Due to laziness and lack of timeness, i have decided to import the posts from the blog I made for my wife for our wedding day ( www.iheartwing.com) and concentrate on posting at boliaosia.com. Don't worry Wing, most of the posts will be about you .... I promise!
I have also change the template for boliaosia.com. Still have some adjustments to do ..... when I have the time and feel better .... sick .....
Just collected our wedding pics from Alvin yesterday, hope to post some pics in the future.
A little update on Wing's life ...
Her teeth is now brand new after 3 treatments at Dr. Leong's clinic. No more pain!!
She also celebrated her birthday and our 1 year anniversary last month. Made her a special atm card that can be used weekly by swiping it at my backside. =) Real money will be issued okay!
P.S Like the new blogger changes ... very easy to use now. :)
Oh man, it’s been a long time since I last blogged (again). Miss me?? (dun vomit) Training/work, exploring both the Mio TV and Hubstation HD setup boxes, playing Uncharted 2 on PS3, and celebrations and outings here and there have kept me so busy that I neglected my dear little blog. I have completed Uncharted 2 and there are lesser celebrations at the moment (until Chinese New Year) so I guess I have a little spare time to blog heh. I think I shall blog about what I did during the Christmas and New Year period …
I have already talked about Mio TV in my previous post so let me now talk about the Hubstation HD setup box which I received recently. As mentioned in my previous post, I got the hubstation HD free for 1 year and 3 months free subscription of the HBO pak after being the first few fans who responded to Starhub’s fan offer on their facebook page. =) The Mio TV box is also free as I signed up for the early bird special (free Champions League, Europa League and Serie A for the rest of the season!) he he. I love free stuff! Anyways, it my first time using hubstation and like the Mio TV box, I love it! I like how I can easily record any show anytime I want, and watch another show while recording it. I also like how I can record by series and record HD content in addition to standard definition programmes. It’s so easy to use and definitely very useful for those working and constantly missing their favourite tv shows. I can even rewind live tv!! It is something like Tivo right? Pai seh I never use before. Don’t call me sua ku!
HBO HD is also really cool. It’s HBO in HD!!! Ha ha. All the shows you see on HBO are shown on HBO HD at the exact same time, only much clearer! All the movies look so gooood ….. except the super old ones heh. And yes, you can record the shows on the Hubstation HD =) No need to buy blue ray movies or ahem download stuff and waste disk space heh. On to gaming .... I bought Uncharted 2 after selling 2 of my old games and I really like it! One of the best games on PS3 I feel. It’s been a long time since a game has kept me interested long enough to complete it lol. I played it on my new, super nice, LG W2486L monitor which I received recently (more about that next time) =) Since I have completed it, it’s time to sell it and get another game he he. What should I buy? Hmmm ….
Besides work, exploring Mio TV and Hubstation HD, playing Uncharted 2, I also had a Christmas BBQ with my UWA mates, watched a few movies, ate Sakae Sushi, played UFO catchers, and had some little drinking outing …
On most Christmas eves, I would usually stay at home and watch TV. I did something a little different this year … my UWA mates had a BBQ session at Pasir Ris Park on Chritmas eve. It was quite a last minute thing but luckily we managed to book a pit.
Everyone had to bring their own bbq item (potluck) and a gift to exchange. I made a poster for the event and posted it on Facebook events he he. We also had discussions there regarding food and stuff so as to avoid bringing the same food. Skali everyone bring hotdogs lol.
I ordered around 200 sticks of satay (my fav food of all time), lots of Otah, charcoal, fire starters, aluminium trays and some other bbq stuff from City Satay … great place to order from for lazy and car(less) guys like me. Fuss free, no need to think, just order and enjoy he he.
The satays and stuff arrived earlier than the planned bbq session starting time, so I went to the place early. My sis soon arrived and we sat at the BBQ pit and waited for the others to come. We didn’t want to start the bbq first out of courtesy …. erm no …. because we didn’t know how to start the fire lol. You know, I’m the kind of person who goes to a bbq just to eat and not cook. =P
Luckily for us and our noisy stomachs, Jun Wee arrived next and we found out that he is the bbq pro. We realised that we only had 1 thong for the food and no thongs for the charcoal, so poor Jun Wee had to use his hands to arrange the charcoal and use tissue papers to start light the fire starters. The BBQ would not be able to start without him man … thank you Master Chef. Luckily, back-up tongs arrived later, and we (okay Jun Wee) were able to add charcoals more easily.
