Chinese New Year 2008

Have not been updating this blog for quite some time. During Chinese New Year, a wonderful couple came over to our place at Kingfisher Ujana... only to find a deserted house and a missing car... hehehe, we were far away across the South China Sea. And so came the prompting to update this blog.

Didn't had much interesting thing to share. Nah. Was facing some difficult time adjusting to the working environment at a different workplace... and some other things troubling me. Just didn't have the mood to do anything.

Time really flies. Felt like New Year's day was just over, and now we're into the second month of 2008. Looking at the new year resolutions that I made on ushering in 2008... hmm seems like not much progress. How about you?

Anyway, we came back from Seremban today. Had a long Chinese New Year break. 10 days! I say this again, time flies. Before we know it, it's time to go back to work.

We flew back to Seremban two Saturdays ago. Went on Malaysia Airlines (MAS) tickets. Came to about RM 1200 per person. Multiply that by two person and a kid... Actually, I was using the free two-yearly government return-home flight tickets la. Couldn't afford flying MAS with money from my own pocket. Even then, had to pay a bit, coz Little Boy did not exist yet when the tickets were issued, and some charges were added.

Did not go back to Seremban for Chinese New Year last year, coz Irene was not fit for air travel as Little Boy was almost due to see this world.

This is Ryan's first trip to his grandparent's home in Seremban. He has never seen the house where his daddy grew up. As usual, he was very excited. Lucky little fella, he has flown twice to West Malaysia even before he reaches one year old. He tolerated the flight pretty well. Didn't cry much. Slept through most of the journey, and disturbed other passengers while he was awake.

Spent the rest of the evening recovering from jet lag (huh?). Mum brought us to the nearby Jusco for some last minute Chinese New Year shopping. Wow, we were greeted with the Jusco sales - discounts up to 70%! And they were open till midnight!

More shopping the next day. Went to mum to KL. Little boy got to see his little cousin Aden, who are staying in Petaling Jaya. Then, it was more shopping at Sunway Pyramid and Midvalley.

On Monday, brought my mum, Irene and Little Boy up to Genting Highlands. It's a first time for Irene and Ryan. Wanted to go somewhere cooling, and Genting is the nearest hill resort. The few days before Chinese New Year was low season, so we managed to get very good room rates online. We booked a triple room at Theme Park Hotel, with buffet breakfast, for only RM 98.88.

Though it's a bit far from the main "attraction" in Genting, but can't complain la, since we got a nice room with a view like this.

For those of you who have never been to Genting Highlands... well to sum it up, it's a very easily accesible (only about 45 minutes away from KL) hill resort with plenty of entertainment facilities for children (outdoor and indoor theme parks) and adults ($$$ Casino, concert hall). Have not been there since uni days. We used to joke about people who go to the casino... 'going to donate money to Uncle Lim (Goh Tong) ah?'.

Here's the outdoor theme park. Didn't enter la. Little Boy is still too small for those rides.

And here's the Water Park. Nice places to keep the children occupied all day (they sell unlimited rides tickets) while the parents are busy trying out their luck at Uncle Lim's place.

It was cold even during day time. Clouds came in and chilly winds blew. We had to wear jackets to keep warm. In conjuction with Chinese New Year, the workers made lots of effort to beautify the place.

Flowers in full bloom! Feeling like being in paradise. Little Boy enjoyed the cold weather very much even though he was shivering.

Brought Irene and Little Boy to try out the Genting Highlands cable car. I remembered enjoying the trip very much the last time I tried it. Spanning 3.4 km, Genting has the longest and fastest cable car in South East Asia.

Irene was a bit nervous, but Ryan looked really bored.

We thought there wasn't much to do at the lower cable car station. And we were in for some pleasant surprises. Firstly, there was this exhibition of wierd creatures... some of them look like monsters coming from an Ultraman movie. Only noticed the no-photography sign at the end of the exhibition, ehem...

Then there was this wonderful shop that was selling a crazy selection of dried fruits, sour plums, cuttlefish, candies and cookies... with free sample of EVERYTHING on display. Wow, I had a good time there. (And came home with a stomachache).

Back to Genting Highlands. Even after the sun sets, there is still the Indoor Theme Park to keep you entertained (and your wallet drained).

On Chinese New Year eve, my brother and his family came back to Seremban to join us. In the evening, we drove back to Malacca, our hometown. Many of my father's relatives are staying in Malacca. Going back to Malacca for CNY has been an annual pilgrimage for as long as I can remember. We used to even stay overnight when we were little kids.

We had our reunion dinner in a restaurant. In the past, we had steam-boat at my uncle's house. But it has become quite a task to prepare food for twenty-plus hungry adults, so the eat-out at a restaurant has become the annual affair. It's time for Low-Yee-Sang, a bit of alcohol, and catching up with the latest stories

On the first day of Chinese New Year, we drove to Malacca again after lunch. We had the yearly gathering at my deceased granduncle's house. There is now a whole generation of distant cousins that I can hardly name. Back in those years, their parents were just teenagers.

This year, I made an effort to search for satay-celup, a delicacy which I've not eaten for more than ten years. It's quite like a steamboat, but the soup is replaced with a thick and rich bean sauce quite similar to the satay sauce. I was lucky. They were open for business as usual, holiday or not. We drove back to Seremban later at night.

Having enough of travelling, the next couple of days were spent hanging out at home, resting to the max, and eating mum's delicious home-cooked food. Had some friends and relatives dropping by our place, and did some visiting as well.

Really tak biasa. In the past, I used to get hundred plus ringgit of angpau money. This year, Little Boy gets the angpaus, and I am the one giving.

Psa 90:12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

To see more photos, click HERE.