V day 2014

Today is the western Valentine's day as well as Yuan Xiao Jie; eastern Valentine's day. According to the radio, the last double Valentine occur on the same day is 19 years ago which is 1995. Wow, how many more double V day would we come across in our lifetime?!

 

Frankly Valentine's day had always been another on of the days this far and I could not even recalled when is my last Valentine day's celebration?! At least I do remember that in our last 14 years (with the hubs), there don't appear to be one, not even while we were dating. For once I do not mind and fully agree with it as it do not make sense with the overpriced roses, bouquet fighting in the street (comparing who is carrying a bigger bouquet) and the obnoxious menus in the overly crowded restaurants. I do not wish to contribute to the smiles of the bosses and the ringing cash register. Okay not that I do not want it totally but I guess practicality gets the better of me. There was even a period of time I nearly got to selling flowers only on Valentine's day!

 

Anyhow Valentine's day is not just a day for lovers but also for friends, family and loved ones. A lot of friends come and go in my life till this point of my life, some I am more than glad to let them go, some I have no idea why the friendship fall out (without any major incidents, not that I am aware of), some who are influenced by other bad ones and the list go on. I have no wish to identify what, who are the causes, why is it happening or when it occur. Put it this way, if these are genuine people / friends then they should not readily give up the friendship without a fight. I have came to discover more of these people and though sad since it is never easy to establish and build a good friendship which I have always treasured but life still goes on and that's the way life is.

 

We have to learn to move on despite the regrets present. It had a scarring effect on me as honestly it's a classic example of once bitten twice shy. I try to give it all I can in any friendship though having said that I am never perfect as well so I could not have claimed to be the best friend in the world. Each of us have our flaws right, me included. From these learning curves and experiences, I do not think I am capable to give the very best I could offer anymore in any friendship. I have learnt that we have different priority in different stages of our life and family would definitely come in top of the list.

 

How did this post ever get so emo?!! Was it not supposed to be a happy post on "Love is in the air"?!

 

I would loved to have dinner together with the family on this special day especially because today which is the 15th day of CNY officially marked the end of the festival as it's meant for family to have a reunion and get together. Unfortunately we have company dinner tonight and it does not seem appropriate to give it a miss. Do not even get me started on why the dinner is today!

 

Last but not least, wishing everyone Happy Valentine's Day and have a great day with your family and loved ones!  

CNY 2014

Happy New Year!!

 

May the year of the Horsey rein in good luck, good health and prosperity for everyone!

 

As per previous years, we had a very busy Day 1 going around the island for visiting while Day 2 and Day 3 were relaxing, own time own target.

 

CNY eve ~

Did some last minute shopping in the morning after sending Zethan up the school bus. Packed quick lunch and soon after prepare for the feast at night. Daddy went off to place an order for a new washer as the current washer broke down a week back.

 

This year we had quite a feast seriously besides the usual steamboat we have as per normal. We made our own Ngor Hiang the very 1st attempt and I was pleased to say my masterpieces turned out well! 2 extra dishes was added this year, Stir fry leek with prawns and Chap Chai which kind of reminded us of our beloved grandmother and grandfather.

Post dinner, changed the children into their new jammies and as per past years tradition of our very own, both kids received their first angbaos! From mummy and daddy that is.

 

Day 1 ~

First to the kids' grandparents house and spent a good 1+ hrs there. No surprise both are allowed junk food (CNY goodies) and soft drinks. Yes, meimei had her share too.

Next we made our way to visit my great grandma (the kids' great great grandma) but received some not so good news that she had been admitted this morning due to breathlessness. Still we visited and catch up with a few relatives who we have not seen in years! Not too bad thing afterall.

Following another elderly's house who seriously I do not know how to address him in English so shall not crack my head over.

 

Proceeded next to Grandpa's house and meimei fell asleep despite the drive is a mere 5 minutes. The wait for a parking lot is terrible which took us close to 45 minutes which allow meimei to continue her nap in the car. Korkor was really very restless, having to wait in the car for such a long period of time. Grandpa was really very happy to see both the children and it's evident in the photo he is practically grinning from ear to ear. Meimei was quick to warm up and was soon all over the place, having fun out of simple activities e.g. transferring goodies from containers to containers like 5,000 times, trying to sit herself on the child size armchair etc.

Final stop as usual to my aunty's house at the far end of the island. The children fell asleep due to the long day we had and poor korkor slept in a bad position, being overly tired, remained so. The moment we reached was to prepare dinner for the children, very late dinner that is. We spend the rest of the day there as the kids played with the elder cousins and I had a good time catching up with my cousins too! By the time we reached home, it was closed to midnight which marked the end of our busy hectic day!

 

Day 2 ~

Relax at home though we did not managed to sleep in because the children woke up at around 8am, good enough. We were planning for the day's activity when mum received a call from a relative coming to visit in the evening. There goes our plans for the day.

 

We made a quick trip to the temple for prayers. It is very very crowded and the whole place is choking me with the thick smoke till I can hardly breathe. Interestingly, because this is the year of horse, the temple had a horse and pony brought in for visitors to take photo with! Of course the queue is snaking and never ending so we did not attempt to queue since we had to rush home.

Day 3 ~

First half of the day was spent relaxing at home, watching TV program. Had an early dinner as we will be visiting Godma later in the evening. For the first time in ages, we were early, sound like a good start for the year?! Korkor was so pleased to see his friends and had so much fun together. Can you imagine the noise level and the aftermath (the messy toy room)! I had a great time catching up with the mummies as well. That's what CNY is all about, visiting and catching up with people we hardly had much time to get in touch with. It's what I like CNY the best too!

 That pretty sum it up our CNY, how was yours?!