Monologue

I did it.  I'm not changing my mind.  This is going to be such a wilful, daring, reckless, intuitive, defiant, frightening thing that I am going to do.  I'm torn, I do not really believe in myself as much as I pretend to be.  If not, I wouldn't be doing this self-reassuring monologue. 

They judge; they say they don't but they do.  Your judgement don't hurt me, but I can't share my joy, the anticipation, the hope and my anxiety freely with you, who actually cared.  It's becoming a lonely journey.  All because of the uncertainty.   

I have an impulse that I need to act on.  The tragedy at Botanic Grd over the last weekend brought back memory of the tragedy of Mt Kinabalu in 2015.  I must do what my heart tells me, even if the price is high.   

~E~

CNY17 元宵节

It has been a long time since family gathering is at my place.  WK is overseas and PH is sick so there's 15 of us.  But I only took photo of Claris who is the youngest as of now.  This is her first CNY.  The older kids are growing up fast, so will the babies.

"The days are long, but the years are short"

Somemore CNY photos - CNY'17'D8/D9

Like previously, the first CNY weekend was spent visiting 2 relatives in Woodlands.  This year we visited Toa Payoh 3rd grandaunt on the weekend too. 

And I realized that this CNY, I mostly took photos of ourselves (Lynn, me and WK), and not with those we visited.  It's quite boring arranging our own photos.  But not many people want to take photo leh.. 

(I) At TPY 3rd Grandaunt's house: Lynn monkey around, and here we have the birth of the Orange Challenge

 

(II) On our way to 姑婆‘house in Woodlands.  This was on Sat.  On Sunday, we made a similar journey and similar selfies. 

Lynn won $11 from playing blackjack. 

Finally, a group photo, only my second one (for families) for the whole CNY + reunion. 

We got Mavis and Mable to try the orange challenge, ha!

(III) On Sunday, we visited Qiu Yun.  It's a pity that we forgot to take a group photo.  It was something we have done for the past 3 years.  And it's usually the most photogenic of that year's CNY group photos. 

That afternoon, we went to buy Meizhenxiang BBQ pork (for QY).  The moment Lynn saw the packaging, she removed the Chinese knot from it and attempted to put it on as hairdo.  So I offered to tie it nicely to her hair.  It's kind of fun, cos only kids like her would want to do that :) 

 

My sweetie acting cute

A day of old friendships - CNY'17'D5

This year my CNY break officially ended on D4, ie 开工日was day 5.  But I took half day leave on D5, cos I have 3 gatherings planned for that day. 

 

Anyway, let's start with D5 morning.  It's the company tradition to bring in a Lion dance troupe on first day of work.  I gave the lion an angbao to just step into my room for a "jiggle"...  haha..

 

And my hair clip broke.  Took a selfie to check how I will look for the rest of the day at various gatherings...

 

Oh, there's also the FB notification in the morning of what I posted "today 8 years ago".  It's a super cute photo of Lynn when we did CNY visiting to my eldest Uncle's wife.  So I created this collage of then-and-now.

The first gathering that afternoon lasted 4 hours, with 4 of us out of 7 of the "Jabil Beauties".  Ha, this is our chat group name, which Alice picked.  When with good friends, 4 hours passes so quickly..  I'm so happy meeting and chatting with them. 

The second gathering was at KW's house.  I was wondering who will be there, and it turn out to be the drinking and smoking gang and some others.  KW moved to his new house last year April.  I'm impressed; it's beautifully done. 

Finally at 7pm, the Deloitte gang met at Toa Payoh Swatou restaurant.  主角 Serena 姗姗来迟, reaching around 735.  She came alone.  Later on, Lynn wanted to join us, and Serena asked her hubby to bring the daughter too.  Ginny was ill and couldn't join us, else we will have a perfect attendance photo.    We had a great chat with Soo Hui who came early about Secondary schools.  I think I will definitely consider St Nic after what she told us.

What a fulfilling day 5 it was.

Antibiotics, Travel and Pets - CNY'17'D1/D2

After a break of 2 years, I went Malacca for CNY this year. Lynn came down with fever on Thursday night. I took her to see the doctor on CNY eve (Friday morning). When the doctor said he will prescribe antibiotics, I started saying my usual line "Err, it is really necessary....", but I changed my mind quickly.  Since we were travelling on the following day (CNY D1), I decided to "play cheat", and started her on antibiotics immediately.  Although antibiotics is supposed to be only for bacteria infection, somehow, it has been proven by trial and error that recovery is faster with antibiotics.   

We risked traffic jam to secure more sleep.  We woke up at 7+, and were out of the house only at 9am.  The jam was tolerable.  As usual we did several stops along the short journey, so we ended up reaching only at 2pm.  It took us a whopping 5 hours to get to Malacca on CNY D1. 

On day 2, we went Kulai to visit WK's grandma.  She shifted to one of WK Uncle's house.  And to our pleasant surprise, they have 2 dogs and a cat!  We had a great time "playing" with the cat.  She's a fierce one, only allows grandma to pat her and scratches anyone else who touches her, including Uncle.  But she played with Lynn, chasing her a bit in the living room. 

The traffic on Day 2 was great, and we ended our Malaysia CNY visiting with 2 boxes of Magnum ice-cream at half price when converted to SGD..  And here are the pictures:
 

 

 Momo, looking longingly at folks at the dinning table and those with food..

 

I look so "aunty" in this photo

 

 

This year we stayed at Novotel for the night instead of Aunty's house. 

 

D2 morning, back at Aunty's house.  What to do when bored?  Take wefies

 

Lynn is well enough to roam the garden.  She managed to catch "butterfly", and took it back to SG.

 

When we reached home, we asked her to release it out.

 

Here's a few photos of the pets at Grandma's house.  This one is a friendly dog.  

 And here's the pretty cat, who lost an eye.  She is actually quite playful and curious, but is quite wary of human.  Next year, we plan to bring a cat tease to play with her!

旧的不去，新的不来 （CNY'17'D5)

还是心痛；久的有感情..