So … besides the delicious satays, what other goodies were available at “The Christmas BBQ at the Pasir Ris from the PM to the AM”???
My sis brought stingrays and squids, Jun Wee and gf (now fiance :p) brought his mum’s specially marinated chicken wings and clams, Iska brought his home-cooked spicy fried rice. Wayne brought sweet potato, marshmallows and some beer, Weida and gf brought drinks, Shawn brought plates, cups and utensils, but was really late so we had to beg from other bbqers, Rayne and husband brought salad and some more beer and Ling Zhi brought Jelly dessert. There was one very important thing missing from the list of food …….. hotdogs!!! We had a discussion on Facebook to prevent everyone from bringing hotdogs and now we don’t even have a single hotdog lol. Is this the only bbq in the world without hotdogs?? The closest things we had to hotdogs were the Taiwan sausages brough by Darren. Only 2 packets though =P
We ate till 12 plus, wished each other Merry Christmas, and had the gift exchange session. I got a towel from Darren. I think I have the same set at home lol. We then tried to form words with the sparkers on the floor but failed miserably lol. Lucky we managed to take some cool looking shots with the help of Jun Wee (again). He adjusted some settings on my camera and we were able to take the pictures of the words “UWA XMAS 2009” formed by sparkers.
After that, we ate some more, drank some more and went home …. after packing the place up of course. Hope we can have some sort of gathering again next year. =)
The day after Christmas, I met up with shawn, Wayne and Iska after my training/work for a movie and chilling out session. Before the movie started, I continued my Sakae Sushi adventures by asking my friends to eat at the Sakae Sushi over at Citylink mall.
As usual we ordered chanwanmushi and drinks to start the eating session. Then we ate some red plates, fried tempura (Ebi), fried vegetables (Kakiage) and fried salmon. The main course was the Chicken Sukiyaki and some donburis (rice with food on top =P). It was my first time eating the Chicken version of the Sukiyaki (usually I eat the beef one), and I find that it tasted just as good as its beef version. The sweet soup is simply irresistible he he. It was a little weird eating at Citylink mall where lots of people are walking around though. I think if everyone were to order Sukiyaki and sit outside, it will attract lots of people to eat at Sakae. It smells so good.
According to the Sakae Sushi Facebook fanpage, they are going to come up with a new chawanmushi called the Ikura Chawanmushi!! I’m so going to try that when it comes out in the new menu.
After Sakae, we went to the UFO catcher paradise (dunno the name of the place - the place with lots of UFO catchers) at Marina Square and I saw a very interesting UFO catcher heh. It’s called Robo Catcher.
Instead of your usual UFO catcher way of “catching” the stuff toys, you are given some time to control a cute robot to lift the toys out of the barricade. You can try to lift the toys up as many times as you want within the time limit. In case you are interested, I took a video of the machine when Shawn was playing lol.
I think we spent more than 10 bucks on Robo Catcher and won nothing lol. In fact, I think I wasted around 20 dollars at that place without getting anything lol.
After wasting money at UFO catchers, we went to watch Sherlock Holmes. I was really tired by then and slept through half of the show =P The rest loved the show though, so I guess it’s my fault for being too sleepy. After the movie and my sleep, we went for some drinking talk cock session.
I had another drinking talk cock session with my sis and Wayne on Wednesday and spent New Year’s Eve at home with dad, mum and kimi counting down (as usual). Watched the countdown show on channel 5 and jumped around with coins in my pocket when it was 12am, 1st January 2010 for good money luck. I also ate some noodles as usual for long life. I know I’m very pan tang (superstitious). At least I managed to see some of the fireworks from my house even though it’s very far away from Marina. I also got to hear some nice songs from Da Mouth. One the songs Na Qu, has been stuck in my head for the past week man …
In case you missed it ...
I like the song and the dance sia =) Get it get it on get it get it on ..... na qu na qu na qu .....
On the very first day of the year 2010, I went to watch a Hokkien concert with my mum and Shawn.
