Tuesday, February 16, 2010
of fireworks, mahjong, red packets and reunions / 9:57 PM
chinese new year is my favourite festive occasion of the year, and for good reason.
it's a time of the year where everyone's supposed to be back for a family reunion, and it's the perfect time to get away from the scruff and gruff of normal life for a while.
true, work piles up even during the break, but i guess it's worth getting away? perhaps i'll change my mind when i actually turn my mind to work, but oh well that'll be another day.
chinese new year used to be a festival synonymous with the fireworks that my cousins and i (all of whom are within the same age range) play with, but tis' been a few years now that we've stopped playing with them at all.
and you just know you've grown and changed a little when fireworks don't hold the same fascination and wonder for you anymore.
the likes of mahjong and computer games took up the place of fireworks in recent years, but i've since come slowly to the realization that it's not the fireworks that we set off together but matter - it's simply the company of every family member that we enjoy (some more than others, of course).
it's the simple unadorned fact that my cousins and i have all gathered together - to chit-chat over snacks or dinner, to have fun playing mahjong or daidi - that really strikes home.
i'm not sure if we'll still be able to gather and reunite again in this fashion years from now... but i sure hope it'll still be possible. the presence of family in the oh-so-familiar background of my grandma's place simply evokes nostalgic feelings and memories from childhood and the years since, for which words... escape me.
this is also the first year i've discovered many a kindred spirit who spend chinese new year in malaysia too (YAY JUST LIKE ME). i've never spent chinese new year outside of malaysia, i guess.
hope the break was a good one for you, my dear reader, anyway. :D
