No CNY Celebration

As Nai Nai's passing was just last month, we won't be celebrating this CNY. That said, we won't be going back to Dad's hometown. In fact, I don't think we'll ever go back to celebrate CNY anymore, now that both Yeh Yeh & Nai Nai are no longer here.

For the first time in my entire life, I'm witnessing CNY here in KL. It's really quiet, and there's nothing much to do. Even most of the shops are closed for the celebration. Add to the fact that we're still in the mourning period, we won't be doing any visiting. Not that we are 'pantang' about it, more like, other people will 'pantang' that we will bring bad luck to them.

It's really awkward spending CNY away from Dad's hometown. Usually we would go back on CNY eve. We would bunked in my grandparents' house. We would help Yeh Yeh set up the table for prayers outside the house compound. We would have dinner at home - The main table for the elders, the smaller table for the children (I'm still considered in that category. Heh!). Later that night, the rest of the relatives would come over. To chit chat, to watch tv, to feast on the CNY goodies, to gamble. The younger ones would play with fireworks. It would be oh so noisy there. Once when it was the right time to welcome the God, Yeh Yeh would lead the prayers. We would then light up the firecrackers. Neighbours would also light up theirs. There would be no chance for peaceful sleep at that time. We would then resume to gamble and stay up till as late as we could.

On the first day of CNY, we would all dress up. We would begin our greetings to everyone, and receive angpows. We would be vegetarian for the day. We would visit our relatives' houses and munch a lot of CNY goodies. Usually we would be done by about 3-4pm, go back to my grandparents' place to rest and freshen up. Later that night, we would have dinner at home, then head towards an aunt's place for open house. We would depart on the second day, come back to KL and spend CNY with relatives from Mum's side.

I will really miss all that. If only I can turn back the clock, or able to make my grandparents live much longer. But I know I can't, and that CNY will never be the same again. All I can do, is to try to relive the celebration within my family, spend lots of time with them. I just realize I would have to start giving out angpows for the next CNY. *Gasp*

Oh well, happy CNY, everyone. Gong xi, gong xi!!

My Plant's On MTV!

You read it right. My grass plant, Grace is on MTV. "Which MTV?", you say? The Cha Cha Guo Xin Nian one laaa... "Cha Cha" pronounced like the one in Cha Cha Dance. "One, two, cha cha cha".

Back to the topic, the MTV version was released yesterday at 3.28pm. Have you seen it? There's the small and large versions, take your pick. You can see all the singers' profile pictures. I had initially submitted my profile picture, but Lin Peh thought that Grace would look cuter. You're right, Lin Peh. Thank you so much! *smile*

Unfortunately, Grace did not live long enough to witness her fame. Fungus killed her after nearly 2 months. I have to be blamed. I soaked her in the 'jacuzzi' for too long and gave her no sunlight. By the time I realized the existence of the white patches all over her head, it was already too late. *cries*

So go watch the MTV. A lot of leng luis and leng chais pictures there. *grin*

On another note, I am on leave today. Mum hasn't been feeling well lately, and we are to have our reunion dinner tonight, coz Sis will be going to Hong Kong to celebrate CNY with her bf and his family. It's gonna be her first time celebrating CNY HK-style. Apparently, they follow a superstitious whereby no one is to take shower on the first day of CNY. How absurd! For someone like me who takes shower at least twice in a day, I definitely can't take it. *lol*

Anyway, Mum underwent a minor surgery early this week and was advised to rest. I decided to stay home and help her out in the kitchen. She became the instructor, and I did the preparation for her. We started preparing some time before lunch. All was well, we were done with the main dishes. Until when I was asked to grate some carrots for the 'yee sang'. So clever of me, I accidentally grated off a part of the skin off my right thumb. It was terrible (for me la!). It bled non stop. It hurts a lot! I tried cleaning the wound, and wanted to go to my room to get a plaster. I managed to get it bandaged, but then I started feeling a bit whoozy. I don't know if it was because of the sight of the blood and the many blood-stained tissues, or it's like how people say that if underweighted people donate blood, they will faint. I felt really blur. I thought, "Ok, I need some vitamins". I grabbed a cup from the kitchen. While I tried to walk towards the fridge to get some juice, my vision gotten even blurer, I couldn't see where I was walking. I nearly stumbled a few times. I managed to get the juice and walk towards the living room to sit for a while. Drank a bit, rested a bit, then finally I got back my senses. I'm really not joking nor exagerrating about this. Although I have several mishaps in the kitchen before especially while I was studying in Sheffield, I never had this kind of after-effects. Please tell me there's nothing wrong about this.

