Chinese New Year 2013

I really don't feel like blogging, but I just don't want to give all this up without a fight! My blog is the only thing that hasn't died on me along with all my photos in the past 6 years, so I think it's worth sustaining... 

Anyway, there's simply too much to catch up on over the past two months, so I'll just be sharing a bit of what I've been up to in the past few days instead. 

Chinese New Year really started on Saturday.

Mom's side of the family went to The Line at Shangri-La hotel for an unorthodox reunion lunch. This is the first time in my life that we've had a reunion LUNCH instead of dinner, and at an outside place too. 

We sat outdoors next to the pool. Nice ambience and all, but the buffet was far too crowded. There was a long queue getting in to the restaurant even when we had all made reservations, as well as another long queue at the oyster and sushi stations. 

No wonder it's called "The Line". 

Huahuahua... 

Sigh.

Being around young cousins makes me wish I were still in primary school or something. 

My desserts were the only thing I remembered to take a lousy photo of, and I didn't even like them that much...

That evening, we all met again at my aunt's house where we just ate more food and had a lo hei. Uncle Rick made delicious quesadillas that night. I think I had about 5? 

On the first morning of the new year, we went to my grandma's as we usually do. 

This year's fare was slightly different from last year's, but still delicious nonetheless. The roast pork and bamboo shoots were my favourite.

I had my nails painted bright pink for the festivities. Was hoping that they would make up for my first day's outfit being black and white.

Celebrated Ah ma's birthday on the second day of the new year. 

She turns 92 this year, which means that she's really 93 according to the Chinese calendar. Ah ma doesn't know her actual birthdate. All she knows is that she was born on 初二，so on the second day of CNY each year, we will celebrate her birthday. Can you imagine not knowing the exact date of your birthday?

Come to think of it, my maternal grandma doesn't know her actual birthdate either, so she just picked a date that she liked and we celebrate her birthday on that date each year. 

Chanced upon a random lion dance in Chancery Court's Cold Storage that afternoon. 

I was really happy because I did not get to catch one last year!

Finally got to sing at K Box with Shirley and Edwin. Thanks for the good times!

Yesterday morning, I went to Pulau Tekong to send my brother off on his epic journey to adulthood. 

Now that he's 18, it's time for him to enter the army and serve two years in what we call National Service, also known as NS. 

He had his head shaved the day before. Makes him look bigger sized now that his head looks smaller sized LOL

After a really long tour around the premises, it was time to say goodbye. I couldn't help but feel a weird mix of pride, sadness, curiosity and anticipation as we watched them file away. Pride because he's a big boy now, no longer the 8 year old I remember running around the house with. Sadness because I won't get to see him for a bit. Curiosity because I am just dying to know what are they going to do all day today, tomorrow, the day after, etc. etc. etc.! And lastly, anticipation because I can't wait to see him at his graduation parade, fully dressed in his army wear!

Sigh... 

These few days really made me feel old. 

From the ever-shrinking pile of angpow money (it gets lesser every year that I grow older), to the harmless prodding about my relationship status (23 and single? Why no babies yet??!!), to sending my bro off to the army. It just seems to augment the sense of time flying past at the speed of light. 

I wonder what the rest of this year will hold?

A new hobby? Gahhh I hope not.... I have enough hobbies as it is and no time for another one!


Well, think I better go to bed now that it's 06:21 in the morning. Fingers crossed for another blog post soon :)

Last Week

I really admire people who lead busy lives and still manage to blog regularly. The last time I actually did blog daily was when I was stuck in homeroom every morning for at least one hour without anything to do! Ever since, blogging has always been an on and off thing. I'm sure many people out there can relate...... 

Anyway, since the last time I've updated, this is what I've been up to:

Went out to lo hei with the company peeps last week. 

We had it at Crystal Jade in Great World City. Food actually wasn't bad at all. It had been some years since I last ate there, and I thought the food quality might have fallen since more people started eating there. 

THEN let me tell you what this girl... MANDA, did.

She came to my hang out at my place last week and didn't say ONE WORD about it being her birthday! So we ended up watching a movie and that was it. Didn't even get her a cake or sing a song or anything! 

:(

Okay okay... I know it exposes the fact that I'm a really bad friend, can't even remember people's birthdays... but I really don't usually keep track of birthdays. I don't even wish people happy birthday on Facebook. 

But I gotta make it up to her somehow!

On Thursday, we had a really beautiful sunrise, coupled with fresh cool morning air.

Early that morning I had to head to Paya Lebar MRT, where I met this kitty who looks almost exactly like Koshka!!! When I saw her, my heart flipped. I couldn't believe my eyes; it even rolled on the floor in the same lazy manner as Koshka!

This bowl of mee siam looks good right? Things are not always what they seem though... It wasn't spicy enough and tasted too sweet. 

You might be wondering what I'm doing at Paya Lebar MRT early on Thursday morning, staring at kitties and eating mee siam instead of going to work. 

In fact, I was working, at this event in the Singpost building. 

The conference hall was held in a CHURCH of all places. Didn't see that coming, but I felt a lot more at ease afterwards. 

Early in the morning, not many people besides the reporters were there to listen to the live interviews. Basically the conference was for showcasing all the new upcoming IT stuff from around Asia. 

We were there to promote our iPhone app.

Free gift packs for those who downloaded the app on the spot!

