I had a truly wonderful Chinese New Year in 2026. It surely is the best Chinese New Year I've had in the recent years. Just like in 2024 and 2025, I went back to my hometown Kulim to celebrate Chinese New Year.
I'm working as a Medical Officer at Klinik Kesihatan Ibu dan Anak (KKIA) Limbang in Sarawak at that time. I had 18 days of holidays, from 14 February 2026 to 3 March 2026. It's the longest Chinese New Year break I've ever had.
13 February 2026:
It was my last day of work before the start of my Chinese New Year holidays. On that day, I and my colleagues had lunch together at the 3rd outlet of Satu Selera Limbang. In the evening, I had dinner at Crystal Palace Seafood Restaurant in Limbang.
14 February 2026:
It was the start of my Chinese New Year holidays. In the morning, I went to Limbang Airport and took an AirBorneo flight to Miri. Although AirBorneo had completed the takeover of MASwings, the plane's livery still showed MASwings at that time.
After landing in Miri, I went to Go Fun Kee Bak Kut Teh for lunch. It's the best bak kut teh in Sarawak. After that, I checked into Ano Hotel. On that evening, I had my favourite mala hotpot for dinner at 汆悦麻辣烫 in Times Square Miri. There was a Chinese New Year fest at Times Square Miri. After dinner, I went to Bintang Megamall to do some shopping.
15 February 2026:
Before noon, I went to Miri Airport and flew to Kuala Lumpur by Malaysia Airlines. Much to my delight, I was allocated a seat at the exit row which had more leg room. On the flight, I was served curry chicken briyani. I landed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport around 2:30PM. My parents came to pick me up at the airport.
On that evening, I and my parents had dinner at The Ship in Damansara Utama. I ordered cream of chicken soup and black pepper steak. After dinner, I stayed a night at our house in Subang Jaya.
16 February 2026:
It was the Chinese New Year's Eve. On that morning, I and my parents had breakfast at Kaw Kaw Pakkopi in USJ Taipan. I ordered wan tan mee with char siew. After breakfast, my parents took me to KL Sentral, where I boarded the ETS train to Bukit Mertajam. I arrived Bukit Mertajam around 3PM.
My grandparents came to pick me up at the train station. We then went back to our house in Kulim. Later, I helped my grandmother with the preparations for dinner. On that evening, I and my grandparents had steamboat at home for the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner. After dinner, we went to Kulim town to look at the Chinese New Year decorations.
17 February 2026:
It was the 1st day of Chinese New Year. My grandparents gave me angpows on that morning. Our relatives who were living next door came over to visit us. After that, I and my grandparents went to Kulim Central and had breakfast at Texas Chicken.
On that afternoon, we went to the Bukit Mertajam train station to pick up my parents who were coming back to Kulim on that day. My parents gave me angpows too. We then had vegetarian dishes at home for lunch.
I again helped my grandmother in preparing for dinner. On that evening, I, my grandparents and my parents had another round of steamboat at home. After dinner, I prepared and served lychee drink for everyone.
18 February 2026:
It was the 2nd day of Chinese New Year. On that morning, I and my family went to the 广福宫斗母宫 temple in Kulim to pray.
After that, we went to AutoCity Juru and had Nando's for lunch. After lunch, we had ice-cream at the Baskin Robbins nearby.
In the evening, I and my parents went to No 11 @ Angsana Teluk Bahang, Penang to have dinner with our relatives. It was a French restaurant. I ordered a set that included wagyu beef, French bread with butter and seafood stew. It tasted really good. I had a good conversation with our relatives.
19 February 2026:
It was the 3rd day of Chinese New Year. I and my family had roast duck and pipa duck for breakfast at Lunas Food Court on that morning.
Later, I and my parents went to Penang again. We visited my maternal grandmother's house. I had not been there for several years. We then had lunch with our relatives at Ivy's Nyonya Cuisine. After lunch, I wanted to get my favourite Phong Pneah at Ghee Hiang Bakery, unfortunately it was out of stock. On our way home, we bought a birthday cake for my grandfather at Asa No Hikari Bakery in Bukit Mertajam.
We had wanted to have dinner at Taste Thai Cuisine in Bukit Mertajam on that evening, but they didn't accept any further bookings of tables. We then booked a table at Zui Xiang Lou Restaurant instead. During the dinner there, we had yee sang and we celebrated my grandfather's birthday. After dinner, I once again prepared and served lychee drink for everyone.
