CNY! Rats and celebrations...

Woah...almost 2 whole weeks past since my last update. The last one I threw up. This time, I feel like throwing up! Hahaha...well, it's just because I can't resist all those cookies, candies, bak gua (dried beef), drinks, sweets, etc. I know I'm gonna gain back those weight that I incidentally lost when I was sick during Christmas! Aarrghh....

Before the company shuts down for the Chinese New Year, the usual makan group had a lunch at Cafe Cartel. We wanted something more special to celebrate the coming Chinese New Year! So, it was cozy and we had a filling lunch and even topped off with ice cream. Hmmm...I feel quilty as I was still coughing slightly. :p Nevertheless, we enjoyed the lunch and even had the chance to take a good picture courtesy of the waitress who took a great shot.


During reunion dinner, we had a steamboat/grill meal which was almost what we always had for this day anyway. But, somehow, this year it feels like there's not much appetite for everyone. We wanted to experience the spirit of "lao hei" which is mixing of fish salad for good fortunes. As the chinese saying go, every year has to have fish and that the higher you go, the more successful you are. But my mom did get too big of a package that I think it fits more to 12 people's share! Hahaha...anyway, it was good and we enjoyed the dinner. It feels a bit more special coz I usually eat dinner on my own at most working days nites.


My brother with the kids at my house. My mom was fishing for the prawns. :)

So, first day of Chinese New Year come! Gong Xi Fa Cai! Wan Shi Ru Yi! Huang Jin Man Man! Hahaha...all those greetings come and go. We all welcomed the rat year with mixed feelings. Rat year was not as glorified as the Dragon or Pig year. So, this year we felt that there's something missing...something that makes it less festive and great. The year already started off with economic downturn and bleak prospect of a good and healthy year. We just hope that the Rat Year can have something positive to look forward to. I woke up in the morning to go the temple with mom and dad and pray hard that there'll be lots of good fortune, pay raise, promotion, good results for my brothers in their studies and of course the health of all my family members.

Second day was Mahjong day! It was at Margaret's house and there was Shengni and Daphne, as well as Eileen and Eve. The itinerary was supposed to be Mahjong and dinner. We started at about 4 or 5 in the evening and I can't believe that we actually played until 7 in the morning the next day! It was only stopped by the dinner (another steamboat) and the occasional pee break and rats catching session! Yeah, you heard it right...not only it's the rat year, I get to see rats running around...well, they're so tiny anyway that it looks more fun to see them running around rather than being petrified of their presence. At the last few rounds of the last wind, we were speeding it up so much that it really wasn't that enjoyable and I manage to win some money in the end. I had my luck in the earlier round but lost quite a bit after the dinner.


To make things worse, I was supposed to go visit my boss's house at 2 PM. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the rest of the guest list had a last minute change of plans and we scrapped the plan. I was so exhausted and tired but I couldn't sleep much. In the end, I only got about 5 hours of sleep before another round of late nite outing. This time, I went to St. James along with a friend who is visiting from US. He's been working there for 2 years now but we were secondary school buddies. So, along with another friend, the 3 of us were hunting and gleefully looking at the hot babes as they danced and get wild to the beat of great tunes being played by the awesome DJs. Live music also entertained us in the Boiler Room and the DragonFly. We finished at about 4 in the morning and I told myself I'm gonna shut down for Sunday before heading back to work on Monday. Shutdown I did and I spent my Sunday in the border of lazying around and falling asleep on the sofa every now and then.

What a way to celebrate the Chinese New Year! I hope the next one will be even better!