On the first day of the two-day conference, the rooms were really crowded and the air-conditioning didn't seem to function at all. Not only that, but the Wifi and 3G connections were horrendous. We could hardly get anything to function. At least people were sympathetic because everyone was having right about the same connection problems. 

Spent the whole day doing demos and speaking till our throats were hoarse. 

Yep.

The next morning, Talia and I went near the Singpost area to walk about and to have breakfast. 

Still kinda sleepy from watching movies till late.

It's so sad to see Tanjong Katong show traces of change. All the places we used to see on a daily basis are starting to either disappear or look renovated.

Had porridge for $1.50 here! 

Then on Friday night, I met up with Manda again and her foreign exchange friend Andrew for dinner and arcade. Had a lot of fun! But the arcade was a little too crowded and we ended up spending a lot of time just waiting around for machines to be free. 

Sunday morning, went to breakfast at the good ol' Boon Lay Market where I used to spend a lot of time as a kid. Things look completely different now, but I still remember the uncle who used to sell us pork every morning. 

The sights and smells of this place has been altered somewhat, but all I have to do is close my eyes and the memories will come rushing back. It's sad to know that you can never return to the past sometimes. I wish I could come back to the old Boon Lay with its unpopulated streets, cheap food and wide sweeping carparks with tall raintrees over them. 

All gone now.

On Sunday afternoon, after the Bible gathering at the Hanes' house, Papa drove me to MacRitchie where my siblings and I participated in the bimonthly MR25 5k time trial. I totally wasn't in the mood to run, let alone race, but I was really curious to see what times I would run now that I haven't actually trained or run regularly for months. 

Turns out that my times didn't depreciate that badly at all!

I ran the 5k course in 22:52:55, about 3mins slower than my fastest time. 

Next week, I'll begin running on the track again now that I've found some people to train with. I hope that will help to get me motivated again to train regularly. 

Thing is, I can't run just to stay fit or look good. That to me is hardly motivation at all. I need to race, need to feel like I have to improve my times- that's the only way that I'm gonna jolt my lazy butt into action.

..........................................................

So much is going on in my head these days concerning church, God and my spiritual life that I don't even know where to begin. I think I need to just quiet down and BE STILL. 

Chinese New Year 2012

I'm sitting in the office now and there's a lion dance going on upstairs. The clashing and banging of the drums are making me so HYPER! I actually haven't seen a single lion dance at all this Chinese New Year (tv doesn't count). 

Sad face.

Last week, there was this gorgeous double rainbow that appeared in the sky after a terrible thunderstorm. Lots of people were talking about it on Feecha, Facebook and Twitter. I happened to be eating dinner when I saw it outside the window. It kinda took my breath away; not only because it was so beautiful, but because I had been getting impatient and mad at God about something just a few minutes before. When I saw the rainbow, I suddenly realised that God was reminding me of His faithfulness. Unlike man, God will never break his promises. 

That night, out of sheer boredom, Shirley and I went to watch Journey 2 and play at the arcade in Cineleisure. 

In case you were wondering, Journey 2 is a horrible movie. 'Nuff said on my end. Go watch it for yourself if you're not convinced!

Had one of the earliest breakfasts ever, at 03:00 in the morning. Can't believe there's Xin Wang Cafe that's still open at that time till 04:00! They have such a great variety of food as well. Can you believe they actually have borscht in the menu? It's actually just Campbell's tomato soup with dribblets of veggies in it. Kinda salty, tastes nothing like real Russian borscht, but I like it!

My rollerblading fever has not subsided. In fact, it's getting worse. On Chinese New Year's Eve, my itching legs dragged me to ECP for a quick blading session.

Thank God for Talia cycling with me that day! We were caught in the thunderstorm and if she hadn't towed me some of the way back, I might not have made it. 

Our house is all decorated for Chinese New Year. New Year's Eve is when the family gathers together for 团圆饭 (reunion dinner) and we eat our hearts out. This year is especially special because it'll be the first time in almost a decade that all of us are together again for reunion dinner.

Nanny is very happy to have her grandsons back in the same country as her :D I assume she's happy I'm back too....... 

Lots of food! 

Sunday was 初一, the first day of the new year. As with our usual custom, we went to Nanny's house in the morning bearing oranges.

During Chinese New Year, we're supposed to wear new clothes. I got my dress at Warehouse for a mere $40 back during Christmas. It used to cost $109! So glad that I bought it beforehand. I wasn't about to enter the crazy pre-CNY shopping crowd in town just to wait 15 minutes for a changing room!

Every dish here is significant. For example, the green veggies are called 大菜 (read as "da cai"). It sounds like "big fortune"- so that's why we're eating it. We're eating "big fortune" haha!

Don't you think their outfits are soooo cute?!

Got to eat some of my favourite candies while visiting relatives. I haven't eaten these for years!

Think we went to a total of four places before 17:00 on Sunday. 

By the end of the day, the boys had collected a nice bundle of 红包 (red packets). 

初二 (second day of CNY) seemed to arrive in a blink of an eye. I spent the day with my paternal side of the family. Felt like a bloated pig for the most part of the day. Bleh!

At least the late afternoon ended on a more relaxing note. I got to hang out a bit with my sister :)

My 收获 (loot) at the end of two days of visiting and dining. 

Now I'm tired.