Day 1 of CNY

This year, in preparation for the new year, I did the following in addition to the usual stuff of buying new clothes and shoes:

1) Dyed my hair in a tinge of black/purple.

2) Had my toenails done.

3) Had my fingernails done.

I can see a few heads shaking already. Haha, let me explain. They are so red because it's CNY!

Must haves for the new year would include a reunion meal of some sort. Traditionally, it would be a reunion dinner on the eve of the new year at the patriarch's house. This year, we tried something different - we had reunion lunch on the first day of the new year at a vegetarian restaurant. No, it's not weird.

They even served lou sang!

Apparently, the higher you toss the ingredients in the dish, the better your year would be. You can imagine the competition to 'pull' the things upwards... just hilarious!

And if you think vegetarian food is disgusting, think again.

Don't you think it looks delicious? The restaurant we went to uses beans in their cooking, not the usual flour stuff you'd get at the local mixed rice vegetarian places. This place, on the other hand, uses mainly organic produce and keeps oil to the minimum. It was interesting how they managed to make the food taste like the real thing - my aunts were wondering what type of fish they were eating!

Oh, and I thought this looked cute:

After all the yapping and laughing, it was picture-capturing time! Let me use this opportunity to introduce my dad's side to you:

The two female Voons of this generation - She Ying and Shi Jing.

Anti-clockwise, from bottom left: Li'l bro, Mum, Dad, dad's first younger sis, myself and dad's second younger sis.

The whole family (almost):
Front row, left to right: Samantha Voon (my only Voon cousin sis, Adrienne Voon (dad's first younger sis), Alicia Voon (dad's second younger sis), Mum, Aunty Siew Choo (uncle's wife).

Back row, left to right: Myself, Li'l bro, Dad, Nicholas Lee (Alicia's son), Aaron Lee (Alicia's husband), Uncle Lett (dad's younger bro), Samuel Voon (my only Voon cousin bro).

More to come tomorrow!

Imagine this post in red

It is scorching hot. The air is humid and all you feel like doing is sit in front of the black box with your feet up. All doors are closed, curtains drawn. The fan is turning at a faster speed than usual. While channel surfing Astro, you browse the bottles and containers of goodies on the coffee table. Hm, should you eat the prawn cracker? Or maybe the chicken floss? Nah, you'll have the mandarin orange. No, no, the groundnuts would be better. But those are addictive! Hm, the sunflower seeds or kuacis? Same addictiveness...

Gah! Okay, maybe no food. Drinks, maybe? Shandy? Or maybe some juice? Yea, juice would be good. We'll leave the Shandy for later in the evening over a card game of Dai Di or mahjong.

Oh dear, I hear the sound of a car engine. Are they here already? Haha.. yes, more pocket money! But before they give any to me, I would have to go through a series of traditional questions..

1) So, back for good or still going back there ar?
2) Finish studying already ah? Still going to study somemore or not ar?
3) How old are you this year ha? Oh, big girl already lor!
4) So when is your turn to tie the knot ar?

And I'm sure there will be other questions as well, just let me get through the first two days and I'll put more questions up here.. haha..

In the meantime, I'd like to take this opportunity to wish all my family and friends in KL, Langkawi, Penang, Temerloh, Mentakab, Kota Bharu, KK, Kuching, Tanjung Malim, Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Sunshine Coast, Auckland, Christchurch, Bristol, Ireland, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and New York a HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR! Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Meng Cheng's wedding

To be honest, this is seriously overdue and I totally blame the photographer and the bride's mum.... hahahaha... Okay, I think for a post like this, pictures speak louder than words so be prepared for a whopper of them...




Ken Lie and her husband were there, too! I think the last time I saw her would be our Grade 8 theory exam in MBS. Gosh! That was super long ago!


Of course, how can we not have a picture of my happy aunt!


Here are my oldest cousin and cousin brother-in-law, Pei Shen and 'Rabbit' Kor Kor...


My dad congratulating the newly-weds...



Some relatives who were present included mum's pretty Seremban cousin, Wan Mei and her daughter...




YYYAAAMMMMMMMMM SSSSEEEEEEEEENNNNGGGG!!!!



From the left, Hoi Ying, Hoi Ching and Li Bin are the children of two of mum's cousins. Also, they all studied at our Centre so they are not only my second cousins, they are also my students!


This is mum's cousin Chu Yuan and if you Google her name, you'd find out a few things about her...


