Chinese New Year Day 3

Had dinner at Ah Ma's house with Ah Sir, Wee, Ah Xian, Haoling and Ah Hao, and then went over to Henglip's house (which is just a block away) to watch Cabin Fever and disturb his two timid cats.

Wee and Ah Sir left after that, and we went on to watch a lame HK movie which nearly killed me.

Chinese New Year holidays are over! Sigh~

Chinese New Year Day 2

Went to AMK at noon to visit my Grandma. She had a playful Jack Russell which loved to lick my toes, much to my irritation. Then went to Toa Payoh to visit Godma, and finally back to Ah Ma's house.

1st, 2nd and 3rd Aunt, Ah Hoon and Haoling came up to my house to visit. 2nd Aunt brought Bobbi along, which was a serious invasion into Meow Meow's territory. Meow Meow was on high alert for any suspicious movement from the dog, but I think Bobbi's eyes were too clouded to see anything in front of her (except food). 2nd Aunt was afraid the cat would scratch Bobbi's eyes and Mum was afraid the dog would clamp and snap Meow Meow's neck. So they had to be kept apart.

We soon had dinner, watched a hilarious HK ghost comedy, and then proceeded with our gambling rounds again.

Four of the 五大赌后, looking at their cards with intense concentration

Me, Wee and Ah Sir just trying to earn some keep

6th Aunt was advising us not to be so immersed in gambling that we forget to go to the toilet. To which, 2nd Aunt began to dish out her philosophy about 'You can go to the toilet everyday but you will not have the chance to gamble everyday'. (See last year's CNY entry if you have forgotten)



And 6th Aunt actually changed her stand and agreed with her!



Hian niao is a fun game where we actually had the power to decide what cards the dealer is going to get! Poor 2nd Aunt had been getting a total score of 2 points for the previous 2 rounds, and in this round, she got an even better score of 1, (no) thanks to our evil chanting.



Time passed by so fast under our merry-making that soon, it was midnight and there went our CNY Day 2. Well, we will still meet the next day to watch movies at Henglip's house!

Chinese New Year Day 1

Today is CNY Day 1! I had barely stepped out of my bed when Kar Cheng, Anthony and later Henglip and Haoling came up to visit. Poor Meow Meow was severely harassed by a sick Kar Cheng, who kept shaking and pinching it. I had to distract them from disturbing Meow Meow any further by playing Dude, Where's My Car?.

I changed into my best threads, and all of us went downstairs to Ah Ma's house to greet our relatives and collect the many ang-pows waiting for us. Everyone stilll looked the same, except for a pregnant Ah Ping. Not to waste time, we quickly rallied all the Blackjack addicts to officially launch our traditional festive activity.

Two pink pigs

After a couple of rounds, we took an intermission where we quickly usurped the mahjong table while the mahjong uncles went away for dinner.

Stupid Henglip was reluctant to pose for a picture and Haoling was more than eager to squeeze her face in. Also check out the hardcore 4D punters crowding around the TV in the living room. (The back view of Ah Sir's dad was unmistakable). Dad struck 4D AGAIN! Yoohoo!

Wee and Ru

Wee went into some violent fits after knowing my Mum did not cook her favourite bamboo shoots.

We had dinner which consisted of the standard dishes: chicken, duck, cabbage, goh hiong, fried prawns and fish, bamboo shoots, tapioca dough and my favourite braised sea cucumber. After dinner, we were about to resume gambling with the other kakis but guess what we stumbled across in the bedroom?

Two happy Sleeping Buddhas on the floor

That was 6th Aunt (bottom), 2nd Aunt (middle), Ah Hao (slouched on a chair) and Bobbi (the not-very-cute-and-friendly dog). 2nd Aunt was happily propping one leg on the other and shaking her feet when I took them by surprise. They were feeling lazy so we left them alone and went up to my house to watch Frankenfish.

After the movie, we returned to Ah Ma's house and we were all seated at the dining table in the kitchen, raring to start placing our bets (our new crisp two-dollar bills) and rubbing the poker cards.

On went the usual bantering and uproarious laughter while we played a variety of games from Blackjack to sa kee (three cards) to hian neow (literally flip the cat) to see kee (four cards). We were occasionally startled by the tacky 财神到 ringtone that boomed from Ah Sir's handphone. Henglip has a sterling track record of losing in gambling every year; even 4th Aunt was disgusted with his luck that she would not let him be the dealer on her behalf. Our plastic two-dollar bills kept flying across the table and 4th Aunt had this nasty habit of keeping whoever's bills that had flown into her territory. She would give you an accusing look if you tried to claim back your bills from her.

