Last day of CNY without him

Today is the 15th day of CNY, also known as Chap Goh Mei, marks the end of the CNY celebration. When Grandpa was still alive, we made it a point to organise a family reunion dinner. Although my relatives residing in JB usually did not make a trip up to KL, those of us living nearby gathered for a feast. Our last Chap Goh Mei with Grandpa last year, just like in the old days; did not missed out the usual roasted pork, fish, Grandma's signature vegetarian dish & chicken.

This year is very much simplified - we went out to eat at a seafood restaurant instead. The dishes we ordered were simple just like a normal dinner with vegetables, fish & tofu. While we basked in the loud chatter & merriment from patrons at other tables, we looked at each other & smiled silently. We tried to strike a simple conversation in order to distract ourselves from wondering that something was amiss. Who wouldn't think of Grandpa when each table will have at least one elderly folk among the sea of younger family members?

The hour passed by & though it seemed like an ordinary dinner, it never was & will never be the same for any of our family dinner from now on. Dear Grandpa, we may no longer have the opportunity to share these moments together, here's hoping that things are equally great at where ever you are. Meanwhile, we ask for your blessings for a smooth year ahead - good fortune & great health.

CNY without him

Today is the eve of Chinese New Year. Come tomorrow, it will be the Year of the Water Snake. But this time there would not be any celebration for us as we are still going through a mourning period based on Chinese Taoist customs. We didn't do much spring cleaning like we always did & any form of CNY decoration is not allowed.

We still had a reunion dinner among ourselves; but the dishes are only less elaborate. For the past 3 years, Grandpa was not fit to join us at the table during dinner but nevertheless, he was still aware & happily looked from afar seated at his favourite sofa. This year felt different without him around. Somehow, the dinner became a solemn event & a quiet one. I'd be lying that deep down, all of us didn't miss him a lot.

I supposed this is how it feels having to lose someone dear to you. More so when it's close to CNY when everything should be cheerful & prosperous has now become silent & lonely. Grandpa, though we're no longer celebrating with you, we hoped that you're also having a hearty meal "elsewhere". Don't worry about us. We'll continue taking care of Grandma as promised.

Year of the Water Dragon

This year CNY fell on Jan 23 which meant it's slightly less than a month away from Christmas. Was it a nightmare shopping for clothes? Oh yes, it certainly was. Immediately after Christmas week, retail shops in malls scrambled to display CNY-themed clothing in anticipation of the mad rush shopping weekends.

For individuals whose families ain't particular, they already opted to shop during Christmas sans the CNY shopping crowd. People like me who still live with a traditional family have no choice but to shop for all things new - clothes, shoes, inner wear. I was so occupied on a tight timeline project until I didn't have time at all to shop on a weekday. And I kinda wasted 2 weekends allocated for shopping due to complicated matters which I vow to not mention again.

Hence, I was left with the final 2 weekends to grab whatever I needed. I couldn't get a single thing cuz the clothes looked bad & there was no suitable size even though I've found something I fancied. Tough luck! With 1 more week left, I went out shopping every day after work with the slightest hope that I will buy something. By Saturday, I managed to get a few items though not everything in my shopping list. Still better than nothing right? Phew~

All these years, I wasn't very fond of CNY celebration except the fact that you receive red packets (if you're still single) & reuniting with old friends from abroad. Meeting up with relatives once a year is kinda fun but they can be rather pesky with "questions" & topics, thus conversations with them turn dull, repetitive & dated.

Anyways, it's still the festive season now & I should be merrier; not complaining like an old lady. Let's hope for prosperity & health in this Water Dragon year. To sign off this post, here's a pic from our CNY eve reunion dinner just to show off how good my D5100 is. =P

Reunion

Families hardly cook nowadays during CNY. Mainly cuz most old folks are no longer capable & the younger groups being tasked on to do the deed are avoiding the hassle of cooking large servings for everyone, especially those who lack experience. None in my family cooked on the 1st day for the past 2 years or so as we've been patronising Chinese restaurants, just like everyone else.