It finally stopped bleeding after nearly 2 hours. I re-bandaged my finger. Before that, it looked like this.

My poor finger

*Sighz* So painful. Oh.. Inspector's here already for the dinner. Will continue later.

Bloggers' Cha Cha Guo Xin Nian

Am really late in this.. But hey, did you check out the launch of the Cha Cha Guo Xin Nian premiere yesterday? It's all over the Malaysian blogosphere, how can you miss it?

It's really good! Just like the White Christmas project, the singers are all from different parts of the country, if not the world. There's a couple of auspicious greetings in the beginning, some in English, some in different Chinese dialects. It really brings out the CNY mood, especially the firecrackers and the lion dance music at the background. Not forgetting, the singers are all really great sports. Most of us can't read Chinese characters, so we had to make do with the 'han ying pin yin' translations. Then again, hey, it turned out great! Like I've said yesterday, it's much, much, much more better than White Christmas.

What are you waiting for? Go listen here or here. Go visit 5xMom, Allison, Cocka-Doodle, Desmond9394, GB Yeow, Helen & her husband, John Ong, JoMel, King's Wife, KL Podcast, Lin Peh, LP, May, Moonlady, Pin Pin, Simmie Lang, Thai Boxing Girl, Wingz & Zara's mum. Tell them you love their voices. Tell them you want to hear them sing again. Also gotta give credits to Wennie for translating the lyrics for us.

Do watch out for the premiere of the MTV version this Thursday, yah. I'm pretty excited about it myself. Kudos to Lin Peh for the fantastic production!!

Gong Xi Gong Xi Premieres

Got the e-mail from Lin Peh a bit late today.

Bloggers' Cha Cha Guo Xin Nian premieres will be out today and Thursday. Keep an eye on the following dates & times :-

Jan 23 (today), 10.28 am ("Yat Teng Yi Fat!") - Cha Cha Guo Xin Nian

Jan 26 (Thursday), 3.28 pm - MTV version of Cha Cha Guo Xin Nian

Don't play play, got MTV version somemore. Good enough for Desmond Wong to sell?

Since I usually have team meetings at 10.30am every Mondays, looks like I'll have to miss the launch of the World Premiere. *sob* But do keep watch on this blog, or better still, go straight to the launch. Download it. Listen to it. Love it or hate it - Give us your feedbacks. I personally feel that it's much, much more better than White Christmas. But hey, you be the judge. Who knows, if this time's response is really good, maybe Lin Peh will produce another one for Valentine's Day. *smile*

So, remember... 10.28 am later!! 17 more minutes to the World Premiere!!

Thank You, Blood Donors

Almost 2 weeks ago, I had, on behalf of a friend, asked for blood donors.

Found out that it was her father that needed those blood. She texted me last night, mentioned that her father is recovering now.

So, on behalf of my friend, thank you to all of you who have donated your blood. It really means a lot to her and her family. Thank you so much!

Come Sing Gong Xi Gong Xi!

It's already been 12 days since the New Year began. It also means I've already been having the sore throat for 12 miserable days!!! Slight fever, the sniffles, coughs and all too. That's how my first day of 2006 was - Fell sick. Ughhhh!!!

I've been drowning myself with packets of Strepsils at least 1 in every 2 hours. I've been diligently downing honey every morning, although I heard that honey is actually very heaty (True ah???). But you know what, sore throat or not, I'm still gonna lend my voice for the 2nd Sing Song Project which actually starts today. Have you already heard the Christmas song we all sang last month? So? Join la.. It's really, really fun!! Whether you're Malaysian Idol standard ke, bathroom singer ke, come join la. It doesn't matter! If it does, I wouldn't be singing "Gong Xi Gong Xi" with my croaky voice. You can't read Chinese characters? Hey, me too! The least you can do is to sing only 2 lines ==>

"Gong xi, gong xi, gong xi ni ya
Gong xi, gong xi, gong xi ni"

4 words only. Can laaa.. Besides you can help Desmond Wong, he needs some cash. *lol*

So head over to Lin Peh's blog and sing laa.. Please help drown my voice... Puhleeeeezeeeeeeee...