We tried to coerce 1st Aunt to join us but she would not, claiming that she had only four dollars in her pocket. When we said that we were going to play see kee, she immediately sat down with us and smiled "See kee 比较好玩". However, I think 1st Aunt is easily confused because even when we were playing see kee for her sake and had distributed four cards to her, she still asked "Eh, 玩什么?". Haoling and Henglip had an unhealthy partnership whereby they claimed that they got good cards whenever they 'combined power'. Haoling always takes forever to bee pai (reveal her cards).

When gambling with all of us and being the dealer, losing to all of us is not the worst fate, humiliation is. When playing Blackjack, there will definitely be someone who will curse you to draw a ten and bust your cards (to draw cards exceeding the count of 21). When playing sa kee and you unfortunately have a total score of 1 point, you will be overwhelmed by the laughter and mockeries from all of us.

Below are some snapshots of us in action (Warning: Loud laughter and shrieks can damage your hearing):



4th Aunt snatching her winnings and 2nd Aunt debating with her over some 18, 19 and 20 points



2nd Aunt handing out commands on not to feed Bobbi anything except fruits



2nd Aunt dared to challenge the dealer ...

Vicious 4th Aunt sucking our bets without even revealing her cards

We ended our activities unusually early tonight because the mahjong folks ended theirs early too. It was really hot and humid and I could not wait to get home for a bath. Looking forward to the next day!

Chinese New Year Eve

Today is Chinese New Year Eve! Made some last-minute desperate attempt to clean up my bedroom.

Even Meow Meow got a shower from Mum. You know how cats are super terrified of water? I bet this must be the most traumatic experience a cat can ever have in its life.



Meow Meow's pathetic cries

Our reunion dinner was a great dinner of steamboat, which left us sweating and bloated. I wanted to catch the countdown on TV, but when I finished bathing, it was already 12.15am. Argh.

Anyway, I am looking forward to the next few days of mingling with my relatives, snacking on junk food and hours of mindless gambling!

Valentines Day

Went with Slug to have a simple V-Day's meal in town. Woah, I could not believe my eyes when I saw the throngs of people at City Hall MRT Station: bored guys waiting for their girls, happy girls holding lovely bouquets of flowers, couples trying to sneak a smooch in between the crowds ... The V-Day concept wasn't really unique anymore because we are sharing this day with millions of lovers around the world!

Had dinner at one of our favourite hangouts, Changing Appetites. The cooking was not as good as that during the normal days, probably because the restaurant was unusually packed today and the quality of the food was compromised in order to rush the orders out. There was not a single shred of privacy as the tables were arranged so close together that any exchange of mushy words can be easily accessed by (and giggled upon) the other diners. Thoroughly enjoyed their fruity sundae with cookies'n'creme ice-cream (complete with rainbow sprinkles)!



Anyway, who cares about the awful cooking and the intrusive diners? As long as there is a chance to spend quality time with your loved one, everyday is a Valentine's Day!

Shweet shweet!

Night Safari Trip to Wee

Went with Wee and family to the Night Safari because 3rd Aunt had free admission tickets for four. However, much to our dismay, it had been raining the whole day and traffic was slow along the way. It did not seem like a good start.

We were also entitled to some free Ben & Jerry's ice-cream, yoohoo! Their 'sugar cones' tasted more like plastic cones though.

We were then taken on a ride on the tram which took us around the whole compound, letting us witness the animals get busy with their nocturnal activities. First we passed by some animals whose names do not really tell you what they exactly are, like the Bharal, Markhor and Mouflon (they fall somewhere under the 'goat' family). Then we were plunged into darkness as our tram ventured further along a narrow and water-logged path flanked by tall and dense weeds on both sides. We kept our eyes peeled for any signs of animal movement around us, with the help of the oral walkthrough given by the guide on our tram.

We then passed by the otters' habitat but it stank. We came to the rhinos but we could not really see them as they were partially submerged in their pool. We then came to the Axis Deer (or rather, Bambi) which were allowed to roam freely and even onto the tram track.

After a couple of other animal enclosures, the tram came to a stop at a pavilion where passengers can alight and embark on this Leopard Trail to look at small creatures like the badgers, leopards, porcupines, civets and bats, just to name a few. Much to my disappointment, it was still drizzling and the trail was not sheltered, so in the end, we stayed put in the tram.

The tram then trudged on to the enclosures of the giraffes, zebras, bears (CUTE! but they were nowhere to be seen), foxes and the hyenas. At that point, a little girl beside us cooed "Ooooh, I love hyenas!". Eek! Where have all the girls who like flowers, rabbits and squirrels gone to?

