Sunday, February 05, 2006  11:57 PM
Chinese New Year
The three people who made my Chinese New Year this year one of the most memorable ones ever and who have made me realise how much I do love my family - even though most of the time I seem to be loving my friends much more. My cousins, Allison and Mark, and my maternal grandma.
I look forward to Chinese New Year each year not so much because of the money (haha although that has a small part to play) but because the food that comes with each reunion dinner is absolutely heavenly and for days after that we will all eat yummy food cos my grandma will cook for days beforehand. Haha. And of course, visiting the various houses and seeing my relatives again.
We visit the columbarium every year during Chinese New Year as well; it's always the first stop on the list. And my cousin Mark and I made this sardonic observation this year. When we were younger, it used to be that we only go visit two or three people (?!) in the columbarium but now, it's like there are seven to eight people to visit and my aunt even has this typed out list of their locations. So we were saying, in about thirty years time or so, there would be no more houses to visit during Chinese New Year and the only place that we'll go is the columbarium.
Allison's my favourite cousin but the thing is I don't see her all that often because her family has been living in Hong Kong for the last five years. This CNY is special because they are finally back for good and this eloquent darling is enrolled in CHIJ Primary. She's barely eleven but she speaks so well, and I'm positive it has to do with her not spending the last five years in Singapore. In Hong Kong, she and her brother Alex studied in an international school and so I just love the way she speaks. There's no accent or anything, but no Singlish either. Or, not yet. I keep telling her not to start speaking like those random ah-lians in her school, if there are any. Haha. I also think she will grow up to be a supermodel one day with her mixed looks even though she isn't. Allie's mom, Allie and I can sit and talk about me being the flower girl for Allie's parents' wedding for hours. Sometimes, I wish I had a little sister just like her. She's seriously the sweetest kid in the world. :)
Mark's probably the cousin I spend most of my time with and I suppose he's my closest cousin. We grew up together and we have spent every single CNY together for the last twenty years. And every single year, we will reminisce and talk about the past years and how in our childhood, CNY used to be such a huge event and how we used to have so much fun on those old-school swings in people's gardens and how now everyone has moved to condos or apartments and those old houses don't really exist anymore. I remember how we used to visit this particular relative's house on CNY, the house was carpeted and to me and Mark, at age seven and ten respectively, that was heaven. We threw pillows around, rolled around the floor, and we even stole these coloured pebbles. Of course, they never found out although their coloured pebble collection would diminish every year. One year, on the last day of CNY, we threw the remaining Mandarin oranges into the air at a relative's carpark and watched it smash on the ground with a satisfying splat. And we laughed and laughed and laughed after that, and undoubtedly, we also got scolded together. Our criminal record goes on - we've destroyed umbrellas together on CNY and been accused of not greeting relatives but instead heading straight for the TV room. Chinese New Year would really not be the same without him.
My maternal grandmother has been suffering from mild depression (I think) since my grandfather passed away slightly more than three years back. This CNY when I visited her, I had a long conversation with her with my lousy Mandarin and she told me stuff and how she felt about certain things in our family that I've never heard before. And she teared while talking to me, and I almost teared too. I guess I won't elaborate much on it, but I love her and I wish I had the ability to spend more time with her.
This Chinese New Year made me really reflect on my family and I'm truly thankful for them. I was sooo reluctant to return to the craphole caves of Boon Lay after those few days of bliss. I don't understand why we can't have the two weeks of CNY holiday that some countries do. Someone should suggest it to the government as part of the family bonding scheme or something.
Three days is not enough.
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