Lin Ying, this is for you. :P I like a rather quiet Chinese New Year and this year's season was just that. I don't like having many people gather at my house which isn't very big, and having to serve them with drinks and goodies. Being the daughter of the family means having to help my parents do this.
We had our reunion dinner two nights before Chinese New Year and this is really more convenient. We get to order food from the menu and not a meal made up of many courses, when there are only 5 of us in our family. We save on price and quantity in this way. Raw Fish Salad was obviously one of the items.
On the eve, I had dinner with my parents, since my brother and sister-in-law had to go back to her family for reunion dinner. We had Peranakan food since my dad is a Baba. Then I watched the annual variety show by Mediacorp. This year's show was really dull and even the other show on Channel U sponsored by Carlberg was dull too. I noticed some celebrities appearing on both shows. I wondered how they could rush to both shows when the shows were filmed at the same time. Perhaps the venues were near to each other.
What I like to notice in this annual show is the outfits they wear as well as the festivities at Chinatown. These two segments didn't really disappoint. I try to stay up as late as possible due to this belief that it will give my parents a long life. I know it isn't true but I still do out of filial piety. I stayed till after 3am. I watched a period drama movie starring Cecilia Cheung and Louis Koo. This love story was really moving and it brought me to tears, being the sentimentalist I am.
On the first day, I went for mass to pray for blessings. It's usual to wear new clothes too. I wore a dress I had bought from China. I felt elegant as I went out in it. Then upon reaching home, I gave my parents a red packet. Though I'm unmarried, it is filial to give one to them. I spent the whole day at home just watching television programmes and surfing the Internet. It may sound boring to some people but I like this type of quiet celebration. My parents went to their friends' place in the night but as I dislike crowds, I refrained from joining them. The wonderful thing is that I still got many red packets via my parents.
On the second day, I went for lunch with my parents and we ate another round of Raw Fish Salad. Then I went to my cousin's place and I had a greedy time gobbling down New Year goodies. :P I liked this visit because it was a small group of 4 people. We stayed for dinner before going home. I got more red packets on the third day when I went for choir.
I also shared some of my own goodies with my non-Chinese friends. It is a joy giving. All in all, I am glad I maintained the total amount of money I have always received from my red packets, even though I am older now.
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