TRADITIONAL LION DANCE 2026

 

The traditional lion dance performers were from the Segamat Teng Xiang Association lion and dragon dance group, whose website at Facebook can be viewed HERE. The lion statues positioned at the entrance to the Goddess of Mercy temple remind me of the Lions of the Ancient Khmer empire, which is the title of an article by Rodney Charles LHuillier that can be read at the Hello Angkor website HERE (however, logging into Google is required before one can access that article). China Media Group's Malaysian employee was one of the performers who was selected by CMG to represent Malaysia at China's prestigious New Year Gala. Performers from Vietnam and Kazakhstan were the other countries selected by CMG. The Malaysians performed “Wau Bulan” during the broadcast of the New Year Gala which attracts an annual audience of more than 1.4 billion viewers. You can read about it HERE. The Goddess of Mercy temple in Kampung Abdullah was very lively on the first day of CNY with a pair of lions performing their dance in front of Guan Yin before going all around the temple. My sister and I spent some time at the open house area of the temple, with refreshing cups of tea whilst marveling at their simple yet creative decorations (as pictured below). 

Pink blossoms, kumquats at the steps of the temple around the guardian lion statue

Lettuce on a string together with ang pow for the traditional lion dancers to jump up & retrieve

Smoke from the firecrackers was blown inside the temple by the winds from the incoming rains

The bright red traditional lion costume looks brand new and together with the yellow traditional lion, both bowed (and peeled oranges & pomelos) before the Goddess of Mercy when inside the temple

Lays old-school style of ang pow packets looked really cool to me  

Photo sourced from China Media Group London UK - Paddington Bear holding the Chinese character which symbolizes Prosperity 

Horse-themed cookies made by my sister's friend. 

Ramadhan falls on the 3rd day of Chinese New Year in 2026. The Rakyat Post organized an online contest entitled GONG XI RAMADAN 2026 which you can view HERE and it looks like the internet user has to view each video of the brands to answer the questions. Very clever marketing campaign from these big brands, which consist of a service delivery app (which has acquired a supermarket brand), a developer, a bank and a mineral water brand. An image downloaded from the Rakyat Post's Gong Xi Ramadan microsite depicting the bamboo groves, lanterns and old-school bicycle (as pictured below). 

Chap Gor Mei marks the end of the Chinese New Year celebration. This 15th day is also known as the Chinese Valentine Day. Some of the notable events of this day is the tossing of mandarin oranges (scribbled with telephone numbers from the ladies) into pools of water, in which the gentlemen scoop up and lo behold, they can call up the ladies for a meet-up. Tech apps such as Tindr, Bumble (where the women initiate the call), Coffee Meets Bagel etc. are the modern tools used in the western world which somehow lacks the human touch and fun involved in the mandarin oranges tossing tradition.  A mall in Penang is packed with activities in conjunction with Chap Gor Mei which includes this oranges toss into the quay area, which can be viewed HERE. 

YEAR OF THE FIRE HORSE IN JOHOR

Durians harvested earlier by family friends from their orchard at Kampung Batu Badak 

CNY 2026 was celebrated by my family in Johor. We reached Segamat from KL on the eve of Chinese New Year. We visited my mum's friends in Kampung Batu Badak. They maintain an orchard filled with fruit trees in front of their house. The rambutan trees were brimming red with ripe juicy-looking fruits (as per second picture below). We went to pluck the low-hanging rambutan fruits, whilst Pakcik used a pole to harvest the ripe red "local hairy cherries" from the upper branches of the tree. We scooped up the duku langsat fruits that were dropping down from the tree when the bunches were prodded with the pole. Some of these duku langsat fruits were as small as a longan fruit. The natural sweetness pervaded my senses when I peeled one of the duku langsat open and ate it. Truly a nectar from the Gods of Orchard fruit trees. The Goddess of Mercy temple at Kampung Abdullah, Segamat, Johor welcomed the new year with a performance from a pair of red and golden pair of lions. The performers were mainly secondary school-goers. The traditional lion dance was very lively, energetic and more pictures will be shared in the next post. A video of the lion dance performance can be viewed at the beginning of this blog. What started as a drizzle on the first day of Chinese New Year morning soon turned into heavy rains by noontime. The non-stop rainfall continued until late night when it stopped for a few hours. The rains returned as dawn broke on the second day of Chinese New Year. What a wet start to the Year of the Fire Horse. Lanterns are used in China to symbolize the good fortune, vitality and to honour the horse as one of the 12 zodiac animals according to a National Geographic article which can be read HERE. Lanterns were also lighted up in one of the housing area within Kampung Tengah, Segamat with a God of Fortune inflatable mounted on the roof of one of these houses. There is a movie about the God of Fortune landing in Hong Kong from outer space, starring Alan Tam and George Lam, entitled "Kung Hei Fat Choy" (1985) which I remembered watching during the Chinese New Year holidays years ago when I was a student. According to an article in the Guardian, which you can read HERE the fire horse is a self-paradoxical year which can bring extreme success, such as rapid career progression, yet extremely challenging if one burns out or succumbs to anxiety, which may lead to failure. One is advised to harness the fire horse well, embrace the challenge and find a balance.

