Monday, April 06, 2009

Red Eggs for a 92nd Birthday - RT

Happy 92nd birthday!

My mother-in-law turns 92! Wow! Not many people can reach this number.

My sister-in-law cooked her a bowl of Longevity noodles for breakfast this morning. These special noodles were extra long. On top of that, the birthday girl was given two red hard-boiled eggs so she could remove the shells.

The grandchildren helped in the dyeing of the eggs that symbolize happiness and good luck. They were given ang-pows (red envelopes containing money) by grandma.

In our Chinese culture, red eggs are also given out when a newborn baby is a month old. In olden China, the infant mortality rate was very high for new-born babies. If a new born baby survived his first month, the parents will celebrate. It used to be a celebration for baby boys only but now both sexes will celebrate.
First Commenter - napaboaniya


64 comments:

  1. Wow!! Happy Birthday to your MIL!
    Ya rite, for someone to live till the ripe age of 92 isn't quite easy these days.

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  2. I was 1st!!!!! Yippee!!!!!!!! :P

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  3. napaboaniya,
    Thank you!!

    I doubt I could live that long... not having enough exercise and eating junk food. :P

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  4. Yes, napaboaniya!
    FC for this birthday post! Congrats!
    :D

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  5. I'm 2nd! Ha ha.

    Happy birthday to ur mother-in-law. The kuehs are homemade?

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  6. Dora,
    Yes, you're my second commenter!

    The traditional Hainanese coconut kuehs are made by my sister-in-law.

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  7. Longevity noodles = mee sua? If so, I miss it so and my colleague was just telling me abt it last wk!

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  8. Wow... Your MIL sure living to the ripe old age.

    Happy Birthday to your MIL!

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  9. stan,
    Some people use mee sua (easily break), but we use wheat noodles. Can buy from supermarket.

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  10. Lina,
    My father-in-law is 95! :D
    They are very simple folks.

    Thanks for your congratulatory message.

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  11. Wow 92!Happy Birthday to your MIL indeed.Could it be her diet?Here in France the people who live to 100 very often have tomatoes,garlic and olive oil in their daily diet.
    I don't see 92 candles on the cake LOL but it looks yummy and moist.
    Would you want to live that long ECL?I would if its in good health but not if I'm to be a burden to my family.
    BTW you asked me once if I had a blog but alas no I don't as I'm too pie see.Kaypo but pie see LOL!
    Bravo to your MIL anyway.

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  12. A blessed bday to mum in law! Wow..92! :)

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  13. Happy Birthday to the MIL of ECL!

    Here's wishing her happiness and good health!

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  14. Happy Birthday to her! How wonderful!

    Thanks for visiting my photohunt, sorry I'm late visiting you. Have a great week!

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  15. Happy Birthday to your Mother-in-law! And guess what! I learned something new today on Chinese Culture. Thanks!

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  16. Happy Birthday to "poh poh" and wish her "long life hundred age"! :D

    Is it ok to see how "poh poh" looks like? :p

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  17. Happy Birthday to your mother-in-law!!

    Sincerely,
    Pu Niao

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  18. Happy Birthday to your Mother-in-Law! Wish her great health everyday. My grandmother is 95 this year. :)

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  19. Happy B'day to your MIL. BIG hugs for you and your MIL.

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  20. it's a blessing she's gotten this far. my best wishes for her.

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  21. Happy Birthday to Grandmama!
    An occasion to celebrate indeed.

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  22. Happy 92nd *gasp!* birthday to your MIL. Wish her good health, happiness and long life! : )

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  23. ECL, Happy Birthday to your mother-in-law!

    Longevity is a prized asset in today's maddening, high-stressed, troubled and an increasing complicated society and era.

    Sometimes I crave for the simpler life of the yesteryears when children ran around naked, when families slept with their doors open, when people swam in the seas, catching fishes... I did not go through all these la, just saw from all those television shows.

    Simpler life in yesteryears can be much more happier than life today!

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  24. Happy birthday to your mother-in-law. What a celebration! :-)

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  25. That's quite an age ! Happy birthday to your MIL !

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  26. Happy birthday to your MIL~

    祝她福如东海,寿比南山. :)

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  27. happy birthday to your mother in law. congratulations too on keeping her well. :)

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  28. Happy Birthday to your MIL! Red is a lucky birthday color, but back here, when you see red eggs, they are salted, which are yummy too.

