One year older, five pounds heavier is the reality this year. I stood on the bathroom scale this morning, and I was a pound off, small consolation, I guess.
Impending birthdays are a day of reflection. I try not to be too wordy and will keep it simple. So here goes. I am thankful for my life, my family, and my friends.
And I look forward to spending more time with family, hanging out with friends, and playing better golf! I hope to achieve my Hole-in-One this year. Who knows? After all, I had my Eagle Achievement last year.
April is the birthday month of several family members and friends besides myself. And year in and year out, it’s the same situation, especially during the week leading up to my birthday. I call it the Fat Week because there are so many dinners to usher in the good day.
There are dinners with family and then with friends. On top of this, there are friends whose birthdays are around the same time, so all the more reason for the feasts and merry-making. And of course, when the occasion is a birthday, there is cake after the meal! So many cakes, mind you. That’s extra calories so many times over. Seriously, how often does one eat cake regularly? The sinful dessert is only on birthday occasions, thankfully.
You would think the saying – a year older, a year wiser applies, but it has not been so as far as birthday celebrations are concerned this year. So it’s more of a year older, five pounds heavier. Hahahaha.
It is only Tuesday, and there are several more birthday dinner celebrations to come before the actual day of my birthday. I shouldn’t stand on the bathroom scale every morning to feel guilty. After all, I have accepted that it is Fat Week. But I vow to start dieting right after my birthday, and keeping my fingers crossed, I can follow through on this vow.
The new Lunar New Year, or Chinese New Year, is three days away! This year, the Year of the Dragon falls on Saturday. I thought I had time to prepare for it since it’s in February this year, but nope. I wait until the last minute to get my act together.
Getting ready to toss the Yee Sang
Somehow, the New Year feeling is not there. I’m not feeling the festive vibes, and I’ve done only two tossing of the Yee Sang so far. Businesses everywhere are thriving, selling Chinese New Year-related items, yet I find myself uninterested. One can also find temporary tents along the roads and street parking lots selling firecrackers and mandarin oranges.
Street vendors selling firecrackers
We used to buy a fair bit of mandarin oranges but never the firecrackers. There is no need for this purchase because we will experience firecracker shows (and noise) from the neighbors and beyond!
So, as we count down to the New Year, with the Reunion Dinner first this Friday, I take this opportunity to count my blessings for the past year. While health-wise, it was challenging – I am thankful to have come out of it without further complications.
Who knows what lies ahead for the Year of the Dragon, but let’s take it in stride. Here’s wishing everyone a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous Year of the Dragon!
Kung Hey Fatt Choy / Kiong Hee Huat Chye / Gong Xi Fa Cai / Happy New Year!!!
Merry Christmas, everyone! It has been a low-key festive time for us because of the wet rainy season. When it rains constantly, the mood is not there to do anything! Luckily, we did most of our Christmas shopping online, capitalizing on the 11.11 and 12.12 online sales blitz, and there was no need to go to the mall at all.
As usual, the family had our Christmas dinner on the Eve, and it was a good spread of choices. I baked a pork tenderloin and called it a ‘Pork Log’ because of its sheer size to feed 16 people!
The Pork Log process. I cut off a portion to fit the Pyrex!
Initially, I was fickle-minded about what to make, as recipe ideas kept popping up on my Facebook news feed. The final dish was my third choice after two earlier attempts at something different.
Here’s wishing everyone a wonderful time, and let there be peace. Merry Christmas once again!
It is exciting that I am traveling again by air! The last time I flew was in October 2019, going to Langkawi with all my high school girlfriends to celebrate our friendship. Three years have passed since that memorable trip. And as we all know, the pandemic struck in early 2020, and the whole world went into lockdown, my country included.
There were a lot of travel restrictions of varying degrees since then to manage the pandemic, and flying was the furthest thing from my mind. There was no need to fly anywhere, especially for the last two years. Also, it was a hassle with strict SOPs in place. But as the world is moving towards relaxing the travel restrictions, people are traveling again.
Two of my high school girlfriends and I spontaneously decided to go to Singapore for a short four-day getaway. We thought it would be great to catch up with friends and family whom we have not seen for so long due to the circumstances.
Besides visiting people, we will take this opportunity to enjoy the local food and play tourist in the city-island-nation. Exciting as it may be, we will be extra cautious for the four days in Singapore to avoid any unnecessary Covid-related situations. We fly off an hour past noon today! Whee.
We did not play golf over the weekend; instead, we went fishing! The last time we did this was probably almost three decades years ago. Gosh, it has been a long time.
The idea to go fishing came about when the family got together over dinner and talked about doing outdoor activities. And since fishing is an activity M1 and my niece never did, why not let them try? A check off the bucket list for them.