The concert had actors from 2 of the Taiwan hokkien dramas on channel 8, Love 爱 and Unforgettable Memories 意难忘, which are very popular with aunties and uncles he he. I don’t watch the dramas but just accompany mother la lol. Some of them sang really well, some not so good, but I’m sure my mum and all the other uncles and aunties enjoyed the concert he he. For those who have watched the show or have someone in your house watching Taiwanese dramas, I’m sure you will find this song familiar ….
I ask sky I ask sky!!
It’s the main theme song of Love!! The guy who sang it was really good and it sounded exactly like the version I hear on TV every week! That was my highlight of the concert he he. At the end of the concert, everyone got on stage sang the song again lol.
Okay okay, I shall stop here for now (time to sleep!) … in my next post, I think I will tell you more about the really cool LG 24 inch monitor I received from recently. So big, so slim, so beautiful …..
P.S: I still love my HTC Hero!! Please download Handcent if you have an android phone .... its awesome!!
(Images Taken From: Katherine’s digital camera, my digital camera, my HTC Hero, Sakae Sushi Facebook)
Last week, I celebrated my birthday in traditional fashion. Another steamboat at home with my family! I think I have been doing the same thing for many donkey years but I still like. A nice simple celebration with my father, mother and sister =) Steamboat rocks!! This year’s steamboat is sponsored by my sister as a birthday present to me. Thank you Jiayi!!
Before the steamboat, I had a yummy salt-baked chicken for lunch. My father bought it from Tampines Mall along with my birthday cake he he.
In the afternoon, my sister and I went to the supermarket to buy the food for the steamboat plus some other of my favourite food. We bought quite a lot of food and the cashier thought that me and my sister were going to eat all the food by ourselves lol. We got back just in time for dinner and prepared the steamboat! Okay most of the preparation was done by my sis he he.
We had prawns, various mushrooms, slices of pork (shabu shabu styled), cheese hotdogs, shark meat (dunno just try), toufu, vegetables and some more. Just put them all in the pot, and let it do the magic …. My favourite food in the steamboat?
I love it when steamboats have this kind of fishball and will usually take a lot of it. Delicious! But that’s not all ….. Besides the steamboat we also had Satay and nuggets!
Satay is one of my favourite food of all time and fortunately we were able to find a stall selling them at one of the coffee shops. They were really good!! Nice tender chicken and mutton satay!! I can eat at least 50 sticks of satay if anyone once to sponsor me thank you. The nuggets were quite tasty too. We bought the cheese flavoured once out of curiosity and used the oven to make it crispy. =)
So the night was spent eating the steamboat, watching some tv and blowing my birthday cake.
Thank you papa, mummy and sis for being with me on my birthday!! I hope this tradition continues forever. Presents time …
This year, I have the usual ang paos from my parents and Fei bought me a t-shirt he he. I also had an early “birthday present” from Starhub …
The kind folks over at Starhub gave me a Nokia 5800 to try out the TV on Mobile service. So kind of them to do this. They also waived off my caller ID service fee for six months when I recontracted my plan … totally unexpected and cool. I love surprises! Hubber for life! Ha ha. The TV on Mobile service was smooth and easy to use on the Nokia 5800 - just sms to 6757 and click on the link they send you =) …. Too bad I was already planning to recontract my phone line and get the HTC Hero, so I passed the Nokia to my mom who wanted a new phone. I prefer capacitive touch screen la pai seh. I downloaded a cute theme for her from the Ovi store lol.
I didn’t know the Nokia has its own store like the iPhone’s app store now ….so sua ku la me heh. At the moment, Apple’s store is much better though =P. Even the android market I’m using now is not as good. I’m getting used my new HTC hero now though and I’m loving it the moment. Too bad we don’t have paid apps in Singapore yet. When will it come out ah?? For now, I can only be a cheapo and download those free apps he he. The Nokia 5800 supposed to come a card which will enable me to download unlimited music for a year but I lost the card!! I wanted to try out how it actually works, but too bad I don’t have the chance now. =(
My dog Kimi also had a birthday present for me ….
She changed her bed sheet for the week to match mine. So sweet and cute!! Thanks Kimi!!
Since their launch, there has been much changes such as the launch of their latest Chinese e-learning section - CLing; omy.sg's involvement with the mega-entertainment party, the Singapore Entertainment Awards 2009 (新加坡e乐大赏）; and of course, the launch of the annual Singapore Blog Awards （新加坡部落格大奖）which I miraculously got into the finals this year he he.
An advance Happy Birthday to you Omy!!
