GONG XI FA CAI!!

Happy Chinese New Year to all!! May the year of the boar reap in lots and lots of joyous moments, prosperity and happiness! To the ladies, success in losing weight; as of the guys, errr...virility? haha!

Well, first morning of CNY and I am blogging! The first 'sweetness' which entered my mouth was plain water, followed by Hot Mocha. =D unlike the last CNY I had -which was 2 years back, sweetness was really sweet-it was Toblerone!- Yet, this morning, that was the first thing that I thought of taking. Just plain water. Perhaps I was really dehydrated from last night.

Eve started off with home internet-ing with me. Saw the family over webcam and chatted for a bit. After which, I was just being 'around' the room/house until late evening. I went over to what I would say as my very first family in Cardiff. These bunch of warm people made me melt into place when I first arrived. So it really was absolutely gratifying to have been able to have the reunion dinner with them - alongside with 10++ other people!

We had steamboat. Alan made the Yee Sang which was absolutely terrific! The effort put it was simply...*wow*. Ah, and I never fail to be impressed with his cooking skills. I know he's terribly GOOD, and yet, everytime he cooks, I can still add up to that greatness! The way he slices his way through the ingredients, the ideas on the sauce, the meticulous preparation, boiling down to the very importance (according to him - and I do agree) of presentation. Oh, and let me mention about the Peanut Cookies (which is traditionally present for CNY) that he baked. They were AWESOME!!! When you pop one into your mouth, the first thing that striked me was, is this cookie bought?...Then, I came to realise that this has the 'home-baked' feeling and that's too good to be bought! After savouring the cookie, I asked about the producer - and ironically, surprise, surprise! Not surprisingly, Alan was the masterchef behind them. And I must say, without LeeNa and Caroline, I wonder what would have been! They were preparing food non-stop, cutting, slicing, boiling, washing up....hats-off to them!

The house was full with people, some I know from previous acquaintance, and some whom I just met. I felt that they were all one league above me. Most of them were final year medical students (5 years course wehh!!), or final year in their respective courses, and a few were already working (same age, but 3 year courses people). It was good to talk to them. I really do hold high regards for this group of people. Frankly, I don't really see these people in my 'generation'. But then again, I am quite antisocial - unlike WK! haha. (WK, are you reading this?) But ah, this WK, he rarely introduce any of his friends who come by the house to the rest of the house. Ah well, nvm that- Back to original alignment; it was really really terrific to be able to talk to them and hear them out from a different perspective. Talkative yet casual, easy-going and being smartie-pants, brilliant peeps with a zest for life, and charming too~! People who I'd look up to. It's these kinda of occasion and people I meet which lifts my spirit up again, boosting confidence and having a goal towards life all over again. Like a booster dose in immunization.

Upon arriving home, my housemates were doing a steamboat makan (meal) as well! At past midnight! Apparently, that was their dinner and they had it late because they were waiting for WK, who had an event going on. I thought that they ate little, but it was most probably because of the time. The event that WK had to oversee was Cardiff FOD (Malaysian Night). All in all, it was a good evening. I would have loved it to be stretched longer, but I have an exam on Monday. Hopefully, piggy's luck will pull me through..and pull me high.

And so, the start of CNY - saw good tidings happening, surprised by newly formed relationships, and saw breaking of some, met great people and had good laughs. Oh, and Sarawak people are quite a nice bunch. =). The handfuls that I've met thus far. *chuckles*

KUNG HEI FATT CHOY!
KEONG HEE HUAT CHAI!
GONG XI FA CAI!

...TO EVERYONE!