[Wednesday, 21 February, 2007]

My second day of “bai nian” was actually at my father’s side – at my small uncle’s house which was located at Hougang.

I spent the early morning doing my website and chatting with Suimin. I was expecting very little sleep because my mum would wake me up for the house visiting but I woke up at around 11am by myself. My elder brother was not even home from his soccer game yet and I almost thought we were not going out anymore. After my brother returned and his girlfriend came to join us before we left for Hougang.

Through familiar paths, we were able to get there. The house was still as beautiful as two years ago; everything was well-kept. Atmosphere was good with all the jokes around and we did some catch up. The most entertaining part was when my eldest cousin came with her daughters, the kids started to play hide-and-seek. Kids were so naïve that they tended to forget who were the people they were supposed to search sometimes. One of my nieces was sitting besides my mum and the rest of them searched all over the house for as long as five minutes.

We did not stay for dinner despite the temptation of KFC and pizza delivery. After reaching the MRT station, my younger brother went to his friend’s friend while the remaining four of us went to Marina Square. I was busy messaging everyone to ask if they wanted to go to Anqi’s house to “bai nian”. After walking around, my elder brother finally decided on the restaurant “Azabu Sabo”. I was quite turned off for it seemed expensive and my elder brother did not seem to hesitate at all.

We started taking photos when the food arrived so that we could show them off to my younger brother for not joining us. My food was the cold plate and the taste was special. The dessert was fantastic as well but not the price. The meal cost around $77, which was a big bomb for me but luckily the money-shaking-tree was around.

Then, we set off to River Ang Bao once again. My mother’s main purpose was to visit the god of wealth sculpture as usual. There were two words for the brainy inventor – f*ck you. My mum stood there for very long time with those aunties and uncles who had brought their umbrellas along and their arms were so strong that they could hold the umbrella up for more than fifteen minutes. We did not stay there for long after the sculpture shot some golden tiny papers out which resembled wealth. Soon, we took the bus home.

Before I could rest enough in front of the computer before going to bathe, Suimin was asking me to find songs for her. Then, Anqi suddenly told me she was not free on Friday and I started messaging everyone again to change it to Sunday.