My sister's steady pole skills were valuable in loosening this bunch of duku langsat fruits!

The duku langsat fruits at the mid-section area of the tree were around the size of golf balls

Freshly plucked rambutan fruits with duku langsat that tasted as sweet as honey

God of Fortune inflatable BEFORE lighting

God of Fortune inflatable AFTER lighting

Colourful lanterns from Kampung Tengah residential area

I'd just like to end this post with a random DRAW results when I played with Florence the Bot from CHESS the Musical. It was not a piece of cake playing with her on the Chess online game. 

SPRING FESTIVAL 2026 - HUAT RU 马

Pot of limes from Pudu Ria Florist HQ in KL-bursting with Vitamin C

Pots of Tangerines which Chinese establishments such as restaurants would purchase for the upcoming spring festival

Cherry blossoms - symbol of spring and renewal

Limes, Kumquats and Tangerines - such a soothing sight within the city of KL

KL Gateway Mall is one of the many spots which I stop by on workday weeks on my way home from Cyberjaya, Selangor. The Mall's CNY banner is as depicted below where the last day to catch the acrobatic lion performance is on the 26th February 2026 afternoon. The traffic jams in the city are an unresolved issue which is compounded by the unpredictable rains, increasing number of vehicles on the road (EV or not), unplanned road closures, accidents et cetera. The Malaysian Government has announced 50% discounted toll rates on 14th and 15th Febuary 2026 only, which can be read HERE.  

CNY 2026 Facebook Banner from KL Gateway Mall

PLUS Highway authority (a member of the UEM Group) Time Travel Advisory are now in their app and is apparently powered by AI. A banner promoting their MyPLUS app is pictured below:-

Mandarin oranges which is pronounced as “KAM” in Chinese dialects (Hokkien & Cantonese), can be interpreted as GOLD with each orange representing a precious piece of gold. A major Malaysian-based distributor of oranges which are imported from Southern China, explains about their brand of oranges HERE. Huat Ru-Ma (Chinese character for horse pronounced as "Ma" is 马) means Prosperous House is a clever slogan from IKEA Malaysia (as printed on their banner pictured below). Their CNY 2026 campaign webpage can be viewed HERE. 

YEAR OF THE HORSE - GALLOPING INTO 2026

Acrobatic Lion Dance at Pearl Point Shopping Centre

Fruits & Lettuce which the Lions had "munched" on earlier

Pink Lion delivering little pieces of happiness in the form of Mandarin oranges

God of Prosperity with whiter than white smiles handing out angpows with vouchers

Brought my mum for Sunday shopping at Pearl Point Shopping Centre with Chinese New Year 2026 around the corner. We manage to catch the first lion dance performance that afternoon and it was the acrobatic one, with the pair of red lions expertly jumping, twisting and turning on the poles to the sounds of cymbals and drums. Mandarin oranges "dropped out" from the mouths of the lions and my mum was the happy recipient of one Mandarin orange:)  An interesting article entitled "Chinese Lion Dance (Wu Shi) History, Symbolism & Traditions for 2026" by Sino Cultural where it was written that the drums represent the heartbeat of the lion, makes me appreciate the traditional culture even more. You can read about it HERE. 