20 February 2026:
It was the 4th day of Chinese New Year. I and my family had hokkien mee at 亚丝福建面 for breakfast. After breakfast, we went to Minat Supermarket in Kulim to do some shopping. We then visited one of our relatives at her Cosway outlet.
In the afternoon, we went to 7 Village Noodle House for lunch. I ordered pork noodles. After lunch, my parents went back to Subang Jaya while I continued staying in Kulim.
I and my grandparents had bak kut teh for dinner at 老乡肉骨茶 on that evening. After that, we went to see the Chinese New Year decorations in Bukit Mertajam town.
21 February 2026:
On that morning, I and my grandparents had dimsum for breakfast at 富二代 in Bukit Mertajam.
After breakfast, I went to Buntar Opticals in Kulim to get a new pair of spectacles. My current pair of spectacles was made 5 years ago in January 2021, so it was high time to get a new pair. Thankfully, the degree of my myopia and astigmatism hadn't increased significantly.
In the evening, we had dinner at The Begins Western House in Kulim. I ordered crispy pork chop.
22 February 2026:
The garbage bin at our house in Kulim had a broken cover. Therefore on that day, I and my grandparents went to Environment Idaman's office in Lunas to request for a new garbage bin. They told us that we had to bring our existing garbage bin together with a utility bill, and then they would give us a new garbage bin straight away.
We then went to 榕树下饭店 and had hokkien mee for lunch. On our way home, we bought apam balik at a stall in Bukit Mertajam. Later in the afternoon, my grandfather's former students came to our house to visit us. I spoke to them as well.
23 February 2026:
I and my grandparents had dimsum at 美香味 in Bukit Mertajam in the morning. All of my favourite dimsum items were available and I was so glad about that. After that, we bought roti benggali at Kamalia Bakery. I hadn't had roti benggali for years. When I went back to Kulim during the Chinese New Year last year, I had tried to find Kamalia Bakery but couldn't find it no matter what. I was glad that I could find it this time.
On that afternoon, we went to Environment Idaman's office in Lunas again, bringing our existing garbage bin and our water bill. After filling up a form and a survey, we got the new garbage bin. The process took less than 5 minutes. Later, we had dinner at Taste Thai Cuisine. It was my first time there and the food was really good.
24 February 2026:
I and my grandparents had breakfast at Restoran Yang Way in Butterworth. We had duck soup noodles and my grandparents also had chee cheong fun. After that, we had lunch at the nearby Beng Huat Asam Fish Chicken Rice.
Later, I went to Buntar Opticals to collect my new pair of spectacles which was ready. On that evening, I had chicken burger for dinner at Loft 67 in Kulim.
25 February 2026:
In the morning, I and my grandparents had my favourite yam rice at Sentosa Corner in Bukit Mertajam for breakfast. After breakfast, I went to Klinik Pergigian Dentacare Kulim for a dental checkup, where I underwent some scaling.
I brought my grandparents to AEON Mall Bukit Mertajam on that evening. We had dinner at Nando's. My grandmother then bought a new pair of shoes at Skechers.
26 February 2026:
I and my grandparents went to Butterworth to visit my grandaunt. However, she wasn't at home when we reached there so we had to scrap the plan. We then had duck soup noodles at Restoran Yang Way again. On our way home, we bought apam balik at another stall in Bukit Mertajam.
On that evening, we had bak kut teh for dinner at 食王(槟城)肉骨茶 in Jalan Tembikai, Bukit Mertajam. It had been 10 years since I last went there.
27 February 2026:
On that morning, I and my grandparents had dimsum at Tangshan Cuisine in Bukit Mertajam. This restaurant was recommended by my grandfather's former students and the food tasted quite good. We then went to Kamalia Bakery to buy roti benggali again.
Later, we had my favourite fried noodles from Tua Pui Xiang for lunch. In the evening, we had wanted to buy dinner from the famous Ipoh Fried Chicken stall in Kulim, but it was closed. Eventually, we had dinner at Nasi Lemak Nawaq. After that, we had ice cream at Baskin Robbins near Kulim Central.
