Hello people!
We were away from this island for a grand total of 11 days! And the last post that I posted was almost 20 days away! So trying hard to sweep away all the spider web, with my eyes now opened up using toothpicks so I can squeeze out a blog post, LOL!
(p/s: I was writing this post first when we got back from the CNY holiday, but I published the last post on Monopoly before this post, so the spider web was swept away when I started to write this post (not that it matters to my readers, but well, you know, just of the clarity, haha).
It's always nice to be back home for the biggest Chinese festive celebration - Chinese New Year. We always go back to our hometown for CNY without fail, except the few years when we were overseas and the year (2008) when Hao Re was born (he was just one month old so we decided not to travel).
One of the nicest things that have happened to me is that I got married to my childhood sweetheart, who is my neighbor. So what's so good about it? The good thing is there is no travelling from my parents to my in laws, unless you consider 5 minutes walk or 2 minutes drive travelling, haha. I can go to my parents home everyday (in fact, I usually stay at my parents instead of at my in laws). We basically have 2 reunion dinners on the CNY eve, which is easily doable as the two houses just a few minutes away. So convenient, right? We even have had combined (2 families) reunion before. My parents love this convenience more than me, as this means they can have complete reunion (all family members present) every year (very important for the older generation).
This year is quite a different year for us, as the kids have become so independent that they are very happy to stay home with my mum and my brother, while me and hub went for our food hunt and also to buy things for CNY. Can't deny that it's a lot more easier and faster without the 2 kids tagging along! We still asked them to join us everytime we wanted to go out, but they rejected all, and happily said goodbye to us. And guess what, we even managed to do a one-day trip to Penang with just the two of us, and also to watch a movie with just the two of us, that have been 6 years since we did that!!
CNY itself is about the same like every year. It's all about family gathering, meeting up with friends, visitations, playing fire crackers, giving and receiving ang pao, and eat, eat and eat. With most of our close kampung friends started family, and have young babies/toddlers to care for, we didn't get to meet up as much as we used to. With my secondary school classmates, no one bothered to initiate a gathering, too lazy since it's been so long since we graduated.
Our two monkeys were so happy to go back kampung for holiday. One of the main "attractions" was that they can watch unlimited TV! The time they spent on TV during that 11 days are more than the time they spent on TV for the entire year last year, seriously, not joking! We kinda let it loose since it's CNY and kids deserve they choose what they like to do during holidaying also, don't they. We just make sure they have a little of rest in between so their eyes are not too tired out.
The improvement this year is that there is very very limited time spent on gadgets, hurray! Last year, the kids were seen surrounded an iPad or iPhone very frequently. But this year, this didn't happen much. When the kids stopped watching TV, they were seen playing outdoor with the cousins or friends. I like to think that parents are more aware of the "danger" of excessive use of gadgets and so everyone is trying their best to cut down, or maybe not. For us, the 2 iPads that we brought home were not turned on for the entire 11 days, felt like a great achievement already, haha.
What disturbed me quite a bit this CNY is that my dearest mum has shown signs of aging :-( She used to enjoy cooking for the family and extended family every day every meal from CNY eve to the day we leave. When we suggested to dine out so she could take a rest but she often rejected the suggestion, insisting on cooking at home. But this year, she really showed signs of tiredness and couldn't cope at times. We had some meals at the restaurants, and this time round, she didn't "protest" about it. So heart pain to see this but of course we didn't mention anything to her. What we did though, was to offer to cook the reunion dinner next year! Me and my sister will be the cook for the family next year! Shall see how it goes. Need to practice some dishes when nearing to the CNY, LOL!
It's an enjoyable CNY holiday break. I feel 11 days is just about right, not too short and not too long. The kids are now patiently waiting for the next CNY to come, but it couldn't be a long holiday already because Hao Re will be at Primary 1 next year (yes, already!!), so i guess we can only get a couple of days more off on top of the school closure days but definitely not 11 days.
Oh, before I stop, I forgot to mention about the CNY cookies that I made. Of course everyone loves them. But my biggest fan is still my dear Hao Re. He really enjoyed all the cookies that I made :-))) I received lots and lots of praises (**shy**) for baking those cookies and been crowned a Supermum title :-P So what does this mean? Next year I need to bake more to give to more people. Gonna start baking easier and work harder, hehe.
Hope everyone has had a nice one. Wish you a great great year ahead, with abudance of health and wealth!