home sweet home

So another lunar year is rounding up. In about 3 days, the Year of the Piggie would be done and over and yet another cycle would start. We'd be advancing into the Year of the Rat which means, rather obviously, that Chinese New Year is coming up again! This time last year, I was back in Malaysia, getting ready for the new year and looking forward to the traditional reunion dinner and all the festive gatherings of CNY. This year, celebrate we will, although in a rather different light.

In my (nearly) 20 years of life and for as long as I can remember, I've always spent CNY in the presence of family and relatives, the usual midnoon reunion feast at my paternal grandma's, the dinner steamboat at my maternal grandma's, my paternal grandma's birthday celebration, the dinner on the second night, the gambling and firecrakers and so much more. The one time I missed CNY was in the year 2005 when I first started school in NZ and looks like this year would be the second year I spent CNY away from home.

But lets stop there and consider things a bit. Mom and I have been here for 3 years whilst my dad and sis have been dwelling back in Malaysia. After one year, with dad and sis over in NZ, it would be the first time the 4 of us were reunited in one year. So well, I guess you can say that this CNY would be spend with the family, though not the entire family and at home.

For those who don't already know, we got a new house of our own and have spent the last two weeks shopping for electrical appliances, linen and furniture, packing and unpacking, lifting till my arms hurt and all the simple pleasures of shopping and recreating a new home. Don't get me wrong here. I would definitely miss living at Aunty Mary's hell of a lot, it just wouldn't be the same, but the thought of having a house, a home of our own in this not so foreign country is exhilarating.

'Something in your life is ending that would make you realise the passage of time..' this was what my horoscope for this week said... I couldn't agree more.