It's the end of CNY day 4 (technically start of 5, as it's past midnight), it was a school holiday today (as of the PH fell on a Saturday) and I took leave as well, so we've had 4 consecutive days of CNY celebration. Today we took it slow and attempted to revert to routine, for the benefit of the kids who have school tomorrow. The last few days were packed with visiting, the kids were spoilt with junk food e.g. chocolate coins, plenty of time with their cousins, had cat naps in the car and very late nights (which thankfully they're quite adaptable to); on the other hand us adults were highly fortunate to enjoy very sumptuous home-cooked food, catching up with relatives and were afforded considerable time at the gambling table too (for the kids+cousins are finally of age to do so together!). Despite that I do not visit my parental and materal relatives up north during this period anymore, I find huge joy and comfort in mingling with the large extended families of wifey's, the boisterious laughter, familiar chatter and galore of food add to the festivity - and these make me very happy and always looking forward to Chinese New Year every year.
While CNY this year was as enjoyable as I would have liked it to be, strangely I felt something different about it. Different not in a negative way, but different in my reflections of the celebrations. Let me try to articulate... Last times, I would be feeling extremely happy to see old faces and hearing CNY songs over the radio, excited to be placing bets, slight reluctance when leaving a house. On the contrary, this year, I found myself in a considerable state of calmness:
- Not feeling time-rushed and having to be at where by when;
- Not worried that my kids need to nap / not having a place to do so;
- Didn't feel thrill when betting or drawing cards? Only did slightly when I upped my bet to $10 and even so, winning or losing that game felt of little significance to me.
Why ah?
In addition, I found myself to feel more thankful and appreciative of those who contributed noticeably all in the name and spirit of the festival and for family, they are (not in any particular order):
- My magic mom, who whipped up (with my sister's help) a plethora of festive dishes which turned out more than what we had expected. I don't think mom was ever not capable of this, but I don't think she needed to do so, still. I mean, just look at this spread:
A month ago we were planning for reunion meal and mom suggested that each of us siblings contribute a dish, for she did not have energy to prepare to the extent of previous years. I know that during food prep she accidentally cut her left hand but that did not stop her from washing, more cutting; she did not wince nor did she whine. My mom has a very high self-proclaimed threshold of pain and I believe she has an even higher level of selfless love for her family. Thank you, mama. And thank you sis for helping mom out. Next times, it's perfectly alright to not have so much on the table.
- The other aunties (er kim, si kim, er gu) who hosted and churned up so much good food to feed the village. God knows how much dishes there were to wash (grateful for the helpers 🙏) , and how much more preparatory work prior, and the cleaning up after!!! And they do this, every single year without fail, without falling behind, without failing expectations, without drop in food quality. What are the men gonna do without them, these under appreciated heroes who toil so hard in the kitchen with untidy hair and aching calves. They deserve a picture with their creation:
Legendary oyster omelette!
Perhaps one of the reasons I feel CNY feels different this year is because of recency effect (that we gathered during Christmas) and technology/social media has decreased the gap; seeing one another's updates, pics and comments on our phones makes us feel that we haven't been apart for long. That said, take nothing away from my relief and nothing for granted that we were able to congregate with nary a worry, it wasn't too long ago there were COVID and the max visitor restrictions...
Wishing all a healthy and happy lunar Dragon new year!