And on the left is Lik Shan, Chu Yuan's younger brother. He was the only other relative (and the only one who spoke Hakka) in Sydney. The leng lui is Ting Ting, also my second cousin...


And now, for a family portrait:


How can we forget the traditional tea ceremony? Here's mum and I with the lucky girl before the ceremony proper:


Kau fu, yam cha...




Wahahaha... super yummy suckling!!!





To cap off the whole thing, they went to Putrajaya to snap a few panaromic shots. I tagged along because I wanted a shot with my cousin as well!


Wishing the new couple a blissful marriage! Gong Xi!

Time to move on

From loud wails and piercing screams, they have matured into confident individuals. They look out for each other and form their own little gangs. Some have extremely neat and beautiful handwriting, some are expressive in their painting. Some have good manners yet some would not open their mouths no matter how much you coax them.

As they take turns to put on the blue, red and trademark yellow, I glow with pride. How did we manage to do it? Year in, year out we face different groups. With these groups come different personalities and with these, different challenges.

Despite the complaints, we know that we will miss them. We definitely will. The good, the not so good and the in between. We will always remember all of you for you make it all worthwhile.

To the Class of 2008, taska & tadika kembangsari wish you all the best! We are so proud of you!

Two decades and a half

It was a day filled with surprises. Actually, it all started even from the day before. It was nothing extravagant like what Jenny had (I think she had a total of 4 cakes or something like that) but I was touched nevertheless.

There were calls, both local and international. There were e-cards and e-wishes in my e-mail boxes and on Facebook. Oops, I think I missed something. One surprise arrived a week early actually. I received a card at work affixed with an Australian stamp. Squeel! Birthday card from my darlings in Sydney! A day after the card arrived, a parcel arrived. Opened it and lo and behold, a product [red] iPod nano with my name engraved! Woohoo! How can I not love you guys?

Okay, continuing from where I left off, there were SMSes from close friends and some I've not seen in ages (how the hell did you guys get my number?). I went to bed pretty late because of some calls that came in at midnight to remind me that I'm not a young girl anymore.

Then on the day, I was caught off-guard by a fellow staff member who gave me a big hug and a box of candles beautifully wrapped up in green and gold. Other staff followed suit with wishes and hugs.

But the best parts were these:

A personalised handmade card from all staff members. I was truly surprised and not to mention happy!

And also, the children coming up to me to hug and wish me happy birthday.

To everyone of you, thank you.


P/S: Happy birthday to Mummy and li'l bro!

New members of the family

Now, this post should have been right after my Kiwi posts but somehow, I didn't get round to it. I didn't have enough photos to showcase their cuteness!

There are two new additions to our Epping home. A boy and a girl. Introducing...


... Dandelion...


... and Hazel...

How do we differentiate them? Well, Dandelion's the female with long girly eyelashes and a smaller, more refined face. She also has a beautiful coat of silver-grey fur. Hazel is brownish and has a distinctive white spot on his forehead.

They are siblings and they do really look out for each other. It feels all warm and fuzzy everytime I see them help clean each other's fur. Sometimes, Hazel, being the older brother, helps Dande with scratching the back of her head. When it's cold, they huddle together and curl up into a ball of fur. Haha...

Dande is the one with the bigger appetite. She'll just eat whatever you give to her. She is also the one who loves running around more than Hazel. Oh, and if you try to pick her up, be warned - she'll try her hardest to get out of your grip as quickly as possible. For you, it would be painful with her long and sharp nails. Hazel is tamer in that sense.

And, for some reason, they both love my room! They go under my bed and when I'm not looking, into my wardrobe! Below are some pics of their adventures around the house:




When Justin, Xin Wen, Jona and Chris came to visit, the two of them were so curious. They went right up to Chris to smell his jeans!



Of course, with them looking so cute and photogenic, who wouldn't want to have pictures taken with them?

Because of you...

... there was laughter everytime you were around...


... I'd have a free drink when I am in the city...


... there was someone to talk 'Desa' stuff with...


.. I have someone to mamak with when I go back to Temerloh...


... I listened to more Hokkien...


... I could continue dancing, performing and networking...


... there was a Stingray connection in Sydney...


... I had someone to walk everywhere and eat stuff with...


... life in DLC wasn't so boring...

... and for all of you whom I did not post photos of, I will definitely meet up with you guys when you come back to KL.

Sydney was great because of you! Muaks!