This year - like last year - we had our 1st day dinner at Imperial Garden, PJ. Don't be surprised by the atypical CNY set menu's poor quality cuz they're mostly prepared in advance & in large quantities. Honestly, I didn't enjoy any of the dishes cuz almost all the dishes turned cold even before it was served.

Anyways, any recall of the incident when my Grandpa was admitted for cerebral haemorrhage just weeks before CNY? It was a horrifying experience & there wasn't any CNY mood in the air. Thank God the nightmare is over & he's back to usher the new year with us.

What a frail old man he has become~ =( Cuz he refuses to eat different food. Oh well...what else can we do. *sighs* Btw, we noticed this rather huge signboard at the Ipoh Interchange. I missed out a few earlier signboards as they looked even more hilarious cuz it looks like a typography art. I'm assuming many vehicles might've drove past by accident & missing the turn to Ipoh. Hence, the enormous signboard to ensure no one misses it again!

Not to forget a rather bizarre product - a drink supplement to increase male virility~ -.-" We saw this billboard at a town while on the way to our relatives' house.

My CNY weekend pretty quickly without realising it. It was a very short break before I start my new job. There're bound to be more reunion dinners & gambling sessions with ex-colleagues, friends & family alike after this. I'll be gambling but not with my own money. It would be WL's money instead. =P Happy CNY peeps & here's hoping for a prosperous year ahead!

Big discounts

I was in for a panic attack as CNY nears & yet I've not gotten any shopping done. Here's a problem in my family especially my grandma who expects each & everyone of us to be clad in new clothings - top to toe - which makes shopping for something I fancy & pleasing the elderly simultaneously is getting increasingly difficult. What's more, for some odd reason the red clothings sold around this time never looked good.

Honestly, I almost gave up searching & was tempted to wear my old clothings. I decided to drop by at WH, 1U with WL to try our luck since a large placard was displayed outside the store with "Relocation Sale" printed on it. Relieved I was when I found what I wanted whereas WL only bought a few shirts cuz most of them wasn't up to his liking. Guess how much the bill turned out to be?

Much to my surprise, I enjoyed 50% discount for each item I bought. All this while, WH was not known for selling affordable apparels cuz the prices range from RM80 onwards. Apparently, WH is relocating to one floor below but will be re-branded to cater to premium market. O.O Their clothings are really not worth buying yet they plan to sell it even higher than before after the re-branding. Anyways, I have one less thing to worry now that I've also managed to grab a pair of wedges at RM29.90. Thanks to all the wonderful discounts, it made my day! =)

Roaring Tiger is here to usher New Year & Valentine's Day

Just after slightly more than a month, the year of the Tiger is here! For the first time (or at least in my life), the Lunar New Year coincides with Valentine's Day. This day is special in some ways as it doesn't happen in another 40 years or so. I didn't want any flowers this year even though WL was planning to give me a smaller bouquet as a gesture to signify our 2nd Valentine's celebration.

As for CNY, this year is a different kind of celebration for my family as compared to previous years - without grandpa's presence. Grandpa's untimely incident didn't allow him to recover in time; return home & to usher the new year with us. We still continued with our customs of reunion dinner & prayers. After that, we headed to the hospital to greet him. It was late at night by the time arrived & he was seen sleeping soundly. He didn't respond much when we called mainly because he was exhausted from the physiotherapy during the day.

Seeing him bedridden & missing out the fun at home made us disheartened. I'm sure anyone who have gone through this can truly understand what we're feeling right now.

But there's nothing we can do. Only time can tell. Meanwhile, Happy Chinese New Year & Valentine's to all of you. Have a prosperous & roaring new year ahead!

Oh-so-cute Moo Moo!

I can't seem to emphasise enough how much I enjoy working. Cuz there's always the privilege of receiving loads of free swags from suppliers & whoever that has long-term business connections with the company you work for. Especially when each employee gets a gift for his/her own keep.

To usher the new year, one of our design agencies bought each one of us this little gift below as a token of gratitude for providing them business all year round. Aww, how sweet! And so cute too~ ^^

Who cares if the Moo Moo is red & not gold in colour? It just looks as good as the golden ox!

