Today is the beginning of the Year of the Goat in the Chinese Lunar calendar. May the year bring abundance prosperity, happiness and peace in the world.
Here’s wishing all a Happy and Prosperous New Year or in various dialects (Mandarin, Cantonese, Teochew & Hokkien): Gong Xi Fa Cai, Kong Hey Fatt Choy, Sin Chia Ju Ee and Kiong Hee Huat Chai!!!
The reunion dinner is very important for Chinese families during Chinese New Year. All, if not most, family members will make the effort to be present for this occasion if possible. Every year, hubby and I alternates this duty with our parents, even years with my mom here and odd years with his parents at their hometown. This year, it will be with his parents.
And every year when we have to hit the road, the typical four and a half hours journey doubles in its duration because half the country will also be traveling either for this occasion or simply take this opportunity to go away for a road trip holiday. It gets worse upon return because that half of the country that travelled earlier decides to return all at the same time, clogging up the highway all the way; there was a year we took 10 hours to reach home.
With such ghastly hours, I dread the journey sometimes but it has to be done. So we brace ourselves with all comforts thrown in: iPods, iPads and phones fully charged for entertainment and connectivity, several powerbanks for backup power for the devices, lots of snacks and water for survival. It can be fun sometimes but only if we make it so. The girls would bring along pillows and blankets to make their travel more comfortable.
Well, we can’t really tell the traffic volume until we hit the road tomorrow and regardless of the duration—be it five, seven or ten hours—we will be there for the reunion dinner with hubby’s side of the family.
I feel as though I should give myself a pat on the shoulder for accomplishing quite a bit over the weekend. It wasn’t the big battle with the Chinese New Year crowd that I thought I’d have to do but my games!
The pat on the shoulder was for me finally crossing Level 185 of Candy Crush Soda, which was so difficult and also Level 821 of Candy Crush, which was even more difficult. I have been stuck at these two for sometime and perseverance finally paid off.
Honestly, I also managed to complete my Chinese New Year purchases without stressing too much. The secret? Online shopping! The bulk of the necessary was made easy with Tesco’s online services. With free delivery for this festive occasion, I totally took advantage of it and saved the hassle of going to the mall and fight with the last minute shoppers.
I am ready to usher in the Year of the Goat come Thursday.
I decided to resole my busted Blundstone to give it a new lease of life before the Lunar New Year. Not quite the same in terms of the sole pattern and thickness, I should at least be happy that the boots can be salvaged. After all, the top portion of it is still good and can be used. It’s just the bottom that experienced hydrolysis and disintegrated.
Anyway, with the repair cost only one fifth of the original cost of the boots, I shouldn’t complain. Also I had a brand new replacement pair delivered and with this pair repaired, I now have two pairs of Blundstone.
This is how it looks with the new sole.
A new sole
A comparison of the old (top) and the new (bottom).
As Chinese New Year is just around the corner, getting a haircut is one of the preparations. I visited my stylist three days ago, seven weeks from the last visit (I go for my haircut every six to seven weeks). For someone with short hair, that’s a lot of trips to the hairdresser in a year compared to the two girls with long hair. They have their haircut twice or maybe three times a year.
Whenever I come back with my usual short hairdo, it hardly gets noticed and when the girls do notice, they’d say,”Oh. You got your mushroom head!”
Eeesh.
This time, thank goodness they did not pass the mushroom head comment but instead admired the new color of the hair.
Candy Crush has been relatively easy. I completed Caramel Clearing rather quickly, the chapter after Fudge Fjord and have gone on to the next one, Candy Calaboose.
However, the same (ease) cannot be said for the other two games. I have been stucked at Level 653 for my Farm Heroes and Level 185 for Candy Crush Soda for a while now. Hopefully I can make some progress before the Lunar New Year comes around.
Today is yet another public holiday, celebrating Thaipusam, but it feels like a weekend because we lined up activities that we normally reserve for the weekend. We did not want to stay in Penang until today knowing we will be caught in a big traffic jam upon our return, hence the journey back yesterday.
The next big festivity coming up is Chinese New Year or the Lunar New Year. It is approaching fast and there isn’t much time left to prepare for it. I should be doing my New Year shopping but as always, am procrastinating. It’s the same every year, Queen of last minute.
I may go fight with the crowd this coming weekend to settle the preparations once and for all.
Sans music, this sums up the motto of our Tuesday Food Club!
The group consists of 4 couples, with three occasional individuals—childhood friends as well—whenever their work schedule allows them to join us.
In the midst of the Lunar New Year celebration at the beginning of 2014, we kicked off our gastronomic adventure and termed it the Tuesday Food Club, meeting every second Tuesday of the month.
A year has gone by so fast and what a trip it has been! Every month, each couple takes a turn, on a rotational basis, to select the restaurant and all of us would meet over food to catch up. No matter how busy each one is, everyone makes the effort for this; such is the strength of the friendship and lure of good food.
Tuesday Food Club will definitely continue into the new year and beyond as we prepare to say goodbye to the good memories of 2014 and await to usher in 2015 with new memories ahead.
It was during Chinese New Year/Lunar New Year that we discovered some very enlightening facts about hubby’s side of the family. Hubby’s uncle and cousin had painstakingly researched the family roots, tracing back to his great-grandfather, who was born in 1881 and emigrated here from China.
This means his grandfather is the first generation of the clan, hubby the third generation and my girls the fourth generation. I was awed because on my side, my only sibling and I are first generation; my Dad came from Singapore.
During the PowerPoint presentation, the whole clan learnt of the beginnings of the ancestors: how they met, when, where and all. There were even mug shots of the great-grandparents and it was one of the mugs that I commented, “Gosh! He looks European! Almost like an Italian!” to which M2 overheard and perked her up.
“Am I Italian?” she said.
Tickled by her question, I merely raised my eyebrow. She persisted.
“Am I Italian?”
I rolled my eyes and ignored her.
“Hmm. I must be because I like pizzas!” she decided and beamed.
There has been an increase of fireworks display in our housing estate within a span of 16 days. From the eve of the Lunar New Year, the 9th Day (commemorating the belief that the Jade Emperor protected Hokkien ancestors from being caught) to the 15th Day, Chap Goh Meh, the family has had to endure loud crackling noises and explosions; yet at the same time, admire in awe the beauty and colors of these generous private fireworks by our neighbors.
Every evening Rooney comes out to the garden at the back to play. However, on these particular nights, my poor Roo is scared senseless and barks non-stop as if pleading, “I wanna go home!” and wants us to accompany him back to the kitchen. Poor fella. He may be a fierce looking pooch but he’s such a baby when it comes to simple things like being independent or going back on his own.
Well, the Lunar New Year is officially over and peace will prevail again in the skies and neighborhood until another festive occasion comes around.
Angieneering 
Remarks