All the best and may you have millions of readers in the future!!
It’s been a long time since I got drunk as I don’t club much nowadays …. but last week, to celebrate Wayne’s birthday, I got drunk 2 times in the same week!
On Tuesday, after watching the G.I Joe movie preview (which is as nice as the movie UP) with my sis, we met up with Wayne to celebrate his birthday. That was when the drinking started …
Day 1 (Tuesday) – KPO and Movida
Our first stop was KPO at Kiliney road, an ice cream drinking place which seems really classy. Dressed in t-shirt and jeans, I felt a little out of place, but we still drank anyway heh. We only had beer there and drank till 1plus am when it closed. We still felt that the night was still young though and went to St James Power Station to extend our drinking session. We ended up at Movida and ordered more drinks. We had beer and tequila pops at Movida and took some pictures with me doing stupid poses.
We switched over to Dragonfly, ordered some more drinks and wanted to dance but my sister was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol and was visiting the toilet more often than a person with diarrhoea. Although I was a little tipsy, I thought I could still drink more and continued drinking in between the times I accompanied my sister to the toilet. I only felt the full effects of the mixture of beer, tequila and vodka (I think) after we stepped out of Dragonfly to head home. I couldn’t really walk straight but somehow managed to get into the cab with my sister (who just told me she didn’t remember that we went to Dragonfly heh).
When the cab started moving, I felt like puking. And puke I did! Lucky for the taxi man, he had a plastic bag on standby for drunkards like me, and immediately passes one to my sis and me when I told him to stop for me to puke. He didn’t stop, so I “merlioned” into the plastic bag while the car was moving and it felt like shit. It was loud and disgusting and I pity the cab driver. Sorry!
I think I have never puked after drinking for more than 2 years man. I love the feeling of getting drunk but really hate the after effects heh. We barely made it home and I fell asleep on the sofa immediately without bathing. Disgusting feeling sia, especially after you have just puked. And that was the end of the first day of drinking …
Day 2 (Saturday) - Broiler
After staying free from alcohol for a few days, the three of us continued our drinking session on Saturday, this time with more friends. Darren, Iska, Edison, Claire and Lynn Zhi were we with us on Saturday when we went to Broiler for round 2.
I started off with a beer (again) and continued with the bottle of Chivas Wayne bought and some tequila shots =) We played five ten, drank quite a lot but lucky I was not as drunk as Tuesday. Wayne and I did something stupid though. We played pool with people better than us and ended up losing the bottle of beer bet. Wayne paid for the drinks though so I didn’t feel the pain heh. Overall I think I drank more on Saturday but lucky I didn’t puke. I think it must be because I had less beer and more of other stuff. The night ended with the not so drunk people taking videos of the super drunk people and a free ride home by Iska. Videos will be kept for blackmail in the future =P
Things I liked about these 2 days
Haven’t felt so high drinking in a long long time
I didn’t spend much on drinks as they were paid by others =P I think overall for the 2 days, I spend less than $30. A big thank you to Omy for the free G.I Joe tics and friends who paid for drinks and transport.
Fun to see classmates drunk. Maybe they feel the same way when they see me too lol.
G.I Joe was really nice. I think it will be the next big movie franchise.
Things I didn’t like
The puking feeling
The fat and unglam pics of me (which I never post of course). The fatter I get the harder it is to have decent pics. Need to exercise!!
Other Things I did recently
I jogged today =) So proud of myself
I took the pledge at 8.22pm last Sunday on my way home. Stood still on the road with Shawn and people thought we were nuts
Watched UP with Jasmine and really liked it. The 3D effects are really nice and the story is good too.
Watched a J Drama which I bought some time ago called Celeb to Binbo Taro (Celeb & Poor). Have not finished watching, but so far so good!
Watched 2 episodes the new season of Singapore Idol. I don’t really like the auditions parts of the Idol series and I’m looking forward to the Hollywood rounds (erm what you call it in Singapore Idol?) where most of the bad singers are gone. There are a few contestants which I think I will support based from my first impression. I will reveal their names just like I did for the recent American Idol if they get into the voting rounds heh.
Benjamin showed me this ad below
The description of the ad is weird. Dunno what cosmic Qi-Gong and free from “running fire enter evil” which is a Chinese phrase called “Zhou Huo Ru Mo” which means something like learning till you get possessed by evil spirits lol. Sounds like some Chinese Kung Fu movie.