Peeps, I'm back! ^^ There was nothing much about the trip just like the previous years. In fact, this year was more dull cuz we didn't get to visit as many places as before hence the lesser ang paus received. Not that amount of ang paus really matter but I felt the joy & fun when meeting relatives that I never meet for the whole year (or worse, never in my life). There's bound to be something interesting to talk & hear stories from them ^^.

It's good to be in Ipoh once in a while to indulge in a gastronomic feat. This time, I didn't have the opportunity to do so since I was there for purely visitation purpose only. Hopefully I can bring along my grandparents in the next trip. Imagine drinking a cup of freshly brewed white coffee while enjoying the peaceful morning, eating smooth steamed white chicken with bean sprouts combined with hor fun & savouring the goodness of wantan noodles. Ahhh~ Heaven!

Back to reality. Classes starts tomorrow again -_-". How I wished the holiday break was much longer. I'll be having early class tomorrow, gonna run. Adios~

P.S. Oh boy, assignments are piling up...

Today is the 1st day of CNY. My family didn't stay up late last night to welcome the God of Prosperity as they had planned to do it this morning before breakfast. Apparently, the night before wasn't auspicious as the one of the ghost god ascended appeared from...hell? Prayers need to be done to welcome the Prosperity God & this means setting up a table with food, candles yadi yada to provide offerings to the God. Technically I helped to do the prayers by laying the food & candles but those chanting was assigned to my Dad. Again, me being born in the Year of the Tiger - was not allowed to welcome the kamisama. Not auspicious, I think. *shrugs*

We ate, got changed & waited for the rest of our relatives to come over. That's when the camwhore session began. XD (Pics below are not the full collection. Too lazy to upload all of them hehe).

Just a few of our family members.

The "pimp" & his "wives" XD

*smiles*

The one in yellow is one of my aunts living in Australia now.

After a few hrs, I got bored...

Here's me pondering the meaning of life.

Eventually, my house became so noisy & overcrowded that I ended up locking myself in the room & enter into a deep slumber. The rest of the day was nothing more than just surfing the net for more Dong Bang stuff & texting my buddies. Dinner at the restaurant was pretty much similar to the one last night. I guess there's nothing to be hoo-ha about it.

Btw, I'll be out of town tomorrow for 3 days. Don't miss me too much. XD Meanwhile, have fun & make sure ya collect lots of ang pau. ^^

In a few hrs time, it'll be Chinese New Year. Time for ang pau collection!! $$ XD. This year, our family decided to make a change. Instead of spending hrs cooking at home for reunion dinner, we chose to eat out. Bangsar Seafood Restaurant was our only option since the restaurant that we frequent a lot was fully booked. For the first time in our history of reunion dinners, we dine in halal Chinese cuisine.

Here's a shot of the restaurant entrance in case you have no idea how it looks like. It's pretty at night, imho. I bet on the night of Christmas; the lights are more beautiful.

The ambient in the restaurant is simple yet serene. Though there were many families having their reunion dinners as well, the atmosphere is merry but not noisy nor rowdy. And I really like that a lot. A LOT. I mean it cuz I had bad past experience at another seafood restaurant nearby my house. It was a nightmare, I tell ya -_-".

While waiting for food to be served, I camwhored! XD

Happy me & sis!

Happy me & cousin bros~

In a few mins, food was served. Half way through our meals, the RTM2 crew came to film some footage for the Chinese New Year celebration. Many families shy away from the camera & in the end...our family gave it a go! It was embarrassing~ As far as I can recall, I talked gibberish when I was told to give comments. I can't imagIne that this footage of me is gonna appear in the news. OMG! After years of not speaking proper Malay, seems like my grasp of the language has gone down the drain. Pretend that you don't know me nor see me if you happened to be watching RTM2. Please, please... *swts*

Two cousin bros being interviewed by the RTM2 reporter

After dinner...we took pics again! *dances*

*yawns* I have to wake up early tomorrow -_-". Before I forget, Happy Chinese New Year! Take care, peeps.

