HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR (RAT) 2008!
GONG XI FA CAI! SING NIAN KHUAI LE!
NIAN NIAN YOU YUE, WAN SHUI RUE YI!
It's chinese new year again! Same shit different year right? As usual it's hoped that (like every other year) things will be much better than the outgoing one. I, like everyone else, hope for the same thing for myself and my family.
Well this year it's pretty much going to be different, not by chance but by planning on my part. I heard it somewhere and it's stuck permanently in my head for some time now. "If it is to be, it's up to me!" Sound catchy? Well this year, besides finally moving into my own apartment (bought, not rented), I'm finally taking the crucial step to start my MBA program with the Malaysian Institute of Management (MIM) which offers its MBA program in conjunction with the University of Hertfordshire, UK. Before this I was contemplating between one from a local university college, the University of East London, RMIT University and this one but finally settled for this program because of it's catch phrase, "100% assignment based!" I was sold!
So, I'm going back to the classroom almost 9 years after I graduated from uni with my bachelor's degree. I reckon the time was right and if it ain't now, I don't know when is. We'll always be busy with this and that and there always will be something important coming up that tends to 'steal' your time away from pursuing your dreams and I thought to myself, if I made this my priority, then maybe I'd be busy with this instead of the small things which are both NOT important and NOT urgent.
I know this year is not going to be easy, a 1k a month mortgage and a self sponsored 30k MBA program as well as payments on the car loan, groceries, traveling, income tax, provident fund, insurance etc. I can say that I'm pretty much 'tied-down' for the year or for 2 years at least. (The MBA program runs for 2 years)
About Chinese New Year... the whole week leading to cny was really fun cos I was in Penang since the beginning of the month. Normally I don't enjoy the grind of cny. To me every single year, like the year before is the same thing over and over. Since Kevin went to Abu Dhabi earlier last month, I had wanted to take over his flight ticket to Sarawak to have a CNY with a difference, far away from the familiar routine I go through every year but too bad his ticket was for 20 days and I only could take off max 10 days from work.
As with the 'what ifs', a vacation somewhere far would be a nice change, I reckon. Chinese new year to me is like this, the night before cny, we will all gather in my uncle's place, my dad's eldest brother. The reunion dinner dishes has been the same every single year since I was a little kiddo. Green curry, my fav lor bak, some veggies, kiam chai boey soup, tu tor th'ng soup
Then there's the 1st day visiting relatives routine. Only I think this year is abit different in a sense that, most of us (my cousins and i in our generation) driving from one relative's house to another in black MPVs and V6ers. This year there's a fully tinted black Toyota Harrier, brand new black Toyota Wish, a black Honda Stream, then there's my dad's silver Hyundai Sonata, uncle Tommy's Waja, uncle Richard's black Wira and uncle Johnny's Gen2. If you had seen our convoy rollin' up and down the northern part of Penang on CNY I reckon you'd say it was like something out of a Mafia movie.
This year was particularly hot. I remember sweating like a pig in my new Valentino short sleeve shirt. That, was made worst by long lost cousins and uncles offering you Carlbergs and red wine at 12 in the pm out in the porch of some long lost uncle or auntie's semi detatched house.
That aside, all the ang pows made it all worth the effort.Almost a hundred bucks for a few hours of visiting, how's that for a profit. Hehe... Anyway, all that red packet and money comes with a message attached. And it reads clearly "THIS YEAR IS THE LAST YEAR YOU'RE GONNA GET ONE FROM ME!" and guess what? I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get another one next year! WAHAHAHA!
It's like this when it comes to red packets during chinese new year. When you're not married yet u get as many as you want as often as you want. When you get hitched, everyone comes to your big day and gives you a darn big packet for being the king of the day, everyone remembers you as being officially MARRIED! Then guess what? You get to give their kids when you go on your cny rounds once a year. But you get glitch back. Nada, Zero...
The strategy for getting back what you give out every year? Make babies! Make many and make em fast! Then when you got one to go around on the first day of cny to show off, you automatically get back 1 for every 1, 2, 3, 4 or as many as 6-10 if you're unlucky to meet some relative with that many children. Or if you feel broke for the year, you could always give a silly excuse like you in-law's cat died so you only can give out mandarin oranges this year. How many mandarin oranges can you give out until someone finds out that you're a cheapo broke dude? You might get banned from reunions after that.
Alright, this is the end of the posting. I don't want friends complaining I write long grandfather stories. Till next time!
