CNY celebrations...

Finally, CNY arrived and what a day I had! Yipee! I get to dress up with new clothes! [ Incidentally I don't really spend on new clothes but the wife had sorta "pressured" me into getting at least a new shirt which I did, of course! Wouldn't want to cross the live-in woman, ok? Life can be terrifying without speaking for days and no food! ha..ha... ] As usual, morning meant a visit to grandpa's place. As the family arrived at grandpa's place, we missed the lion dance performance by 10 minutes! Well, this tradition of having lion dance performance at the house is a yearly affair. Anyway, Gramps looked great though quite saddened by the fact that not all of his children were around for CNY celebrations this year. I guess, it saddens me too in a way as I did not get to meet all my uncles and aunties. Afterall, we are getting older each year and meeting up each other can be quite difficult at times. It's a fact that CNY season brings us closer together as family and relatives. While at Gramps place, I looked around me and noted that SLing and I have aged quite a bit while our children and my uncle's children have grown up too. It is so nice to see these young lives enjoying each others company and having a great time together.
Gramps is a patient but a very direct person. Somehow, I have found favour in his eyes in many ways. As I reminisced my childhood days, Gramps would always give us ice-cream whenever he is back from his usual rounds at the fringe of Melaka town. Yeah, Gramps was an ice-cream seller. He has a heart of gold when it comes to my family. He treats us all fairly and he was good to my mom and dad. Even now, he is the one who would always pass some of the mangoes [ btw, the mangoes tasted very good! ] from the front of the house to me through my mom. Anyway, he still looks good because he exercised a lot through tai chi exercise moves. Suffice to say that he is a good man. Never a difficult person but always a calm figure in the family. Anyway, after paying my respects to him, my family moved on to my mom's best friend, Ee Chu Abok or Auntie Ee Chu's house. Well, I have known Uncle and Ee Chu Abok all my life as we used to stay at their place when we were young. When dad was a young mechanic and we didn't have a house of our own , we shared the same rented house with this family. So, over the years, we've become more than friends ~ we have become close family friends. This family was the first of our many extended family members. Uncle earns a living by taking photographs for personal capacity and also, for our local Chinese dailies. Auntie Ee Chu earns a living by preparing Chinese grape and rice wine concoction in bottles. This stuff is usually used for ladies confinement beverages. I remembered that I first learn about sharing meal from this family [ incidentally, they have 4 children ] and I'll never forget the good values these two oldies taught me during my youngers days. Things like what it meant to enjoy each scrap of rice and the simple meal laid out on the table, giving thanks to mom & dad for bring food home, sharing a meal in good times and bad times and thankfulness. Yes, my family was poor at that time but we shared every meals and celebrate every ocassions with this family and vice-versa. They have been a good cheer to my mom and dad. Now that they are old, I still have utmost respect for these old folks. They are really nice people and I am privileged to be able to visit them year after year. I guess, I am old fashioned in that way. Like I said many times, I try to teach my children the same values - respect for the elderly [ that includes manners in speech,thought and deeds ] cherish good memories and always be thankful with what you have!~ I guess, there is still a lot of work to be done for this younger generation who seemed to have conveniently forgotten our respectful ways. Anyway, it's CNY~ it's fashion week and food week! Happy tucking in the food and gain some weight!~ Cheers to your heart!~