Welcoming the Year of the Ox!

Gong Xi! Gong Xi! Was back in Kuching over the CNY period with Daisy. There's the reunion dinner, visiting and gatherings with friends and family to make the festivities all the more meaningful.

My dad prepared the dishes for the reunion dinner and this year, I ate without any complains. None of the usual "not enough gravy" etc. After all, I'm officially on a diet. Hmm..


But I did munch on some CNY goodies. Did I ever mentioned that Kuching has the absolute best Malay kuihs ever? Hands down.. :-)

But there's one other thing that we look forward to each year. And no, it's not the hong baos. I'm talking about firecrackers and fireworks something else. Redsponge's husband was supposed to help me buy the stuffs but he told me his supplier ran out of stock the morning of CNY eve. Luckily I managed to source from other places!

So we had a small little bundle of various ammunition for the night. After dinner, we watched Ip Man and Warlords as we waited for midnight to come. Come 11:30pm on 25th Jan 2009, we started preparations liao.

We gotta tie the long firecrackers and noisy ones to poles and them secure the poles high enough off the ground. Unfortunately, we did not have poles long enough so I had to drape it around the gate.





Once that is done, we played with the more 'simple' stuffs while we wait for the hour; 'spinners', 'flashers' as well as 'grenades'. Here's Daisy demonstrating a grenade. It's called "Big Boss" and it causes a deafening explosion.



It's very simple. Hold it in one hand. Hold the lighter in another. Light the fuse and throw! If you don't throw, you'll lose a few fingers. I have friends who lost fingers because they held on for too long. Seriously. I also knew people who used it to blow up public phones so that they can steal the coins. Idiots!


At midnight, the whole neighbourhood light their stuffs and the whole city is suddenly transformed into Gaza (without the suffering). The picture above shows me lighting the second firecracker and by then, my ears are ringing and I can't hear people talking to me. You can see the front porch completely engulfed in smoke.



After fireworks, it's the turn of firecrackers. This year, we used the boxed versions so easier to play with. First you light the fuse.



Then you run!



As you stand and go "Woah" at the ensuing magic, you gotta also dodge all the fiery remnants that come flying back down to earth. It was great fun. When we used up most of our own ammo, we drove out to the elevated-road (we call it the fly-over) to have a wider view of the neighbourhood. Visibility was down to 20m but you could still see fireworks exploding all around you. From the picture, you can't even see the hotel in the background.



In the morning, the city is covered by a nice looking 'red carpet' that smells of gun-powder haha!


Everyone had a lot of fun during CNY eve. Everyone except the family Pekingese, that is. Tili here was badly traumatised by the whole experience. Here you see him looking tired from lack of sleep.



Well, hope you had a great start to the year too! Once again,
Gong Xi Fa Cai!!!!

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Yeah it's that time of the year again. Daisy and I will be flying home in a few hours. Will meet up with family and hopefully, can catch up with people like Redsponge, VampireM and the rest over the next few days. I asked my buddy to buy some fireworks and he got me the following:

• 25 Shots Sky Waterfall
• 25 Shots Gong Xi Fa Cai
• 25 Shots Rainbow Knight

I really don't know what they are but can't wait to find out haha!

May this Year of the Ox bring all of us happiness and prosperity.

One of the company hongbaos this year. At least 3 designs this year; all very nice.

Xin Nian Lai Le

We're barely done wishing each other Merry Christmas and Happy New Year when the well wishing starts all over again. It's Chinese New Year again folks!

In fact, I've not even had the chance to take down the Christmas tree at home. So how lei?

Turn it into a CNY Tree! Swee boh?

Can Manchester United...

... Top the table?

Those of us who followed Manchester United love the club for so many reasons. From near relegation when Sir Alex arrived in 1986 to undoubtedly the best club in the short history of the Premier League.

I started following United in 1995 and have never looked back. This season, we started the season horribly but nary a ManUtd fan was worried. The reason being, ManUtd usually play their best game only after Christmas. We proved it against Chelsea and are now poised to overtake an undeserving Liverpool team despite losing almost the whole of our defensive line up.

So, will we really top the table tonight? We'll find out soon enough, wont we?

Birthday Dos

Feels like I've totally neglected this blog. But let's restart with the mini gatherings I've had in Singapore for my birthday. Hooray I'm 28. Dunno why but feels great to be 28. The most recent one was with Daisy and my housemates (as well as their respective significant other). We had a nice dinner with a smooth bottle of white at Modesto's Orchard branch. Good food for not too high a price. Really enjoyable.

After dinner we hopped over to White Rabbit for drinks. Nice ambience, not so nice F&B. We were joined with a whole bunch of other friends but unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me.

Earlier, we had another mini gathering when Fu the gay boy Onn was around. Nice dinner at Dian Xiao Er followed by a bottle of Macallan 18 Years and some beers at his new house. Next, we did what we should never be allowed to do; sing Karaoke at Party World Tanjong Pagar.

Two towers of Heineken later..

well.. let's just say we really enjoyed ourselves.

Here's a parting wink from the drunkard.

See, I told you he's gay!

No time to blog..

So much to say. So many photos to share. Lots of updates. But gosh, how come no time?

2009 Is Here!

And suddenly, 2008 is gone. So much happened in 2008, that it seemed like a very short year. Thanks to everyone who shared that journey with me.

Still in Hong Kong when time as we know it crossed into 2009. Before that on the 30th, I've suffered indigestion from over-eating (was vomitting and had to be rushed to hospital and had my butt jabbed for the first time since kindergarten!) and lost my phone. But I got better and as the night of the 31st arrived, we snucked up to the rooftop of the hotel where we're staying to watch the fireworks display and countdown on Hong Kong island.

Ok I know I should get a new camera but I can't bear to let go of the one I'm using now. It has been a faithful companion all these years.

My resolution for 2009 will be to lose weight. I WILL bring my weight down from 75kg to 68kg! Gambatei Adipos!