Is an extra day at home.
Which, unfortunately, is a luxury I cannot afford at this point of time.
Unlike some of my contemporaries (I sound funny) I genuinely look forward to CNY every year. Not the annoying relatives but the general atmosphere of 团圆, getting together with my own family, meeting up with friends that I only see once or twice a year.
My memories of CNY include a meal on the eve, lounging around with the TV till past midnight, cos that’s the way it is supposed to be. The first day of CNY would begin with the new year wishes for the parents, and we’d have vegetarian food whole day. And the day also began with the whole family watching TVB’s live telecast of their CNY event. And then there’d be people coming to visit. And me joining friends to visit others.
It’s different this year, but I still like it, nonetheless. The reunion dinner this year was a very healthy (think organic veggies, fish, assorted fishball stuff, tofu, chicken, the works) steamboat dinner with a neighbour. And I went out to meet some Sam Chai classmates for a drink at Old Town (where else these days right?) and later on at Rum Jungle. It is really heartwarming meeting them cos though we probably last saw each other like 13-14 years ago, this annual get-together makes us feel like we’ve never really parted. Granted, we are all so different now, but we were a united class, we were. I am meeting up with more of them later. can’t wait!
Then of course there are the AMC girls tomorrow night, and meeting up with Ling tomorrow too.
We are also visiting as a family this year - haven’t done that for some time. Thanks to Someone Up There, Ernie is finally understanding what CNY means and is now willing to go through visitations with us. Went to 6 homes yesterday. We were all so stoned at the end of the day! But I was also surprised to find that many families don’t visit as a family these days, as teenagers refuse to join their parents, and the older kids have their own programmes. I think I am a stickler for traditions such that I’ve always joined my parents for these visits and I know I’d definitely insist that my own kids do the same in the future.
To a certain extent, I really think the ones who are more nostalgic and the ones who want to meet up the most are the ones who have left. I am definitely one of them and since I left 5 years ago, I’ve always been uber enthusiastic about setting up meetings and stuff. While it is true that at every stage of your life, you will inevitably have different friends (what would I do in Singapore without the D3 girls to go through college and now adult life with me I don’t know).
But this year, I have come to a realisation that not everyone shares this sentiment. There are some friends whom you meet only once a year and you can just pick up where you left off last year. There are some friends whom you can keep in touch with just a few times a year and still you are up to date with each others’ lives. And there are also some friends whom you still hold dearly, but you’d have to come to the realisation that everyone’s needs have become different, and that maybe you just don’t belong anymore (or you have never belonged at all).
I think I was slightly down during my first day home but after talking to Justin about it, and doing some thinking of my own, I think I’ve learnt much from this experience. What matters is not how many different groups you meet up with during these seasons (not that it should ever matter!), but the value of these meetings. It sounds superficial but I think at this point of time, I’ll just appear where I am apparently missed. Where people would actually ask, "Where’s sze?". Not "what is she doing here?".
On another note, I am still hoping for my voice to resurface! David has given me a simple formula - hope it works!
And I am missing all the action in Singapore as well! Can’t wait to meet up with the girls and of course SAF too!
Happy Lunar New Year to the few of you reading!
p/s I’ve finally found a connection between guys I find attractive: Eason Chan, Jamie Oliver and the boy. They all exude the big boy charm 
Okay can smack me silly now!