    Happy RT!

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  29. How wonderful for your mother-in-law! Wish her many happy returns for me. :)

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  30. Happy birthday to your MIL!! Many happy returns of the day! :)

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  31. Happy Birthday to your MIL! Thank you for sharing this interesting birthday tradition.

    We also cook noodles/pasta during birthdays to symbolize longevity.

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  32. 92nd birthday!! wow. 92 years to celebrate.

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  33. all the best to your MIL!
    92 years... it's such a big number. I don't see myself living for that long.

    cheers!

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  34. NIce post and really interesting! My mother will be 90 this year but we don't have such traditions here. I love the colorful candles on the cake.

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  35. Extend my greetings to ur MIL..wow thats great 92 years old!

    Just started following ur blog through google friend connect.

    Have a great day ahead!

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  36. Wow congrats to your mother in law, My God bless her with many more. Have a great week. ECL

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  37. Wow, 92 years old! Happy birthday to your MIL! Are those some kind of rice cakes in the picture?

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  38. Happy Birthday to your MIL!
    That cake is gorgeous! Nicely composed image!

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  39. Happy birthday to your MIL. What a grand age that is.

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  40. Happy birthday to your MIL. She must have good genes!

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  41. Love the eggs and the longevity noodles. What a neat culture and I love learning about it from you!

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  42. happy birthday to her! 92 is indeed a difficult number to reach. she is extremely lucky for having her children n grandchildren celebrating it for her. :)

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  43. Awesome! Give my best, and a red egg, to the birthday gal.


    peace,
    mike
    livelife365

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  44. i love red eggs! here's wishing your grandma good health! my grandma is celebrating her 96th birthday in two days.:D

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  45. Happy belated birthday to your mother-in-law.
    How interesting about those red eggs.
    I think your M-i-l must have had lots of red eggs at her age!
    Actually we also boil egg in onion leaves for Easter. They get a nice golden color.
    Some use to go up on a hill top to watch the sun rise Easter Morning, and eat the eggs there. It's also considered good luck.
    Maybe East and old West aren't that different?
    I'd certainly love a bite of that huge chocolate cake.
    With strawberries, my favorites.
    From Felisol

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  46. Hi ecl,

    When my mom was abt to turn 80, my hubby made a list of b-day surprises - one was a hot air ballon flight n another was para-gliding with a coach, among the items. Both we saw first in Albuquerque/New Mexico n was very impressed by it. Mom was too frail to handle such robust sports but she did had a good laugh. In a way, she enjoys learning new ideas n concepts abt life from hubby.

    On that special day, we had brunch with 24 family members n mom's closest friends at home. The caterer provided enough food to last us till the end of the day.

    Oh, when we were kids, mom also made us the mee sua with 2 eggs as a b-day treat. It's been so long ago but they were happy memories.

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  47. Happy birthday to your MIL! 92... is very blessed to reach that number and counting... Thanks for sharing.

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  48. gosh! red eggs!!?!?! wow good luck, i wan that,,i will dye eggs too! thanks for the tip ECL!

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  49. Wonderful RT post, ECL! I love the way the RED eggs look. I'm glad they celebrate young girls as well as young boys! Happy Ruby Tuesday! :)

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  50. Thank you every one for the birthday wishes. :)

    It is a great blessing for my mother-in-law to live to such age. Besides the effects of old age, she's quite healthy.

    She eats simply and still does her own laundry and some light cleaning around the house.

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  51. Hi ECL! Happy Birthday to your Mother-in-Law! *HUGS*

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  52. Wow ... 92 is a big milestone! Congraz. She is blessed :)

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  53. Wow. 92 is old. I'm not sure I wanna be that old... hm.

    Yummy cake!!!

    Funny with the red eggs, we're planing to dye our Easter eggs red this year :-)

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  54. Happy birthday to your mother-in-law! I always learn something new when I visit you. Interesting about the tradition of red eggs... and I think I'll look into longevity noodles...

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  55. Interesting facts, thank you for sharing. I love the photo!

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  56. 60 comments on this?? You are so popular my girl!
    Thanks for the photo and the story I like to pick up bits of cultural history but I hope I never make it to 92!
    happy RT!

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  57. A history lesson with a Ruby Tuesday! Too cool!

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  58. Congratulations to your grandmother that's quite an achievement!

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