My holiday started on 2nd February and I reached Ipoh on 4th February at noon. To be frank I am seriously a homesick guy as I have never left home for such a long time. 5 months of staying in Manipal nurtured me to be a person who appreciate more of my surroundings, particularly the people around me. I have 5 more days left in Ipoh as I will be going back to India on 26th, leaving behind my comfort zone and everything that I have here. To eliminate the sad feeling of going back, I am gonna post about my Chinese New Year days here in my very own hometown.
This year, the year of the snake is the first year I had my reunion dinner other than at my grandma house. I joined my nanny's family reunion dinner at Kampar Club (not in Kampar) at 6pm along with both my sisters, then we rushed to my 2nd Uncle house at Taman Perajurit, just 1 street apart from my roommate, Chin Leong's house. I miss the get-together moments as I can only experience this during CNY. Next year I may not be able to celebrate CNY in Malaysia... =(
Among the days during CNY, Day 2 is the day I anticipated the most every year. I went to my big cousin brother house at Tambun. As you can see all the yummy dishes are cooked and freshly prepared by my nanny. She woke up at 5am and start preparing in order for us to enjoy the delicious meal. Pig stomach soup, roasted pork, roasted duck, braised chicken, GREEN-leafy vegetables were among the tasty dishes which is not possible to get in Manipal. Everyone was saying I have became slimmer and thinner after I came back. Technically I ate quite a lot in Manipal and I don't save money on food! This may be due to the extremely, freaking stress on my studies. I stayed up late every night and woke up early everyday except Sunday there. That does not end when I came back, I still have 4 and a half years more, thinking of it made me feel scare. But rest assured, I am in the process of becoming a great doctor~ =) (thank you Chee Sian)
Day 3 of CNY was one of the happiest day I have too. Every year my family will be having open house on day 3 of CNY. My house is not a bungalow but merely a terrace house which could not hold huge amount of guests, parking is a problem along the street and my pitiful friends have to squeeze themselves into the kitchen and stairs as the dining place and parlour were fully occupied. I did not invite many friends this year but more than 20 of them were present due to spreading of news by some of my close friends here. I am glad to see them enjoyed themselves here and had a fun time meeting old friends. As you can see Cai Shen (God of Fortune) is in the photo. Nope, my family did not call him but it is the work by some of my dad's AIA colleague who planned to give a surprise to my dad. The atmosphere in this house turned hot when Cai Shen is here. One of my uncle even ask him to write him a 4-digit number!
I was at home on Day 4 when I received a call from Xinh Guan, saying that he and my few former classmates will be visiting in 10 minutes time. They came by Geston's car and I felt happy everyone is still the same, no huge changes in them. Although only few of them were here, but it was nice knowing their progress in their respective universities. All of them are currently doing good. I joined them after that and we went to Swee Kwan's house which is less than 5-minute drive from my house. Both his grandparents were there and they are still healthy and strong.
Day 5 is 14th February which is also Valentine's Day! I went to Hui Ling's house as we already planned to make glutinous rice ball (tang-yuen) together. It is simply not an easy process as we have to choose the correct fruits in order to make the colouring of the rice balls. Rubbing and twisting the rice flour also requires skill and the perfect combination of water and flour will only give the best taste rice balls that we expected. TADAAAA, cute and fat rice balls are born after few hours of hardwork ^^ We went to Aeon, Station 18 to watch Wedding Diary 2 after that. It is a both meaningful and hilarious movie although I did not watch the first series. Warm Chocolate Lava cake from Secret Recipe and Chatime milk teas, simple and lovely for Valentine's~ =D Sometimes I felt I have neglected my parents when it comes to Valentine's Day. I have not spend a single moment with them on that day and I felt sorry for it...
My primary school friends reunion is held on Day 6 at Greentown's Oldtown Kopitiam. I have not met some of them for years, such as Wai Pin, Kah Keen and Xiang Bin. We still share some of the common topics and it is quite enjoyable to be with them on that day. Joker of all times - Li Heng, still the same old him and the things he talked never failed to entertain us. Although sometimes we tend to bully him but he is not affected by the words we said, nor by the teasing we have done. How good if there is a time machine and I can go back to my primary school times in Yuk Choy. I will seriously appreciate the moments there and spend more time with my beloved teachers and my innocent friends (back then xD). I remember how I used to be super quiet in the class and dare not speak with too many people, I was shy back then! If I were to recall any crazy experience, I could only find a few. We went to Anthony's house after the reunion and as usual, blackjack time!! =D
Day 7 is a blue Saturday, Hui Ling is going back to Bukit Jalil as she will be having classes the following weeks. Most of my friends were back by then as their holidays were only until CNY week. I spent the whole day at her house, accompanying her... =( <3
Sunday! I had my cousins gathering at Nasmir mamak shop. Only the 4 of us - me, my elder sister and both my cousin brothers. We used to play at the playground opposite my nanny's house when I was in my primary school times. Melvin bro is currently doing his internship after graduated from university whereas Jason bro is still in Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka. It has been n years since the 4 of us gathered together.. =')
I spent the night at my nanny's house prior to the Day 9 as the Jade Emperor ritual (bai-tian-gong) is held there. Hokkiens and some businessmen believe that they will receive blessing and prosperity in their lives granted by the Jade Emperor God. Rui Xin, the chubby young girl is there too along with her naughty brother. She is no longer staying in my nanny's house except every Wednesday where her parents will drop her there to see my nanny. She is very close to me as I will accompany her to play everytime. As I am writing this I realised when I was in Manipal, I don't really miss the food in Ipoh, nor my fluffy bed or adidas shoes, what I really miss was the people in my hometown. Sometimes I do ponder the journey I am undertaking now, the 5-year course that I am currently pursuing. Will everything be the same after I have graduated? Would all the people still be at the same old place? No one knows... =\
