41. cny mood

CNY eve-reunion dinner (13/2/10)

for the whole afternoon i was busy skype-ing with my family back home. it felt so wonderful to see everyone together having so much fun. though i am thousands of miles away, i am still apart of that fun and joy=) they had their reunion dinner before calling me but i enjoyed watching them play firecrackers and fireworks. the internet connection was not cooperating very well but it was fairly good. at least i got to see their faces. and i can conclude that i have put on some weight here. it was the same sentence from everyone when they see me online. hmm...guess i have to visit the gym more often now..anyway thanks so much for bringing the laptop around everywhere just so that i can be apart of every activity=)it has definitely been a very special cny for me this year. away from home but yet not so away...

i had my reunion dinner with my friends later in the evening but this reunion dinner is nothing great compared to the ones i used to have at home.it is just something to bring in the cny mood. each of us cooked something and my dish was grilled salmon. i know that it is not that chinesey but hey it's not that easy finding genuine chinese food here. so have to make do with what i have. my favourite dish on that day was the steamed chicken with herbs. it reminded me so much of my grandma's cooking. thanks to my two dearest friends for preparing that. it brought back a lot of wonderful memories of home. *hugs for the great job*

we hang around "karaoke-ing" with fast beat songs and later moved on to slower beats to commemorate Valentine's day. but one thing i find weird is how people react to rules and restictions. it is illegal in Malaysia to buy firecrackers but people do it anyway not bothering about the rules. here, it is legal and sold everywhere but no one seemed to have thought of buying it to play. how odd!!!



first day of CNY (14/2/10)

spent my first day of CNY in the church. a very different way of celebrating it i guess. i missed going visiting from house to house collecting ang pau. and of course the food i gobbled down in every house.

i went to a chuch member's house after the service for lunch. the couple had invited me over last week and i thought that it was for CNY but i found out later that it was just so coincident as they are not even aware of the celebration. my first ever British lunch with the company of "ang mo lang" or "mat salleh". the food was simple but simpy delicious. thank God that they did not serve cheese at all. find it weird but at least i didn't have to push away any food.


second day of CNY (15/2/10)

i was awake at 4 am in the morning. it is rather amazing to find me awake at this wee hour but hey i did it for the sake of my loved ones. my grand uncle and his family came from Penang and i have promised my uncle to skype with them. so there i was in front of the webcam with my eyes a quarter-opened. my eyes are not particularly big and round on usual days and it definitely didn't get any bigger or rounder to be awake at this hour. all of them were making fun of my eyes but who can blame my pitiful eyes. they deserve a longer rest:)...anyway i spent a long time talking to them all. i made them talk to me longer cause i was rather awake and i knew i would not be going to bed anytime soon. but i gave up round 6am. i dozed of again soundly....feeling happy and contented...

awake again at 10 plus and was back skype-ing. this time i was watching them practise their dance for my grandma's birthday party. i can't help but laugh at them everytime they started their practice. it was just hilarious!!! it was as if i was watching a live comedy. as i was enjoying myself so much, the internet connection has to misbehave at this time....it was a pity that i could not watch them perform live but i made my brother record it for me..i hope he did..thanks bro!!


third day of CNY (16/2/10)

third day of CNY was a busy day for me so there was no celebration of any. but i finally received the parcel that my auntie sent:) inside there were all my favourite food and snacks. more bak kua to be enjoyed. it came just in time as my first batch of bak kua is finishing. thanks yi kiu yong!!


forth day of CNY (17/2/10)

on the forth day there was nothing much also. it's just that i pampered my friends and myself with some "emperor food" (Lim:2010). i made bird's nest soup. it was the first time i made it myself and i was quite worried that it might not turn out as i expect it to. it's something too expensive to be experimented on. but thank God it tasted like my grandma's.


*the CNY mood is still here as i still have my cookies and all...and there's more cookies coming this week;)yummy!!! and thanks so much for sending me parcels of love..THANK YOU!!! God bless;)

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!! again...

40. chinese new year

this is the very first year i'm not celebrating it with my loved ones. after 20 years of enjoying really good home-cooked food, i will be celebrating my 21st with nothing much. it's a real pity that they don't celebrate it here.

i guess this is the whole list of what i will miss most....

1. i miss all my loved ones..it means so much to me to just get together. the company of these people can cheer the "moodiest" person on Earth.

2. i will surely miss the dinner on the eve a lot. all the wonderful food that my grandparents will prepare. shark's fins, sea cucumber, the yam thingie, prawns, crabs, fish,.....i don't think i will be able to name it all..there's just too many..

3. i miss fighting for food with all these piranhas. there's no such thing as calling everyone on the table before eating (like many traditional families do). we literally grab what we can. first come first serve.

4. i miss the time all of us squeeze into a small room just to use the air-cond. it was just amazing how we could all fit into it.

5. i miss the time all of us just laze around doing nothing.

6. i miss how the dining table is always full of food. a few minutes after it is cleared, food will appear on the table again. it's amazing how our stomach never feel full. or rather we still gobble down food no matter how full we are cause it is only once a year.

7. i miss playing cards with my family. i miss "gambling" using only 10 cents.

8. i miss listening to the noise of laughter and joy in the house.

9. i miss staying up till late at night chatting with my family.

10. i miss collecting ang pau on cny.

11.and lastly i miss counting my collection at the end of the day.

my 21st cny will be rather different. there'll be no family members with me and no sound of familiar laughter and joy.there's no one to fight for food with me. and sadly, the food somehow don't taste that good if you have it all to yourself. whatever it is, i will try to enjoy myself here with the cookies that my grandma made lovingly just for me=) and the bak kua that my mom sent me. thanks so much. these are the only things that brings the cny mood to me...there will be more cookies coming but for now this is all i have..

i will make the most of what i have and still have fun...=)

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!!

39. the end of being pissed..

after putting in a lot of effort of controlling my own emotions, i finally gave in feeling pissed and frustrated. i have come to accept the fact that even if you treat someone well, you might not receive the same treatment. guess that's just the way it is. and the only solution is to not expect anything at all....--easier said than done--...

but what i went through is nothing at all compared to what my Saviour has been through. the pure and innocent lamb treated everyone so well but yet He was treated unfairly and was condemn. so who am I to complain when i face some challenges...

whatever it is, i thank God for blessing me with the ability to forgive others..and it definitely helps to know that i'm loved by my Saviour and my family and friends..

*can't wait to receive my parcel filled with the joy of CNY!!!*