That’s not the funny part of the ad though. The thing that made Benjamin and everyone he showed the ad to is the name of the consultant. Read it and you will know what I mean he he.
(Images Taken From: Wayne’s phone, Lynn Zhi’s digital camera)
Slacked on Friday and went out for the second round of celebrations on Saturday!
Saturday - This time it’s at Kbox and St James. I went with the 2 groups I did most of the projects with in school, Team Donald and Ex Wiki Team. First place, Kbox Cineleisure for Kbox buffet (buffet again!?!). I didn’t sing much there letting others have to chance to show off their singing prowess and sparing them the agony of my glass shattering voice. I concentrated on eating as much food as possible to get my money’s worth he he. Too bad there are no free flow drinks unlike the Kbox at Kallang Leisure Park … I wonder why? While eating and listening, I found out that most of my group mates and their husband and gf they brought along are KTV pros. No not PRO in KTV, but singing experts lah ha ha. The person I was most impressed with is Jayven, who sounds just like Jam Hsiao! It’s a pity he didn’t join the One Million Star PK Challenge, I think he got chance sia. The rest of them were all really good too which made me feel a little pai seh to sing. In the end, I only sang 1 song which was the last song of the night, Beat It by Michael Jackson. This is my tribute to you Michael. EEEEEE HEEEEE! After Kboxing, it was time for St James! I do not have money to fly all the way to England to visit my beloved Newcastle United’s home ground, St James Park so I guess St James Power Station is the closest I can get to visit the home ground. I used to club often in my Army and Poly days but recently I have not been clubbing at all. This is my first time clubbing in around a year? I’m so zai nan now man …… The feeling of clubbing again was great and I enjoyed it more than those times where I club often. It’s like clubbing for the first time again ha ha. I think I look older now as I passed the 23 year old age limit test with flying colours! No one checked my IC!! (I am above 23 years old by the way so legal)First we went to Dragonfly and listened to some retro music and when the Hokkien song came, we switched over to The Boiler Room. I loved the live band there with professional dancers performing to the latest and classic hits. They were really good and if you do not know the dance you can copy their moves ha ha. Shawn was memorizing all their moves for future use. There was a section where the drag host calls 3 clubbers up on stage to perform something. I think that 2 of the clubbers, one from Japan and another from Philippines were taking drugs man. They were obviously not acting normal and not the drunk type of behaviour. I have not seen someone taking drugs in real life before but I swear their actions are like those I saw in the Harold and Kumar movies. They were acting like babies man living in their own world ha ha. The host realized this and shipped them back to where they came from and replaced them with “normal” people heh.
Overall, I only drank 1 and half bottle of beer, 3 tequilas shots and some vodka sprite. Not enough to make me drunk but enough to make me dance lol. I miss those times when we bought cheap drinks at 7-11 before we club and drink even more while clubbing and get pissed drunk. I will usually lie down at some random area and sleep for some time or go to a drain do a merlion (vomit). Fortunately for me, I have not been robbed by anyone yet lol. Usually, my more sober friends will find me and wake me up. Anyways, overall I had a great time at The Boiler Room and will definitely visit the place again in the future. Post exams celebrations were great and I manage to release all the examination stress within me. Maybe when I work in the future I need to have daily celebrations to release stress lol.
2 more months to my graduation ceremony and work!
IMPORTANT: Today I officially start my healthy exercising lifestyle to lose some weight before graduation in September!! Jogging every other day, sit ups and push ups everyday!!! Food errmmm remain the same for the time being and see if the exercising alone works, if not will cut down on food. :(
(Images Taken From: my iPhone, Gene's digital camera, Wayne's Omnia, KBOX, The Boiler Room)
Last week, I had not one but two post examination celebrations … one right after my paper on Monday, the other on Saturday. It’s been a long time since I had buffet, play board games, karaoke and club and I sure enjoyed every moment of it. The after effects of an increased waistline, sore throat and headache were not too pleasant though heh.
