Today is the sixth day of the Lunar New Year and like all previous years, we officially return to work on this auspicious day.
What makes today even more significant is the fact that we start off the Year of the Fire Rooster at our new office!
Yes, we moved at the beginning of the year and I am very excited at this new beginning. May 2017 be filled with exciting and abundant design projects to be a happy and prosperous year indeed.
Over the years whenever we return to hubby’s hometown for the Reunion Dinner, we would also play a round of golf at the nearby golf club. This year, the customary routine had to be modified slightly because we came back a day earlier than our usual four days, three nights stay.
We are playing at our golf club today. Looking forward to some good golf to work off all that food consumed!
We came home by yesterday after the family Reunion Dinner on Friday night. The drive home wasn’t that bad as it took five and a half hours, an hour more than normal.
Every year during the Chinese New Year exodus, the drive both ways would be a long crawl with almost bumper-to-bumper traffic. On Friday, it took six hours and the return, a half hour less, far less than I had originally anticipated prior to the start of the trip.
There were a couple of years it took us ten hours just to get home, hence the fear. So I am thankful we arrived home with nothing close to those sort of hours yesterday.
There were several accidents along the drive up north but I wouldn’t call them accidents; just mere breakdowns of single vehicles. Not even any contact of two vehicles and the slow down was unavoidable, causing some stretches of the drive to be a crawl. I guess it’s better to be safe than sorry.
The time with the family was all about eating. And we had good home cooked meals by the Aunty. Now that we are back here, it will be more visiting to other relatives and more yummies to savor!
We officially go back to work on Thursday.
Today is the Reunion Dinner and for the first time for as long as I can remember, we are just leaving home the day itself and not a day earlier to attend the occasion. We just could not leave yesterday because of reasons worthy of another story or two. This year, the dinner is with hubby’s family up north.
I anticipate a ten hour-journey for what is normally a four or five hour drive. Oh well, we are prepared with much music choices, sandwiches, chips and drinks for the car, I just hope traffic will be kind. Who knows? We may arrive on time.
Here’s wishing everyone a very Gong Xi Fa Cai and may the Year of the Rooster bring you much happiness, success and prosperity that you will want to crow about it all year long!
Just when I thought the weather change has arrived indicating Chinese New Year is around the corner, it has changed again. Global warming?
Even the birds know it. When it rains in the morning, they don’t get fed and they come right up to the terrace boldly, waiting for seeds to be put out at the table instead of in the tray on the wall. This morning I woke up to cloudy skies again. The breeze is cool and rather strong.
Another wet day ahead?
I was at the hair salon last Friday to get a haircut in preparation for Chinese New Year and there was this lady, sitting on the opposite side and being such a show off in her conversation.
Yes lady, I heard you when you bragged loudly about the gemstone you intend to purchase.
Yes, I heard you when you asked if the stone was 12 carats and gushed about the color and clarity of it.
Yes, I also heard when you praised the vendor for the quality of the gemstone yet complained that the price was exorbitant.
Gee… There was no one else besides me and my regular hairdresser, you didn’t have to speak so loudly to let me know. Unfortunately I heard you loud and clear even though I did not want to.
Any person doing something like this should just be discreet. Openly bragging would just invite trouble.
Who was she trying to impress? Certainly can’t be me? I should have plugged my earphones in to drown out the conversation. It was distracting my reading the gossip tabloid about the UK Royals.
When I was done and at the counter to pay, there she was again, at my side, talking loudly. This time it was about a 15-carats stone.
What an obvious show off.
You know the holidays are definitely over and Chinese New Year is around the corner when the heat has arrived. The weather has suddenly changed. Last week, it was still very cool and even rained. Heavily at it too.
This week with everything settling into routine, the girls back in school and us back to work, the heat has crept in. Yesterday at gym, the humidity and the heat was really stifling, even indoors. As a result, the session became very taxing.
On the home front, the garden is thriving. Birds of different species come together and eat the seeds we put out. And big birds would just lounge on the dry deck!
It’s heartwarming to see such harmony but the heat… getting unbearable. Sigh.
M2 snapped this huddle from the kitchen
The family actually had the Chap Goh Meh dinner last night instead of tonight, calling it the Pre-Chap Goh Meh dinner. A simple family get together for another hearty meal.
Having the dinner yesterday was a good decision as it was a Sunday and plenty of time for preparation. If dinner was held tonight, being a work and school day, preparations may not be so smooth and we would all end up having a late dinner and a long day.
As always with family occasions, it turned out well despite a lesser spread than the Reunion Dinner menu but this was not important. More important is the fact that with this occasion complete, and today being the 15th day of Chinese New Year, it marks the last day for celebrating. No more monkeying around the Year of the Monkey, pun intended.
I need a break from all this eating!
This constant eating or should I say, over eating, is getting to me and I decided not to wait until after Chap Goh Meh to do something about it.
On Monday (night), being the 8th day of Chinese New Year, we were visiting a friend and the food spread beckoned. Oh dear, I was actually still feeling stuffed from lunch! I was cautious and conscious to eat in moderation. I even minimised my beer intake because my Liz Claiborne pants never felt so tight. Groan…
The next day, there was another Yee Sang dinner scheduled with our Tuesday Food Club friends but I opted out because I had to send M2 to her tuition class; hubby went for the dinner alone.
On Wednesday morning, I decided to walk and play 9-holes of golf in anticipation of yet another Yee Sang meal ahead, lunch with my office staff. I think it’s the least I can do for now. I managed to burn 282kcal in my 5.8km walk, recorded by my Mi Band.
There’s still the finale Chap Goh Meh big feast ahead and who knows, some impromptu in between meals may crop up. So I gotta do something to reduce my guilt and my waistline…Today, I will walk 9-holes again. I need to.
The long stretch of the Chinese New Year holiday is over as we go back to work today. Are things back to normal? Yes and no.
The weekday routine remains the same; M2 is back in school with her extra curricular hours as before the break and work in the office continues where we had left off. It is only up to here that things seem normal.
Beyond this, my pants feel tighter as I am pretty sure my waistline have expanded, what with all that eating or should I say excessive eating, and there are several more Yee Sang tossing lunch/dinner sessions lined up, so how can this be back to normal?
I guess I just have to face it until Chap Goh Meh, then it’s really back to normal.
Angieneering 
Remarks