What followed were the hippos, bearded pigs, tigers, tapirs and elephants (which I do not think look happy with their artificial environment). Then came my favourites: the capybaras and the anteaters (which sniff around and suck the ants and termites through their dangly snouts and ingest them)!

We missed out many animals like the mousedeers, fishing cats, owls, flying foxes, slow loris et cetera, as well as the animal show which was cancelled due to bad weather. Spoiler.

We braved the drizzle to cross the suspension bridge while hearing Wee wax lyrical about the surrealistic feel that she derived from the rain because rainforests generally receive frequent showers and high rainfall. Wee, I think you can gladly call this place your home.

I was cold and my slippers were soaked and it was plain miserable. We hurriedly left the Night Safari and headed to Blk 85 for a delicious tze char dinner.

Wee and I in front of the aquarium

Primary School Girls' Gathering

Went to Amelia's house for a long-waited lass (from primary school) gathering. It was nice seeing everyone! Upon reaching, Amelia whipped out a huge stash of letters and other keepsakes to refresh with us our kiddie memories (most of them embarrassing). Among those were my letters to her, written during Secondary 1, which have faded and reeked of dust.

To be honest, I have no faint recollection of any correspondence with this joker buddy after graduating from primary school. Unfortunately, these letters are undeniable proof. And so, as I read through them and tried to come to grips with the nonsense that I have written, I felt embarrassed and amused at the same time.

Because Amelia and I were always joking with each other and guffawing like loonies

I could not believe I even enclosed a cheque in one of my letters, and that was because I betted with her 999.9999 cents that Home Alone 2 is hilarious, but I think she was not amused so I refunded her that amount with a cheque. OMG!

They dug out her autograph books, and I began to see more trash from me. Yuzhen delightfully read out a corny poem from me that goes 'Two in a taxi / Two in a car / Fight fight fight / Lots of scars'. Good rhyming, but I was grossed out with myself. They even remembered I used to draw tiny comic books that featured our classmates in crazy situations. Good God, what have I been doing in primary school?!

For the rest of the night, we watched TV and played mahjong. Amelia's parents were sweet folks who bought us dinner, and also baked homemade garlic bread (with cheese!) and chicken wings. They were so delicious that when we were all about to go home, Jingna and I were still stuffing ourselves with the drumlets.

Hope to meet up again (to Cheesecake Cafe (to peep at Mr. Yap) next time, as mentioned!).

Trip to Chinatown

Had delicious mudpies at Changing Attitudes with Slug, yum!

Oreo mudpie with a chockful of cookie crumbs and drizzled in choco fudge

Then had a walk along Chinatown and soaked in the festive atmosphere. Unfortunately we did not have enough time to complete our little tour, so ... will give a detailed account of the bazaar there the next time.

A whole street of da pai dang

A stall selling waxed meats

Stalls selling New Year decorations

Opening of the FCT

Attended the opening ceremony of the FCT with Boss. It was somewhat a chi-chi affair. First there was a performance by a jazz quartet, followed by a long speech from the Minister of Transport. Together with key LTA figures, he then went on to officiate the opening of the 350 metre-long tunnel. I could not believe that there were even fireworks.

All of us then entered the tunnel for a walk, which I guess is like, once in a lifetime. Starting from 6am the next day, the tunnel will be opened to traffic and no pedestrians will be allowed to walk through it.

Today marked the opening of the tunnel after three years of construction

The minister looking at the exhibits

Point Two of the second exhibit is so cheeky: 'The fattest boulder was discovered by the skinniest engineer'. The exhibits talked about how the new drilling method adopted by LTA during the construction managed to preserve many long-lived trees in the area, which I think is really commendable.

You still have to pay to enter Orchard

Finger food and cocktail jellies served

If you think the metallic 'Fort Canning Tunnel' blocks (a la Hollywood) are ugly, you are not alone.

Afternoon Tea with Slug

Sneaked out of work in the late afternoon to have an enjoyable high tea with Slug at one of our favourite hangouts, Bao Today. Their dim sum just makes us keep coming back for more.

A gleaming egg tart

Fried prawn dumplings that MUST go with mayo

Siew mai topped with fish roe

Petite bo luo char siew buns

Steamed prawn dumplings topped with scallops

After that, Slug bought a HUMONGOUS candy floss for me. It appealed to my sweet tooth inititally, but sipping bits of that huge sugary pyramid made me sicker with every minute.

Candy floss larger than my head

By the time we met up with Bo for a jovial chat, the candy floss had gone straight to my kidneys. I could not believe Bo would be working overnight to salvage what was left of her corrupt SPSS file and having to deal with threatening calls from the office ghost (eek!).

My buddy for 11 years!