CNY '08

Chinese New Year is approaching (this Thu - 7 Feb '08). Since I got married, my Chinese New Year holidays were mostly spent in M'sia. This year, I still do not get to spend the CNY in Spore. This meant that I haven't seen my relatives for some years until Gor got married last year and there was a wedding lunch celebration. They haven't changed much over the years.. still as rowdy and fun. When I was young, most of our relatives used to stay in the same neighbourhood. And 4 of the families even stayed on the same block. So early morning on the first day of CNY, there would be phone calls that went "So, when are you coming up/going down to my place?" since we only need to conveniently take lifts to visit one another! It was easy and fun as we do not have to travel too far for visiting. Most of the times, we would gather where grandma was as she was the highest rank in the family. Now, parents are the only ones still staying at the same old block (all our relatives including Gor and I have moved). Infused with so much memories, I don't think they would ever want to move out of the house.

This is a very special year. We have a new family member this year despite the lack of new year goodies, decorations and there is no need to do spring cleaning (cos we just move in to our new house!)... I don't really feel the CNY mood here. Good thing is my parents are here for the CNY. There is a saying that goes "Distant relatives are not as close as neighbours". Well, we'd better introduce ourselves to our new neighbours soon...