The Big Gathering at Grandpa's

Foochows like everything to be big. They have big families, big cars, big children (in size), big houses, big dishes, big money & big voices. So naturally, when Nee's side of the family had their gathering at Grandpa's, it was a big Foochow one.

NEE: This gathering had almost everybody back at Grandpa's. Except for Michelle, Roger and Raymond in Australia, Sophia and Oscar in UK. Teng and Mei had not arrived from Brunei yet. So Greg was right. It was big!

This is Grandpa's house, which he built himself.

Because of the recent flood, the water level is still above the wooden planks below. We had to do a balancing act to get thru.

NEE: We had such good memory of spending our childhood here during our school holidays. There were so many cousins to play with. We were everywhere picking up fruits, play cooking, hide and seek, fishing in the drain/river, running up and down this stairs.

The men-in-waiting.

It's either they were waiting for more guests to come, or more likely, they were just waiting for the food.

This is the first time I saw Grandpa's house. And right from the very first sight, I fell in love with it.

Loved the windows.

The hustle & bustle before the dinner.

When people start coming into the kitchen to stand there without anything to do, you know you've got to start serving dinner very soon.

Nee: Foochow Culture 1~ Everyone just stood around and asking everyone to sit. But nobody was sitting down. As young children we would hate this cause we must not sit until the adults do. Pro-longed hunger was a torture. We used to sit on that rectangular table. Guess it has shrunk.

Foochow Culture 2 ~ In Foochow culture, everybody talks, and nobody listens. And they're loud. At that point in time, everyone is inviting everybody else to sit, "SUAI MA, SUAI MA! SUAI SUAI SUAI!" (Please SIT!). Because of this, there is a tendency to have shouting matches in Sibu all the time, out of trying to overdo the other in politeness. The loud voices was probably carved in the Foochow DNAs since the rubber tapping days, where they had to shout from one tree to the next(prob like 100 trees away) in order to have a conversation. Maybe that is why others see us as domineering and unpolished.

Foochow Culture 3 ~ Dishes are BIG both in size and number. The traditionally accepted standard of giving people a good meal is 9 or 10 dishes. And they are big. So if you are invited to a dinner do at a foochow event, please dont eat for the whole day.

Three of the Eight sisters.

Believe me, they were heartbreakers back in the days when they were still wearing mini skirts.

This is what we call Chiak Pa Pak Bang (Eat Full,Kill Mosquitoes).

Looking at Uncle Arthur's Bundle of Blessings, maybe it is Chiak Pa Chee Bang (Eat Full, Feed Mosquitoes).

We were walking away towards our car when I turned around to take this picture. Don't let their looks fool you. These guys are professional. They really know how to pose.

If you had these guys for your modelling agency, you'd be making money. Just look at them, they can sell anything- Nike ads, Levis, Three Legged Brand medicated oil, Handyplast, Sibu Mental Hospital corporate video, maternity wear, Mopiko, Sibu kompia & kampua, Sibu Hawkers association marketing campaign, Compact toilet paper, just to name a few.