9 July 06 - Good Day To Move In

Today is so-called a good/auspiscious day to move into our new house. But Of cuz we are not prepared to start staying over cuz the bed and PC has not moved in yet. Probably next week bah. Most importantly is following the Chinese traditional process of "Moving House". This is what we have done:


~Things to prepare~

One pineapple•
One bunch of bananas•
Five apples•
Five oranges•
Five (another type of fruits)
Red paper for wrapping fruits and sticking on the cooking items.•
1 packet of rice – (Rice can bring from your old house)•
1 small packet of salt•
1 small bottle of cooking oil•
1 big Huat Kuay•
1 new rice container•
1 new sticker – Chang Man (Always Full) to stick on the outside of the rice container•
1 new kettle•
1 new rice cooker•
1 new vacuum flask•
Some clothing sets (just a small packet)•

Bring all the stuff above and proceed to your new house.

~Move-In Procedure for home~

1. Find a suitable auspicious day and time according to Tong Sheng (the Chinese Almanac); the selection of auspicious date should take into consideration of the birth data of the family members. Make sure no one clashes with that day of move-in.

2. Before entering the house, say a prayer at the door and proclaim that you are the rightful owner of the house and claim for its ownership and possession and politely ask any 'uninvited guest' to leave (or perform religious ritual/rite according to your religious belief).

3.Once you entered the house, say auspicious words.

4.The husband enters the house first with cash filled pockets and important documents i.e. shares & marriage certificates.) Other adult family members follow with jewellery &cash. Children carry their school bag filled with books.

5. No one should be empty handed. Bring the 5 necessities for kitchen (cooking oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, rice) and some Chinese customs say bring brush and broom, bucket filled with water, pairs of chopstick or fork and spoon.

6.Prepare the Red paper by cutting strips of about 2cm and wrap around the fruits, Huat Kuay and Nian Gao. Cut some Red paper into round shapes and stick to the packets of rice, salt, cooking oil etc. Wash the fruits and dry it before sticking the Red paper.

7.Once the auspicious time is up, from the old house, start to boil some water in any kettle but not the new one. Not too much, just about able to fill into the new flask you have bought. Once the water is boiling hot (you can hear the sound of water jumping around in the kettle) fill it into the vacuum flask. (please be careful not to scald your hands).

8.If you don't pray then place the fruits and Huat Kuay on the table.

9. Open all the doors and windows and let the Chi flow through the house. Switch on the electricity, on the lights, fan/aircon, TV, sound system etc. Turn on the water tap and stove, let the water run and gas burned for a short moment – this is to signify the flow of energy/chi in the house.

10. Pour the water from the vacuum flask into the new kettle and boil it. The same thing, until your kettle starts whistling and the water jumping inside then you shout 3 times “Huat ah” “Huat ah” “Huat ah”! Let it boil for a short while and off it.

11.Wash the rice and cook it in the new rice cooker. The rest of the rice can pour into the rice container. Try to fill the rice to the top of the container to make it full.

12. Cook the first meal at home. ONLY let FAMILY members eat the first meal. DO NOT share the first meal with anyone else or their WEALTH is believed to be shared by those at the table. You can either buy some food from outside or cook the food yourself and have your lunch or dinner at your new home together with the rice that you have cooked. Sit down and eat happily.

13.Remember to place the clothing sets into the cupboards after your meal.

14. Most importantly, throughout the whole auspicious process, all you those involved must be happy, smile laugh, joke and do not quarrel. Those that you think will be creating ugly scenes should be arranged to go to your house another day and not on the day and time that you “Shift House”

- Actually we did not follow exactly everything that has been recommended, so I only list out the above what we have really done. Well, should be good enough right? Quite tedious for us to do all these yet busy washing and packing...Haha... Its a truly enjoyable process to organize my own kitchen, cleaning my new utensils etc lah... A true Blue Aunty Mok!

Our first cooked rice tastes so nice and delicious! No bluff ok! Its really very tasty...