Roar of the tiger.
This Lunar new year was a exceptional one compared to last year. And every time we keep hearing people say that every start of the year is gonna a good one or next year is gonna be even better. But what if last year have always been better this year? Remember how prosperous and lively we celebrated Chinese new year those years back before the recession hits? And the “bonus incentives” from the red packets we received seems to be getting lesser each year? The conversations with relatives and cousins were pretty vague, a short exchanged of few words and we accomplished the “hi, how is it going?, bye” convo. For people whose heart were filled with woes and sorrows you could easily tell they were just putting on a smile as a pretty disguise. So for new year eve my uncle invited bro and i over to his in-laws place for a reunion dinner. Uncle was really kind enough to fetch us over to the place and we were welcomed by my adorable little cousins playing head over heels along the corridors. We had steamboat and also had a fruitful time talking with my uncle’s relatives about a wide-range of topics from childhood times to the present time. They were such a good host telling me to finish all the food but except for the prawns, squids, sotong balls and crabsticks had to abstain my hands from laying on due to rashes, which is another nightmare i wont go into. FML.
First day of lunar new year went to this “Big-uncle” house with my uncle’s family. Every year we never fail to go over to his house to bai nian, because there’s always a big ulterior motive than the means of exchanging the red packets and two oranges. Its always the giving and sharing of one’s wealth made our new year visits much appealing.. just being frank here. Then we head over to cousin’s place by bus at jurong point in the evening. Aunty Catherine came over with her family also, so we had quite a good time chit-chatting and enjoying the meal prepared by Florence’s mum. Needless to mention the feast wont be a complete feast without the yu sheng, reckoned all of us enjoyed the thrill of tossing and mixing the the yu sheng and playing the Chinese homonyms that symbolizes prosperity and longevity. Had quite a hearty meal, the lively atmosphere makes me really felt like a real home to me which i never experience for a long time. Words wouldn’t be enough to express my heartfelt gratitude for their kindness and acceptance even after my parents were separated. After dinner, we stayed around and played with firesticks and there were tons of it brought by Aunty catherine. I was kinda hyped up by the firesticks and there were those with the popping sounds that seemed to be more thrilling haha. I was being quite a fool later and tried to light fifteen sticks at one go, then the firesticks set ablaze which turned out to be quite a scene. Though i suffered from just a minor burn, playing with it was wild fun :)
Second day of the new year visited two relatives, its pretty much the same things you would expect throughout each visit. This time was different, i managed to pick up a conversation with this related-relative, Aunty Magdalene. The people who were there which i wouldnt expect any people to come and talk to me, she turned out to be the person who starts the ball rolling. She appeared to have this motherly-look then she threw questions about my life and stuffs that usually im quite sensitive to. At the start i felt uncomfortable with it but as the conversation went on i enjoyed talking with her, gradually i know she’s someone whom i can confided my troubles with. I guess she’s a person who could be a very good listening ear and someone who gives practical advise. Its rare to meet this kinda person trust me.
Third day went to find ke xin and hangout after her work in the afternoon. Head down to Taka and accompanied her to Kinokuniya to browse for books. Its like one of the biggest bookstore i’ve seen so far in other places. Tried our luck to catch a movie at cine-leisure, apparently its packed with a long-queue and seats were filling fast. Luckily ke xin’s friend brought us tickets at the cathay and we made our way to meet them. Was quite lucky to witness a commotion between a teen and a middle-aged man. Apparently it seemed the man was trying to hit the teen, and the teen was in a defensive posture, grabbing on tightly to the man hands and he shouted “someone call the police!” repeatedly. I just can’t fathom why people have to fight and quarrel during new year, shouldnt there be more meaningful things to do right? So we met up with her friend, hui ling and her boyfriend, andy(sorry if i got the names wrong, bad memory), they seems friendly and nice haha. Movie was better despite watching for the second time, ke xin almost slept at the start of the show until i hit her awake, lol. Jackie chan never fails to entertain us in the film and lee hom sounds so different in his acting, but his singing is a killer :)
Then we had dinner at bugis, ate steak and andy had chicken cutlet or smth but the girls couldnt finished their fish and chips, they should have shared a plate instead haha. Spent almost a hour at the bus stop with ke xin waiting for her bus, we chit chat and i managed to listen the korean songs in her ipod. Was quite amazed to know that korean singers can sing mandarin song well and fluently. We waited and waited but the bus never show up despite the long waiting, major disappointment with the bus services, seriously.
And today i went to find Norman and we finally hit the gym after a hiatus. The gym at his condo was quite big and we didn’t expect to see such a crowd in the gym especially during new year, lol. We tried to lift some heavier weights so Norman and i took turns to assist each other, the whole thing was tiring and sweat lots. We could barely move a muscle when we stepped out of the gym, dread tired. The two of us went to find Carmen and tracy at upper thomson and we had supper at this funny-looking prata house. They had all sorts of pratas which were much better than those i had at hongkong cafe, lol. Didnt know notice when the three of them were so active lately, was too tired to talk much and norman showed so much enthusiasm on the topics Carmen was crapping about haha.
Oh and talking about CNY, i just cant understand why this year valentine’s day have to fall on CNY. Imagine you are watching a horror film where sex and gore happens at the same time, you wouldn’t enjoy it right… its just so wrong man. I bet most people would spent their night away at relatives house and whats there to celebrate V’day when literally all the shops are closed. Screw hell.
