've had in the recent years. For the first time since 2020, I could go back to my hometown Kulim to celebrate Chinese New Year.
I was working as a Medical Officer at Kluang hospital at that time. I had a total of 9 days of non-continuous holidays, from 7 February 2024 to 11 February 2024 and then from 14 February 2024 to 17 February 2024.
7 February 2024:
It was the start of the 1st part of my holidays. On that night, I had fish head curry for dinner at Restoran Patam. After dinner, I went to Jalan Ismail, Kluang where there were some really nice Chinese New Year decorations.
8 February 2024:
I had lunch at Cheese U in Taman Kluang Indah. I went to Kluang hospital in the afternoon to submit my on-call claims. On that night, I boarded the bus from Kluang Bus Station to Butterworth.
9 February 2024:
I arrived Penang Sentral, Butterworth early in the morning. I then took Grab to Kulim. The last time I went back to Kulim was in January 2021 and I was so glad to be back again. I followed my grandmother to the Kulim Market to do some shopping for Chinese New Year.
After that, I and my grandparents went to Bukit Mertajam and had Hokkien Mee for breakfast at 榕树下饭店. There were so many customers and we had to wait for almost 2 hours. After breakfast, we went to Kedai Makan Pokok Buluh, where I bought curry fish and fried chicken for lunch.
On that evening, my aunt and her family arrived Kulim. I hadn't met them since January 2020 and we had so much to talk. We had a great Chinese New Year Eve dinner together at home. The main dishes were roast pork and steamed chicken. After dinner, I prepared and served lychee drink for everyone.
10 February 2024:
It was the 1st day of Chinese New Year. We had roti canai for breakfast at home. My parents arrived in Kulim on that morning. Some of our relatives came to visit us on that day.
In the afternoon, we went to AutoCity in Juru, Bukit Mertajam and had lunch at The Brew House. After lunch, we went to Häagen Dazs for ice-cream.
On that night, we had a great steamboat dinner together at home. After the steamboat, I once again prepared and served lychee drink for everyone. I wanted to go to the Kwong Hock Keong Temple on that night, but unfortunately it was closed.
11 February 2024:
Early in the morning, I went to the Bukit Mertajam KTM station and boarded the ETS train. I had a 2-hour stopover at Kuala Lumpur Sentral, during which I visited the neighbouring NU Sentral Shopping Mall. There, I had lunch at Nando's. After that, I once again had ice-cream at Häagen Dazs.
I then continued my journey to Gemas. The ETS train was not yet in service to the south of Gemas, so I had to switch to the older train to continue my journey back to Kluang. I was feeling quite tired after returning home, so I just ordered food delivery for my dinner.
12 February 2024:
I had to return to work on that day. Thankfully, the work wasn't too busy so I could leave work on time at 5PM. On that night, I had dinner with my friend at XLL Mala Hotpot. After dinner, we went to Long Du Gong Temple to pray. After that, we went to Kluang Mall where my friend bought some new clothes.
13 February 2024:
It was another work day for me. The work was rather busy and I could only leave work at 6:30PM. After work, I and my friend had Mookata for dinner at Tong Fa Thai Restaurant.
14 February 2024:
It was the start of the 2nd part of my holidays. On that morning, I had bak kut teh for breakfast at Restoran Kon Kee. After that, I drove to Eco Botanic, Johor Bahru for a short getaway. I stayed at Rose Cottage Hotel.
I had lunch at Chow Chow Stir Fry at the ground floor of EcoNest. On that night, I had my favourite Korean fried chicken at Oven & Fried Chicken. After dinner, I went to Eco Galleria. There, I had Mixue ice cream.
15 February 2024:
I had my breakfast at Nasi Lemak Cincai. In the afternoon, I went to AEON Bukit Indah. There, I had Grilled New Zealand Ribeye Steak for lunch at Sizzling Stonegrill.
On that evening, I met up with one of my NUMed friend at 汆悦麻辣烫. The last time I met her was in January 2022 and we had a lot to catch up. Later that night, I went to Mount Austin for supper. I drove through the EDL highway which gives a really nice view of Johor Bahru city.
16 February 2024:
I had breakfast at UG Kopitiam at the ground floor of EcoNest. On that afternoon, I had lunch at O'Coffee Club Atelier in Puteri Harbour. I then drove back to Kluang. At night, I had dinner at Bin Siang Food Court in Taman Parkland.
17 February 2024:
On that afternoon, I had lunch at Amiratham Indian Restaurant. In the evening, I and my friend went to Wei Guo Ding Zun at Taman Kluang Perdana for a steamboat dinner.
18 February 2024 marked the end of my Chinese New Year holidays.
I celebrated my Chinese New Year across 5 cities, Kluang, Kulim, Bukit Mertajam, Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru, which made it really remarkable.