The Lemon Trees are now available for sale since Chinese New Year 2026 is around the corner. Loving the varieties being offered for sale by one of the largest wholesale supplier of flowers, plants in Malaysia, Pudu Ria Florist. Their lemon tree webpage can be viewed HERE.  Their website is kept updated, and the front page of their website has that celebratory look and feel of Chinese New Year, with flowers, kumquats and oranges including the pair of lions (pink and orange) against a red-coloured background, RED being the primary theme colour of CNY. A visit to Pudu Ria's headquarters for whiff of spring blossoms will be featured next.

14 February to 3 March 2026 CNY Lantern and Floral Festival will be held at Fo Guang Shan temple which can be viewed via their banner below:-

Predictions for the 12 Zodiac animals including the mythical dragon are covered in the South China Morning Post article HERE. Genting Highlands CNY festivities and Horse-themed website is also up and running as pictured below:-

WELCOME 2026

Tanjung Tuan Forest reserve signboard at the base of the hill forest. The website of Melaka Forestry visibly displayed on signboard. 

The website of the Melaka Forestry is not accessible as of January 2026. Contact information on the State Forest Department of Melaka can be obtained from the website of the Forestry Department of Peninsular Malaysia HERE. Information on Tanjung Tuan forest park itself is available HERE. 

The walk down the forest reserve

Bukit Batu Putih which I dared not attempt to hike YET...

Cape Rachado (Tanjung Tuan) lighthouse - a welcome sight for me as I completed my uphill walk

Entrance to Tanjung Tuan forest reserve - a long-tailed macaque (one of many) sat on gate

The single lane entry and exit points into Bayu Bay Resort. Drive fast along the main road and one will also miss these points. Nevertheless, despite the school holidays and public holiday on 1st January which saw an increase in visitors to PD, traffic was significantly less compared to KL or Ipoh or Penang. 

Brought my mum to visit this Taoist temple which is situated next to Yun Long restaurant 

Had dinner at this Yun Long restaurant the night before

Lempeng Kelapa with curry sauce bought from Medan Selera situated in front of Bayu Beach Resort

Goodbye 2025 Hello 2026

2025 has been a very quiet year for me in terms of birdwatching. Family gatherings too have been relatively quiet. Public holidays provide the best opportunity to travel, despite the traffic jam challenge where highways such as PLUS North-South's can literally turn into "parking spots" along certain stretches. Port Dickson holds a lot of dear memories for me, my family and the days when I was a raptor counter which you can read about HERE. Bayu Beach Resort was available for booking on New Year's Eve and off we go for some Vitamin Sea at PD, which faces the Straits of Malacca, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. The resort had a private beach and though there were sand flies (recommended to wear long pants/jeans and slather/spray liberal amounts of insect repellant on arms, hands, feet & ankles), one can have a pleasant walk in the cool morning and evening, when the sun sets.   

Speedboat (non-functional) on display at lobby area of the Resort

Spiciest Assam Laksa I've ever eaten at a nondescript warong by the roadside of Teluk Kemang 

  Paid an additional RM4 to Port Dickson City Council whose website can be visited HERE. This sustainability fee was collected by Bayu Beach Resort reception staff on behalf of the PD City Council. After dropping of my mum and helper at Resort's two-room apartment, I had a bit of me time at PD Marina area, in which ZUS coffee outlet has a great view of the Straits of Malacca at their outlet's first level. Unfortunately, that outlet was crowded, with a long queue of people waiting to place their orders. A reminder of the ongoing school holidays. I went over to DEDAUN, a modern coffee-shop style restaurant instead. They had cool Malaysia Slangs plastered all over the brick wall next to their entrance. I ordered their 3-Layered Milk Tea and sipped it slowly whilst enjoying the view of the busy shipping lane at the first floor of DEDAUN.

Mangrove (a very small patch) at this corner of the beach where the water was visibly cleaner. I had seen otter tracks on this sandy area of Tanjung Tuan, years ago.

A piece of dead coral washed ashore

The sandier beach in front of Villea Resort, mangrove and parts of the Tanjung Tuan hill forest in the background - when the tide is low, one can walk right around the mangrove area 

Private beach at Bayu Beach Resort - there were sand flies!

Sunset at Bayu Beach Resort private beach facing the Straits of Malacca

A smaller piece of dead coral on beach of Port Dickson

My mum on her evening walk along the sandy beach of the resort

Goodbye 2025 as waves washed it away