Urgent : AB Blood Donor Needed

A friend's relative is in need of AB blood urgently. If you have AB blood, or you know anyone of that blood type, and if you are willing to donate your blood to the patient, please see the details as below :

Date : 9th January 2006 (Monday)
Time : Morning (8 am - 9am)
Hospital : Blood Donation Centre, 5th Floor, Subang Jaya Medical Centre
Tel No. : 03-56341212

If you are interested and wish to know the name of the patient, kindly e-mail me at lilpatchee@gmail.com.

I would love to donate, unfortunately, I do not know my blood type (Yeah,you can say I'm pretty much ignorant in that sense). Even so, I'm either a B or an O, definitely not AB. And the sad thing is, no matter what blood type I belong to, I definitely do not qualify to become a blood donor. It's coz I'm waaaaaaaaaaaay underweight. All I can do now is to ask around. So, please help my friend.

Thank you very much!!

Nai Nai, I Miss You

A very belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone! Thank you for your kind greetings and may you have a lovely new year!!

It had been a sad Christmas and a mellow New Year for me. I won't be celebrating Chinese New Year this year as well.. Nai Nai (Dad's mum) passed away on Christmas Eve at the age of 87. It was a great shock to us, we thought she would live much more longer.

I was still sleeping when Nyi Pak (second uncle in Hakka) rang us at 6 am. I answered the call, was ready to sound whoever the person was over the other line. But as soon as I realized it was him, I got worried. Why would he want to call us at 6 o'clock in the morning?? What happened?? Nyi Pak asked if Dad was already awake. I didn't know if he was, I found out later he had already gone to the temple. Then he said, "Don't panic, ok? Po po passed away". I immediately got up and threw him all the questions - Why? What? When? How?. I couldn't sleep afterwards. I woke Mum & Sis, and waited until Dad got back from the temple.

We packed and immediately left for Dad's hometown before 8am. We reached almost 3 hours later. Went into the room to see Nai Nai. She was already cleaned and dressed. Dad put on the last button. She was laid into the coffin. She was sleeping so peacefully, so serene.. We offered prayers and got on to do whatever was necessary for the funeral. We folded paper money throughout the weekend. The funeral started on the next Monday and she was buried on Wednesday.

Man Ku (Dad's youngest sister) told us that about 2 weeks ago, Nai Nai told her that she wanted to die the way her own father did. Nai Nai had always feared death, especially when Yeh Yeh passed away 2 years ago, he really suffered a lot. Nai Nai told that her father asked to go to the bathroom to urinate. After doing so, while still sitting, he took his last breath. He went peacefully. Nai Nai wanted to die in peace. She didn't want any of her children arguing with each other the way most of them did when Yeh Yeh died.

Man Ku had also told us that recently, she was cutting Nai Nai's fingernails. Somehow, she accidentally cut the flesh and it bled non stop. For Man Ku, it was a bad omen. It meant that Nai Nai was going to die. She tried to shake the thought off her mind. She also said that Nai Nai had been frequently asking the maid for the time, like every half an hour. The maid told us that 2 days before, Nai Nai told her "Ada dua hari lagi". The maid thought Nai Nai meant 2 more days till Christmas, so she didn't ask any questions. Now we knew what she meant - 2 more days till her final day..

She died the way she wanted. At 5.45 am on Christmas Eve. The maid was the only one who, unknowingly, saw her took her last breath. No yelling against each other amongst the children. No more fighting for her remaining money. Dad did not need to be the middle person between the fighting siblings anymore. The house was much quieter than usual. On the 7th day prayers, Dad felt Nai Nai's spirit while he was sleeping. She touched him on the chest twice...

I miss her.. I had initially planned for her to witness my wedding, to sit her on the main table with us. Now that she's gone, I hope Yeh Yeh and Nai Nai's spirits would still be there with us. All Dad's siblings have scattered around away from their hometown. There's no more reason for us to go back, to visit my grandparents.. I miss them..

Rest in peace, Nai Nai.. I love you..