Monday – after vomiting out everything in my head onto the answer sheet in front of me and straining my hand in the process, I handed in my answer sheet, stuffed my pen and pencils into my pencil box and smiled to myself. It’s time to celebrate!! After waiting for everyone to finish their papers, 16 of us headed to Hanabi Japanese Restaurant for a mouth-watering Japanese buffet. =) It’s my first time at Hanabi and I really liked the food there. There were a few cute waitresses there and we had our own function room to enjoy our food in, so that’s a plus too heh. We ordered sashimi, sushi, chawanmushi, octopus thingy, soba, beef thingy, croquettes, shishamos etc etc etc.
As it was an ala carte buffet, we could order as much as we want as many times we want! I think besides trying out everything in front of me, I ate 3 chawanmushis (love it and know how to make it) and 20 over shishamos (love it too)!!! Besides eating, we also talked some cock and took some pictures. There was some forfeit thing going on where the loser has to eat wasabi lol. I had my own forfeit game with Shawn and the loser gets to eat shishamos. I lost but wasn’t feeling sad or anything, I wonder why? =)Out of Hanabi with 5kg gained and over to the Mind Café!
Just like Hanabi, it was also the first time I was at the Mind Café heh. I’ve been to Settlers before though and I think Mind Café is like another Settlers, with the board games, food and all. We ordered some food and games package there but didn’t expect that there will be so much food! There are wedges, fish and chips, various kachang buteh snacks, brownies, ice cream and free flow drinks! I forgot the price but I think it was really cheap considering the all the food provided. We played Taboo, some guess something that is not dirty game, a find a picture game and a bone snatching game. Sorry my memory is bad, forgot all the names.
My favourite game of the night is the find the picture game. We couldn’t finish our food due to the buffet session we just had and gave around half of them to the table beside us ha ha …. spreading the love. There was a cute waitress there too who was friendly and willing to serve (always there to refill my drink). Overall, I think it’s a great place for friends to hang around, talk, play games and eat. Don’t come when you are very full though, waste money! On Thursday, I went to cut my hair for the first time in six months as I didn’t need to leave it long anymore. The reason I didn’t want to cut my hair is because I believe that all my study notes are stored there and if I cut them off, I will forget stuff. Now I can cut off my finger nails and toe nails too! Sorry, I’m a very superstitious guy. I also dyed my hair but it wasn’t the colour I wanted. I wanted something darker as I had to help my dad with some presentation thing. I was a little angry but I like the haircut and the hair stylist was pretty so I forgive her lol. Pretty girls do get away with things I guess, especially when dealing with chee ko peks (perverts) like me. (So my last presentation was not my last after all lol.) I also bought some jeans and watched Transformers alone!! I love watching movies alone!!
What happened on Saturday? Did I sing or dance?
Stay tuned for Part 2 (Saturday Outing) …… Coming Soon on boliaosia.com!!
P.S: Dunno why they like to point at me during group pics ...
(Images Taken From: my iPhone, Lynn Zhi's digital camera, Safra)
On Monday, I had my last exams of my life, which officially marked the end of my days as a student (should be able to pass the exams heh). It was a bittersweet moment for me. I was happy that I would not have to take any exams again, and go through the process of squeezing tons of information into this puny head of mine. However, I’m sure I will miss lots of stuff in school. The thing that I will miss most in school will definitely be rushing group projects together with my group mates. As a marketing student, my poly and Uni days are filled with project deadlines every semester. I don’t remember any subject without a project to complete! Woo hoo! I love doing projects and I hope projects in real life will be as fun, something which I highly doubt heh. I don’t mind working late hours completing project though, erm actually I think it’s kind of fun.
*Sean is a self-confessed project addict. ^_^
Besides projects and the things I mentioned on my “no more exams!!” post, these are some other things I would miss in school.
Still in the graduating mood while waiting for the actual graduating ceremony in September, I made this poem with real songs found in the Nokia Music Store (Singapore) for my Nuffnang-Nokia blogging contest. They really have a massive collection of songs there that I can choose from, which made the composing of my awesome poem much easier.
Going out with my friends later today for my second round of post exams celebration! Kbox buffet (buffet again?!!) and St James here I come!! May take some pictures and post them together with the ones I took on Monday at Hanabi and Mindcafe. This should be the final waistline damaging activity I will be engaging before I start my jogging routine (I realize I keep saying this lol).
Those lucky Nokia Comes with Music handset owners get a whole year of free unlimited music downloads that they can keep forever!! I envy them.