The drive took forever. “Are we there yet?” I asked. Hahaha. It was a catch and release fishing pond near the airport, KLIA. The operator guaranteed five strikes per rod for the hour or your money back! Wow, how good is that?
The catch and release fishing pond
So my sibling, niece, and the three of us spent the late Sunday afternoon fishing. And we had such an exuberating time!
Getting ready for some action
Within minutes, strike one occurred, followed by another, and another! We had two rods, and the girls were delightfully having a blast. We adults could not resist the adrenaline rush and joined in the fun in the end. Why not? The day’s fishing haul made the activity look so easy and appealing.
Look at their impressive haul!
I must say my fishing record was never impressive. My biggest catch was a grass carp which was nothing of these massive-sized groupers in comparison.
Our haul and the inside of a grouper’s mouth!
Within the allotted time, the five of us caught 17 groupers! And we had several that escaped because we did not reel in fast enough. It could have been more, but 17 bites were more than what we anticipated.
The unexpected adventure turned out to be an exhilarating experience for everyone. The day was cloudy, the place was peaceful, and everyone had a very satisfying but tiring workout fighting the catch. Will we do it again? We may, but with the other young adults in the family who have not had this checked off their bucket list.
It’s a mixed-feeling golf trip. Sometimes one can’t have it all.
Although it was nice to play at outstation clubs for a change, waking up early for the trip was not. We had to wake up at 4.30 am and then did a Covid test before leaving the house. The test was to assure everyone was safe to travel together on a bus.
The bus departed at 6.00 am, and the journey was pleasant enough without any traffic woes along the highway, and we arrived in good time. After a simple lunch at the clubhouse, we teed off for a round of social golf among ourselves at Penang Golf Club.
The course is very undulating, and buggies were allowed on the fairway, which was nice. How did I fair for this first game? It’s an unfamiliar course, and there were mistakes or mis-hits here and there. And for this trip, I opted to use my Scotty Cameron putter. Alas, putting was my biggest bane again. Sigh.
Penang Golf Club
After the game, the bus left for the hotel. Soon after checking in, we met with hubby’s sister (and husband) for dinner. It’s nice to catch up with family again after two and a half years of lockdown and not see each other. There was a lot to talk about over a delicious dinner.
Not local Penang food but Dallas BBQ duck!
They brought us to see another side of Penang. Typically, we would be around the town center or Tanjung Bungah area. But as we were in Bukit Jambul, we saw a different side of the island. All too soon, it was time to say goodbye. We parted ways, and sleep beckons after such a long and tiring day. We depart for Ipoh for the Interclub match the next day.
The short excursion plan continued over the weekend, but this was a little more than a short drive outstation. We decided to visit hubby’s parents up North.
The weekend was yet another festive holiday, and with Monday being a replacement holiday, traffic would be heavy. So, we left on Friday instead of Saturday, which turned out well for traffic that morning was not too bad.
As always, we detoured to Ipoh for lunch. But this time, we opted for something else instead of the usual Chicken Rice and beansprouts that Ipoh is famed for, and it was a pleasant change. Although our Nasi Ganja portion was not excessive, it was just enough for us. I have to say the coffee was excellent.
Nasi Ganja and iced black coffeeCurry noodles and Nasi Lemak for breakfast
For once, we did not play golf and just savored food that was under our radar previously. We even drove to the north-most state, Perlis, which I have never been to in my whole life. But sadly, there was nothing much to see there.
My first time visiting Perlis A quick hello and goodbye
The weekend came and passed quickly. All too soon, it was time to return. The drive home was equally pleasant, without traffic jams on the highway. I’m glad we made the trip to see the folks who are well.
Last Friday, I inadvertently gave an inaccurate account of the previous year’s Christmas Eve Dinner. My bad. We DID have a family dinner together, but I honestly forgot about it. Was it so insignificant that it slipped my mind?
Or could it be with the last two years being in constant lockdown with the various Movement Control Orders (MCO), I lost track of time. I think the fact that it was just the two of us at the dinner sans both girls stuck in my mind more than anything else.
Or, in all honesty, I have become a tired and forgetful dinosaur more than ever!
This year, we are thankful that we can get together with the family after missing out on the Christmas Eve dinner last year. It was the pandemic that derailed everything-from travels to gatherings-throwing festive occasions into disarray, and both of us had a quiet two-person dinner at home instead without much camaraderie.
This year, the SOP’s have changed with most adults in the country, all of us included, being fully vaccinated. So it is great that we can gather to celebrate Christmas.
I take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! Be safe, stay safe, and be healthy.
Angieneering 
Remarks