Thursday, February 14, 2008
Chinese New Year 2008
Chinese New Year is back again, so welcome to the year of the Rat (not Mouse as Disney would prefer)! As usual, I spent the first four days in my hometown of Melaka, where 95% of my rather huge extended family lives. Four days of tidbits and relatives and house hopping, oh my! Must be fun, huh? To be frank, I usually face the CNY with some sense of dread, because the typical house visit goes as follows:
Cousins' children getting a feel of the CNY spirit.
Ain't she cute? Aww...
I think this pattern applies to many youths out there too, or maybe it's just because the banana in me finds it tough to communicate well with my relatives, or sometimes there's just too few people my age to speak to, or the shows on TV were all in Chinese and without subtitles, or because I don't have a portable gaming system like a PSP and didn't dare bring a book back to read because they say it's rude to read while visiting people's homes and that the Chinese word for "book" sounds the same as "lose" and overly superstitious folks chided me for doing so in the past before.
Wish I had a PSP myself, or a DS. Nintendo FTW!
Sigh. But as Reb Tevye can attest, it's tradition... TRADITION! But at least I had an okay phone camera to alleviate the boredom, and I actually enjoyed myself at some of these visits.
Boredom in action. Wait, that's sort of a paradox.
Oh, and this year's angpow collection increased after slumping for several years! Whoo! I suppose everything else are necessary evils if you wanna get those red packets of dough.
My brother got a taste of his celebrity-hood when a random dude approached him for photos.
Well, there's just a couple more days until the end of the CNY, so enjoy them while you can. And if you aren't Chinese, go visit one today! But make sure that there are married people around first if you want them angpows.
A cousin of mind is getting married to a cool Indian dude, which explains this picture.
On the other hand, nobody is marrying the Hamburglar since the 70s.
Pointless Fact of the Day:
Our Prime Minister, Abdullah Badahwi first said on Tuesday that he won't dissolve the parliament on Wednesday, only to dissolve it after that statement has went to press. What gives?
- Enter house and exchange pleasantries and angpows (yay!)
- Parents chat animatedly with the hosts, with intermittent comments by the kids
- Kids become bored after about 10 minutes
- Effect continues until
end of turnwe leave the premises, anytime between an hour and a half (at least!) and four hours
Cousins' children getting a feel of the CNY spirit.
One of the aforementioned kids' dads, performing his fatherly obligations. That's my sis in the background.
Ain't she cute? Aww...I think this pattern applies to many youths out there too, or maybe it's just because the banana in me finds it tough to communicate well with my relatives, or sometimes there's just too few people my age to speak to, or the shows on TV were all in Chinese and without subtitles, or because I don't have a portable gaming system like a PSP and didn't dare bring a book back to read because they say it's rude to read while visiting people's homes and that the Chinese word for "book" sounds the same as "lose" and overly superstitious folks chided me for doing so in the past before.
Wish I had a PSP myself, or a DS. Nintendo FTW!Sigh. But as Reb Tevye can attest, it's tradition... TRADITION! But at least I had an okay phone camera to alleviate the boredom, and I actually enjoyed myself at some of these visits.
Boredom in action. Wait, that's sort of a paradox.Oh, and this year's angpow collection increased after slumping for several years! Whoo! I suppose everything else are necessary evils if you wanna get those red packets of dough.
My brother got a taste of his celebrity-hood when a random dude approached him for photos.Well, there's just a couple more days until the end of the CNY, so enjoy them while you can. And if you aren't Chinese, go visit one today! But make sure that there are married people around first if you want them angpows.
A cousin of mind is getting married to a cool Indian dude, which explains this picture.
On the other hand, nobody is marrying the Hamburglar since the 70s.Pointless Fact of the Day:
Our Prime Minister, Abdullah Badahwi first said on Tuesday that he won't dissolve the parliament on Wednesday, only to dissolve it after that statement has went to press. What gives?
