Yesterday was the first day of Chinese New Year. But according to some experts, if you follow the solar calendar, it would have been on the 4th which was 4 days ago. Traditionally, we base our holidays on the lunar calendar. So, for many Chinese around the world, we still celebrate this festive occasion on the 7th this year. Many NSFs have already booked out on Monday or Tuesday night, however, I only managed to leave camp on the eve of CNY because of the celebrations. Nonetheless, I still got back home quite early, some time around 2 in the afternoon. For many Chinese, we would have our annual reunion dinner that night. It signifies togetherness and bonding in the family. Although my family don’t cook or dine out on this night, we still make it a point to order takeaways and to have everyone around.

Day 1. My Dad’s relatives usually visit us in the morning and this year was not exception. The first of visitors arrive at around 9:30a.m. And the visits followed one after another till around 11 plus. Then we managed to catch a breather and take our lunch before more visitors came. A couple of minutes before 2, my 1st aunt arrive with an entourage which included my cousins. After the exchanging of traditional festive greetings and mandarin oranges, I was asked to keep the children entertained. I had a little trouble getting them to settle down before I managed to let them take turns playing with the dartboard. Maybe I’m not that good with children after all. (Note to self: Think of some other ways to play with them next year!)

I was a bit disappointed to have to leave home after playing with the kids for a while as we had to pay return visits to my relatives who came by in the morning. And as usual, my Mum decided to stay at home to look after the house while we went around visiting with my 1st aunt. No idea why she does that. So, she didn’t have the chance to put on her new clothes that she just bought. Anyway, my cousin-in-law drove us to our first destination at Surin Road where we lingered for quite some time. Then we cabbed down to our next location at Potong Pasir but as there was five of us, my Dad took a train down instead and this leaves me to wonder why there aren’t many cabs out there that are able to accommodate more passengers. After the visit, we rode the North-East Line from Potong Pasir to Boon Keng that took us to our last stop for the day. From there, we return home by cab while my Dad went back by train. We reached home at around 6:45. Total cab fare for the day: $10.40. Fortunately, most of my relatives live in the East side and so the cab rides were mostly short.

My 2nd aunt and a couple more relatives from my Dad’s side paid us a visit in the evening before we eventually call it a day when my 1st aunt left our place at around 8:45 after dinner. We reshuffled the furniture back to their usual places and continued with our daily routines. I was the 2nd earliest to turn in in my family, after my Grandma, at about 2 in the morning. What a tiring day but definitely worth it considering I only meet my relatives once or twice or year. Of course, I see those who are closer much more often that that.

Day 2. Nothing much happen today. Historically, I don’t have any relatives visiting after the 1st day of CNY. Ok, sometimes we visit my Mum’s side but not today. Maybe tomorrow. Who knows? Anyway, even if we do visit, we only drop by my maternal grandparents’ place. Oh, and I just recalled I haven’t counted my Ang Bao money yet. LOL, maybe it’s because I’m already earning my own keeps and that’s why I ain’t that concern with how much I have received. But judging by the number of Ang Baos I have collected, it’s quite obvious that it’s not as much as last year. Nevertheless, it’s the sincerity that counts! 🙂

Lessons learnt this CNY

1. 3D CAD basics. My Bro taught me this when we were over at our relatives’ houses while the older generation were catching up on the past year.
2. Don’t try to wait for a cab at the road side if you see a taxi stand within 50m of your current location. We wasted 10 minutes trying to catch a cab but to no avail. Upon crossing over to the taxi stand, there was already one waiting in line.
3. Basics of Mahjong. Some thing I wanted to learn for a very long time but there was no opportunity to do so. Check out Wahjong at viwawa.com . You’ll still need somebody to guide you along though.

And by the way, before I forget, have a Happy Chinese New Year 2008!