The Days of CNY

Market Day
The eve of CNY is when everyone is home. Me, deciding to be a good daughter, volunteered to help my mum go to the market. Got up at 5.45 am and was at the market by 6am. Goodness! Apparently, PJ people aren't as lazy sleepers as I thought. The amount of people crammed at the market was more than you see on any normal Sunday. And everyone was talking animatedly, yelling for this person to wrap up that piece of pork, that person to count up the cost of the veggies, for everyone to move out of the way - big-pig-on-tray coming through ... wah, it was still dark as night you know! By 6.45 am we were done with the SEA Park market and arrived at the SS2 market by 7am for the 2nd round of shopping. My sole purpose was to merely be a driver, my mum had the maid to help her carry stuff. So I just had to round and round the place for parking - which was quite difficult to find, considering that it still wasn't light yet! By 8am when it was really bright already and the sun was beginning to stream light properly, we were ready to go home and wake my sisters up for breakfast. Spent the rest of the day in and out of the kitchen, helping with this and that, being a good girl :)

Family Day
The 1st day of Chinese New Year - 29 Jan 2006 - the 1st time in 12 years we're spending it in a house we can call our own. And, like every year ever since we've stopped going back to Tapah, my parents and us 3 girls traipse for our annual movie together, in GSC 1 Utama. This year, it was "Fearless" starring Jet Li. Not a bad movie, really. With a moral story on how martial arts should be for body and spiritual development, never for revenge or evil needs, that bloodspills only begets more bloodspills. That in the end, the ultimate kung fu master is one who understands compassion and cultivates mutual respect. Lots of action (apparently it is real action, judging from the "making of" scenes I saw on tv) and they even threw in a screening of Jay Chou's latest single which is the theme song for the movie.

Dad's Relatives Day
My dad's relatives descended on us, virtually unannounced. There was a flurry of activity going shopping at Tesco for a steamboat dinner to be held the next day, and to buy up all available mattresses from Giant. My dad's twin brother and his family from Singapore, my dad's older sister and her family from Kuantan. It's been a long while since we've had this many people staying over at home. Dinner was 2 tables at Loong Foong Restaurant, when it was announced that one of my cousins on my dad's side will get married this December, and another next April, both in Kuantan. In addition to another 2 cousins on my mum's side who are marrying in March in Batu Pahat and December in Singapore. Yet another one is marrying this year in Johor, but the date hasn't been set. And out of the 5, 2 of them are younger than I am. Great, the marrying trend is catching on for my generation - oh no.

Ipoh Day
Early in the morning on the 3rd day, me, ML, Jason, NY, MP, PL, and PL's friend Susan drove up to Ipoh to meet the guys up there. First stop, KP's house in Taman Pertama where CS met us with her French boyfriend Bernard. Next, lunch lou sang at East Ocean restaurant (Tung Hoi) in Ipoh Garden East. And then, karaoke at Justin's house in Bercham till 5pm, before some of them drove back to KL. I stayed the night at KF's place, meeting his relatives and all. Ipoh is really hot. Very rarely in my life can I jump into the bathroom and just splash icy cold water to bathe - only in Ipoh can it be done.

Mum's Relatives Day
Woke up, had brunch with KF and his sisters, and then left for KL with KP. The drive took almost 3 hours, biasalah with so many cars on the PLUS highway, and cars that stop for no good reason at the side of the highway. Arrived home and saw my mum's relatives were here. Had steamboat dinner at home, and long mahjong and gossip sessions.

Today
Sent off my mum's relatives. My parents and sisters went to the Dong Zen Temple in Jenjarom to see the much-talked beauty of that temple. I decided to stay home, to work on my thesis. But, it shall not be for long. Starting tonight, the 5th day of CNY, it's long gambling sessions with friends, all the way till Sunday, because people are trickling back to KL after the long holidays. I think, after CNY, I'll have to start ridding my body of all the excess Shandy, chrysanthemum tea, 100Plus, cookies, dinners ... but meanwhile, there's still another 10 days of merry-making to go! :)