January 28, 2006
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The Chinese New Year Eve reunion dinner was a little different this year. My dear old maternal grandmother, having slaved the whole day in the kitchen, ordered us to the dining table at six pm. It did not matter that my eldest uncle and his family had not arrived yet. She had repeatedly stressed that she wanted us all to tuck in at six pm. They were actually doing their spring cleaning in the afternoon and were unable to finish even when they made their way over here. Anyway, we moved in on the sumptuous spread, reluctance worn down by the fragrance emanated.
They arrived twenty minutes past six, by which my second uncle already had his fill and I devouring the last morsels of my meal. It was selfish of my eldest uncle to have been so late. Some people just never change, year after year. I believe that biao ge (I only have one biao ge) would never have been late if he was not at home and probably waited for his parents out of respect. Speaking of him, he was my childhood playmate and I have fond memories of my childhood with him at this very house. Pity those days are long gone and probably never to be recaptured again.
I spent the rest of the night half-asleep and playing cards (ishing?. Four hours whizzed past just like that and everyone else departed. That has been the case for the few couple of years or so, nobody to keep my grandmother company. Ever since my youngest cousin reached her teens, there has been hardly anyone staying over to keep her company when my uncle’s wife is not around. To make matters worse, she is unable to travel overseas together with my second uncle and his wife (who are childless) when they return to her homeland, Thailand, over the Chinese New Year period. I wonder how she is coping with this, I must speak to her about this one of these days.
Bedtime could not have come fast enough and I missed the countdown as expected. Ten hours of sleep were followed by migraine and a slight fever
. It is only twenty minutes after noon, I hope I survive the rest of today.
