Chinese New Year is very different this year

I'm back in my hometown, Melaka, right now. We come back every year to spend the Chinese New Year with the rest of the family. This time round, there aren't any celebrations for us. No decorations are put up, no firecrackers to be lighted up, no well-wishes and no ang baos to be given or received. Yes, it's a quiet time for the family. Some things are still the same though. We go down to our grandmother's place for the annual reunion dinner. We eat oranges and receive visitors at home. Lots of goodies and drinks go round the table for guests to munch on while they chat away. There are also the usual questions and exclamations from the uncles and aunties. Standard stuff really; sometimes I wonder if they go through a script with all their predictable questions and answers. Oh well, that's what relatives are for and that's what they'll always be like. I might end up the same when I get much older. I do enjoy showing off my lovely Australian Open tan, although not many people appreciate it. Quite a few of the older generation have already commented about my colour with dismay. I wonder what my other grandmother will say about it. Even though this is not the first time coming back to Melaka so dark, I always managed to surprise her with it. Heh heh heh, I can't wait till she sees it. She's quite likely to shake her head and ask, "Why so dark? What have you been doing?" in Teochew.

The Melaka house has come a long way since I last saw it almost 2 years ago. The garden is much more extensive thanks to my mum. It has a whole variety of plants, lovingly taken care of by her. There is a new fish tank connected to the side of the house with a glass wall so you can view the fishes swimming while in the living room. There are two freshwater lobsters in that tank and I like watching them prowling around the bottom, unaware that I am staring at them. Mosquitoes are here to stay though and I hate getting bites which itch for days. This place feels more like a holiday getaway and feels like I'm staying out on the countryside. Of course there are endless chores to carry out because this house requires more maintenance than the one in Singapore. The floor gets dusty faster, there are plenty of lizard dropping and dead insects every morning and the garden needs weeding, pruning and watering all the time.

I'm getting lots of practice with driving. I get to drive the automatic Kancil without power steering but at least I'm working my muscles. Driving can really make you a slob. You get lazy and sit in an aircon environment so all the food you eat turns into fat instead of being burned by walking and taking the bus. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.

Although most shops and stalls aren't open during the first two days of Chinese New Year, I've still been doing a lot of eating. We go to our grandmother's place for dinner almost every night and she always cooks too much. My dad organized a small buffet party at our place for some relatives. An aunt held another buffet lunch at her place and I totally loved the rendang beef she served....yummy!!!

I've been doing too much eating and slacking. My hands are itching for tennis and I want to swim....