man yue

10 May 2013

Our family’s princess turned 1 month last Saturday and we held a small Man Yue celebration consisting of close family and friends. Unlike a baby shower which is held celebrating the pending birth of a baby, usually attended by ladies to share wisdom and tips for the mother-to-be, the Chinese Man Yue is held one month after the birth of the child.

The one month after the birth is considered a important time for the mother and child. Like what I mentioned in my Confinement posts, the woman’s body is weakened by the experience of childbirth and blood loss. In order to regain her strength, she needs to abide to the many rules of confinement and to stick to a confinement cuisine. In the same light, the newborn is also vulnerable to ailments during the first month. Hence, both mother and child should stay at home, to nourish their health for a month.

After the one month is up, there will be a huge celebration to introduce the baby to family and friends. There will be special man yue food items, along with other food items. In our case, we had ang ku kueh, glutinous rice and red eggs.

My parents ordered ang ku kueh( 紅龜粿) from Ang Mo Kio Nonya Kueh. Ang Ku Kueh are prepared for baby’s first month celebration because these cakes symbolises luck, blessings and long life for the child. We bought the flat-shaped Ang Ku Kueh as it signifies a girl while the pointed-shaped ang ku kueh signifies a boy. These cakes were a hit at the party. The ang ku kueh with red bean filling were really yummy in particular. Mama prepared glutinous rice for the party as well!

E’s parents prepared the red eggs. Eggs are chosen as they represent fertility and their round shapes symbolise harmony. It is believed that if you have a boy, you give out an odd number of eggs, and if you have a girl, you give out an even number of eggs.

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Here’s our precious princess in the morning of her Man Yue party!

I bathed her and gave her a specially good and long massage before getting her into her party dress! According to Chinese tradition, I was supposed to shave her head. However, E and I have decided to shave her head on her 100th day, just like what we did for Ryan!

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The celebration was held from 12 noon all the way to 11pm. It was a good 11 hours of gathering. There were two sessions- the earlier one was for E’s relatives and our friends. The evening session was just for my side of relatives.

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Just Us
It has been an exciting 3 years of marriage for E and I. We are blessed with two beautiful kids. The journey is exhausting but peppered with many heart-warming and lovely moments.

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E’s parents and relatives

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My Hai Sing loves

They are my oldest friends- considering how I got to know them when I was 14 and it has been a good 14 years thus far. I really appreciate how many of them always take time off their busy schedules to come for Baby Gillian’s Man Yue. I always tell E that they are possibly the nicest and most good-hearted people around I know. And they still are. And my mom never fails to remind me that they are really good friends. 謝謝你! I will definitely return your kindness!