28 February 2026:
Early in the morning, I went to the Bukit Mertajam train station, where I boarded the ETS train to Kluang. It was a new ETS train. Until fairly recently, the ETS didn't go south of Gemas. It was only extended southwards to Segamat in March 2025, to Kluang in August 2025 and to Johor Bahru in December 2025.
I arrived Kluang around 2:30PM. Since leaving Kluang in May 2024, I had been missing the place so much. I had lunch at the iconic Kluang RailCoffee located right next to the Kluang train station. Unfortunately, the nasi lemak and mee siam were sold out, so I could only have toast and bun.
My close friend in Kluang then came to fetch me. He brought me to Kluang Parade for a walk. Kluang Parade is rather old and I didn't visit it often back when I was living in Kluang, but it's still better compared to Limbang Plaza which is even older. He then drove me to Extreme Boutique Hotel to check in.
In the evening, I and my friend had a steamboat and BBQ dinner at Wei Guo Ding Zun in Taman Kluang Perdana, the nice new part of Kluang. The last time I went to that restaurant was during the 2024 Chinese New Year. After dinner, my friend brought me to his house for a short visit.
1 March 2026:
I and my friend went to Tangkak Beef Noodle for breakfast. At that time, there was a lion dance performance outside the shop and I could watch it. After breakfast, we went to Sunway Kluang Mall for a walk, where I bought 2 Mexican buns at MammaBunz. The mall was bought over by Sunway a few months after I left Kluang in May 2024.
After that, my friend brought me to my former rental house in Bandar Seri Impian for a look. The exterior of the house looked rather different now and it might have been sold to a new owner. We passed by Kluang hospital, where I did my House Officer training and Medical Officer floating. We then also went to the nearby Taman Kluang Indah for a look.
Later in the afternoon, I went to Amiratham Indian Restaurant and had curry chicken and mutton with rice for lunch. On that evening, I and my friend had dinner at Tong Fa Thai Restaurant. We ordered tom yam pork, fried fish, fried eggs and turmeric chicken.
After dinner, my friend drove me through Taman Sri Kluang. Interestingly, I had never been there throughout the entire time I lived in Kluang previously, even though this area had existed long ago.
2 March 2026:
I went to Xin Heng Leong Food Junction on that morning, where I had hokkien mee for breakfast. There, I also had Kluang coffee for the first time and it was really good. I never had Kluang coffee before as I started drinking coffee only in January 2025 after I left Kluang. After breakfast, I took a walk down Jalan Lambak. This road is full of memories.
Later, I checked out from Extreme Boutique Hotel. My friend drove me through Taman Kluang Baru for a look. We then had lunch at City Food Court. I ordered nasi lemak with curry chicken. After lunch, I went to the Kluang train station, where I took the ETS train back to Kuala Lumpur. I arrived KL Sentral around 5PM.
My mother had taken the LRT to KL Sentral to meet me. We then went to the neighbouring NU Sentral Shopping Mall for a walk. Later, my father arrived at KL Sentral after work. I and my parents then had a buka puasa buffet dinner at the nearby Hilton Kuala Lumpur Hotel. There was a wide variety of food at the buffet and it tasted really good. On that night, I stayed at our house in Subang Jaya.
3 March 2026:
It was the Lantern Festival, the final day of Chinese New Year. My aunt in Penang had bought me my favourite Phong Pneah from Ghee Hiang Bakery and my mother passed it to me. I and my mother went to Main Place Mall in USJ. We had breakfast at Ipoh Ais Kopi, where I ordered noodle soup with pork slices. My mother then did some shopping for groceries at Jaya Grocer.
After that, my mother drove me to Kuala Lumpur International Airport. I took a Malaysia Airlines flight back to Miri. On the flight, I had nasi ayam berempah. After arriving in Miri, I checked into Ajang Hotel. On that evening, I once again had mala hotpot at 汆悦麻辣烫 for dinner.
4 March 2026:
Early in the morning, I went to Miri Airport. My AirBorneo flight from Miri to Limbang was scheduled to depart at 9:50AM. However, it got delayed to 11:30AM. The plane's livery had finally been changed to AirBorneo. I eventually arrived Limbang around 12 noon. I went straight to KKIA Limbang and began my work. That marked the end of my Chinese New Year holidays.
I celebrated my Chinese New Year across 10 cities, Limbang, Miri, Subang Jaya, Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, Kulim, Bukit Mertajam, Butterworth, Penang and Kluang, which made it really remarkable!