Weeee!! I'm back, ppl! I'm back yo~ ^^ Kyaaaa...back to civilisation XD. Pardon me for being so exhilarated. Being a net addict myself, it's normal that I feel deprived for not able to surf the net for a few days. The trip was okay. Nothing much though cuz I didn't do anything special besides visiting relatives & collecting ang paus. Initially, I intended to catch a movie in the cinema with my sis. Perhaps Death Note 2: The Last Name or Ghost Rider if I could get tickets. But upon seeing the endless traffic jam in front of Jaya Jusco, I was immediately put off & went home instead.

Well, my days spent in Ipoh wasn't all that boring cuz I got the chance to lay my hands on my cuzzie bro's Nintendo Wii. It was hilarious playing games in that console as I got really worked up & sweating all the way. Half the time I was worried that my sweaty palms might lose grip of the wireless controller & send it flying towards the TV screen XD. Don't call me paranoid cuz it did happen to other gamers. Basically, the console is great for ppl like me who hates being under the sun. And I spared some time to watch my Goong dvd set. There wasn't much time left for assignments cuz I was already exhausted. And noisy kids were rather distracting -_-".

Dad decided to cut short the trip by a day earlier. I'm glad that he did cuz me & sis were getting really bored. Besides, coming home early is a good way to avoid the jam. Which means I have an extra day to work on drafts for assignments. I had plans with my group members to meet up on Friday. Yes, it's really sad to gather during hols for assignments. Sucks! Btw, I just found out the Rising Sun dvd concert came with this...

Now you see it...

Now you don't...

The photos were printed on a sorta semi-transparent film & will only reveal when a white paper is placed behind it. I don't think my pics show the difference well. Too bad -_-". The box cover is pretty cool though I didn't fancy the colour coordination that much. Love those high flying jumps ^^.

Forgive me for the poorly taken pics~

P/S: I seriously need a new digital camera...

A great New Year & lots of shinies...

Happy CNY 2006! Haha...it's a little too late to say this now but who cares. I've been pretty lazy to post new stuff on my blog lately. I can't even remember the last time i uploaded a new post until now. Yup, my A Level results were out 2 weeks ago. I only got 3Bs, much to my disappointment. I was expecting to get an A for Math but what the hell...on the other hand, I felt pretty surprised & happy because I scored straight As for Economics resit papers. If it wasn't the D grade for Paper 4, I could've gotten an A for Econs. Dammit!

Chinese New Year in Ipoh was pretty ok...what more can I say. Getting ang paus is the most exciting of all, obviously! The other fun part was meeting my cousins. Just sitting down oggling at their pretty boy faces was already satisfying (laughs). I even had stomachache a few times thanks to my elder cousin. Why? His jokes were too funny (or lame or stupid?). During the street party in Ipoh, he stood guard to make sure me, my sis & my other cousin sis is safe. Awwww...he's such a nice bro. I adore him soo much~! I supposed my ang pau collection amount is approximately RM500 & above. I really couldn't believe it after having a peek in my last angpau from my Ipoh aunt. Furthermore, I have yet to receive my salary & the deposit....ahhhh, I feel so rich this year. A prosperous year, indeed! One step closer to obtaining an mp3 player!! (a Sony Network Walkman A1000, eh?)

I bought w-inds. "PRIME OF LIFE" Live Tour 2004 DVD recently. Ohmigod, it was fantastic. This was the first time I bought w-inds. dvd & I love it. The 1st Live Tour VCD I had was a far cry from the DVD. And I really cannot wait for the ageha tour DVD. Why is the VCD out & not the DVD? Stupid music shops. I felt like collecting all of their concerts but I don't know why I decided not to buy SYSTEM OF ALIVE tour the other day. Maybe getting the VCD is good enough since the concert may not be as good as ageha & PRIME OF LIFE, ne~? Not to forget, w-inds. will be releasing their 18th single, "IT'S IN THE STARS" on 22/2/06. I'm soooo anxious...I won't be buying their single...it's just too pricey. Sorry w-inds., I'm gonna download your new single. I'm about to watch the pv preview now. They looked SUPER HOT! *drools* I just want my ageha dvd right now!!! Mum, I'd wished you would allow me to order the DVD online. Perhaps the Japan version if our player could play it? *cries* Look, there's a postcard included in DVD. :D