The 15 days of Chinese New Year has ended, no more nice food, no more ang paos no more excuses for eating more food than you usually do or gambling more than usual. Although there are things that I like about Chinese New Year, there are certain things I don't like about it. Here is list of the top 5 things I like and dislike about Chinese New Year.
What I like about Chinese New Year 1) Receiving Ang Paos
Who wouldn't like free money. Even if the amount is big or small, its still free money. Best Ang Paos (most money) are always the ones from parents.
2) Eating Nice Food
Delicious Meals and snacks available everyday 24/7. My mother hardly cooks, so whenever she cooks in Chinese New Year, its a really special occasion. Her steamboats are the best! I also love eating the Ba Kwas my father buy every year.
3) Buying New Clothes
Chinese New Year is the only time of the year I buy new clothes lol. So its really a big thing for me. I'm sure everyone like this also as it gives them an excuse to buy something new. (Even my dog Kimi (above pic) has new clothes =D )
4) Visiting Relatives
If you have recently slimmed down, cut a new hairstyle, became more handsome or beautiful you would love to wear your new clothes to visit your relatives you see only once a year. Praises will be everywhere and you will feel like a superstar.
5) Gambling Time
No Chinese New Year gatherings will be complete without gambling! Be it Mahjong, Dai Dee, Black Jack, Texas Holdem, the young ones will use their newly acquired ang pao money to try to get more and the old one will try to win back their the ang pao money they have given away.
What I don't like about Chinese New Year
1) Trying To get the Ang Paos
At first its easy, just smile give 2 oranges (which your parents bought) and you receive free money. But after doing it again and again, your smile seems faker and more effort is needed in trying look surprised and happy when you receive the ang pao.
2) The after effects of Eating Good Food
Before you realize it, its too late, you have gained so much weight that it will take you around the whole year to lose it, just in time for the next Chinese New Year. When you are younger, the process of losing weight is much easier and faster but as you get older your uncle and auntie body mode kicks in which is much harder to maintain and you will not be able to lose enough weight in time for the next Chinese New Year, thus adding even more weight to the weight you gained. And the cycle continues ... 3) Realizing that the new clothes you bought ain't as nice as you thought
For people like me who only buy clothes once a year then it sucks cause I will have to either wear the sucky clothes or wear my old clothes for the whole year till the next New Year. Yes I still wear clothes out that I bought 10 years ago. (Kimi's clothes are nice though)
4) Visiting Relatives
If you are those who one way or another become less glam than your previous visit, relatives will sharpen their claws and attack you with mean words. Thats when you think if its worth it to make a trip for ang paos. If you have low self esteem its best not to go as some words may scar you for life.
5) Losing your ang pao money because of gambling
When you win you will feel shiok but when you lose then its shitty. You may lose all your ang pao money or even more, making your visits worthless (money wise). If you lose a lot better eat more snacks at the owner's house to recoup some losses. If its your house, good luck to you.
This is my list, okay my 5 likes are also my dislikes depending on the situation he he .. I'm sure others have their own lists of likes and dislikes, such as for married couple they will hate ang paos because they will have to give them instead of receiving them and maybe grandmothers would love gatherings to see all their children and grandchildren. Maybe in the future my list will change too.... Whats yours???
Gong Xi Fa Chai Happy Chinese New Year to you!!! (yes you who is reading this now)
As usual when there is a special occasion, the Wu family will have steamboat. This time there is a new addition, the Toyomi Healthy Grill!
Very easy to use and great for small gatherings I think. Sorry I sua ku but can fry egg also!! Wow. Next time I'm going to try satay and ramlee burger man. But that time should be around May when the next special occasion (father's birthday) comes.
Only bad thing is that my house becomes smelly after eating, made worse by me switching on the air-con ... ooops. This right after cleaning the house for the new year heh.
Yummy
Florence the grilling expert
Disgusting smelly balachan
Peeling prawns for sis for the first time Banana split with Asian sized bananas
Everything tasted great except for the abalone and the sauce which comes with the can. It smells like fart and made the steamboat soup smell like fart, but the food still nice to eat though. I think its because someone gave the abalone to my mother which was bought from Thailand. I wonder where the fart smell comes from. As usual we will be eating steamboat with the same soup plus extra ingredients for the next few days lol.
Don't think I will be going visiting this year, I think Ang Paos will be very little cause of the recession shit. Ang Paos from father and mother would be enough for me. Today's schedule would be going to the temple and turf club!
