Christmas + New Year Update

In which I do a long, overdue, underdone update on what I’ve been doing for the past one month.

December was a very hectic month for me. Between CF and work, I had to worry about making sure the money got to the right people (last minute notices for the win!), Christmas preparations and a employee review at work. Stress? What stress???

I’m glad it’s passed, and have a much clearer head for 2008. Unlike the hecticness that I faced this time last year, it’s been a far quieter New Year this year. What’s ahead is interesting, but I’m going to take things slowly, one day at a time. It really feels like a New Year this time around, not a continuation of the same old same old like last year.

So, what happened in the last month of CF? I’ll start from yesterday and move backwards till Christmas.

New Year was… Sleep inducing.

New Year’s Day started off very sleepily. I mean it, cause I got to bed at only 4am in the morning (or thereabouts). I could not really sleep before that, but was driven to bed by exhaustion. Woke up at 7+ cause my alarm was ringing, switched it off, and then headed back to bed. Got up for a few hours at 9, checked the news for work a bit, then went back to bed around 1. Got woken up with a few random calls that made me very cranky, so I was very cold towards my mother when she told me to wake up to go for lunch at my grandmother’s house.

My brother and I made it to my grandmother’s house about half an hour after my parents arrived, and as such we were among the last to eat. I didn’t mind it, the food was good and being with family is never a bad thing. After that, we adjourned for a bit of gambling (family tradition as long as I can remember; gambling season is from Christmas Day till end of CNY whenever we have family gatherings). My parents cannot be Bankers… they keep losing. :p

It was also at this point that I cursed for the first time during New Year. I reacted to some comments made during the game with a laughing, “What the heck?” and my dad, for some reason got annoyed with it. He told me to watch my mouth, which usually meant that he thought I was cursing. After I did it the third time, he slapped my knee hard without warning. My immediate response (which he did not hear) was to say, “Go die,” under my breath, mainly because I was shocked. The second response was for my leg to kick him, but because it was tucked securely by me sitting cross-legged, it made me stop. While I did tone down for the rest of the game, it was not a “Yes-daddy-I’ll-listen-to-you-and-shut-up” reaction, but rather me being surprised that I had cursed him so easily. Even better that he did not hear it. And best of all, I don’t regret it.

It was liberating in that sense. The slap stung, but I knew within that I had won a victory for myself. I no longer had the fear of them. Not of what they could do physically, nor emotionally. I can make it. Last year’s tears hopefully means that I can stand up for myself without needing crutches. He would no longer break me emotionally and through fear.

That night was just a normal night. Instead of heading out to eat dinner, we made our own dinners, so mom didn’t really have to clean up anything. Except that lazy man’s mess. He can scold us for not washing his plates, but he will not wash his own. -_-” Bloody monkey.

New Year’s Eve was exhausting.

Came back from the Malacca family trip on that day. It was a rather usual chaotic trip. We started the day with breakfast at the A’Famosa Water World (where we had been staying), and then we all went for the Animal World safari. This was one of the sadder parts of the trips for me. Seeing the way the animals performed and their conditions made me feel hypocritical. While I enjoyed some of the performances, most of them left me feeling angry at their conditions. Should animals be made to perform tricks? Especially like standing on their hind legs, on chairs on their hind legs, playing football? The elephants made me feel sad, but it was the tigers that moved me the most. For some reason, most of them looked… drugged.

After the Animal World safari (I have to admit that I enjoyed watching the baby chickens running around and the fish feeding) we headed back to the bungalows, packed up, and then went to Malacca town to have lunch. As usual, there was a conflict about where to eat (the driver leading the pack brought us to one of the most jam-packed parts of town during lunch hour) which pissed my dad off, and so we ended up going back to Jonker Street to have lunch. I also picked up some earrings (5 for RM 10! Cheap wei!) and a bokken for RM10. It’s brown and has a dragon on it. :p

We left Malacca town not long after. Despite us being the last to hit the Alor Gajah toll booths, AND a 10-minute nap for dad at a rest stop, we still made it a good hour or so before everyone else. Most of them reached our house around 8 pm. We were home by seven. Finished unpacking by seven thirty. Then I went out to join the IRC-ian Countdown party.

That part of the evening passed in a blur for me, but I was grateful for it. I met old friends, connected with new acquaintances, and got a bit freaked by a man who simply came off the street to partake of our food. The party was being held at the playground near Deru’s place and mine, so it was out in the open. We let the man join us, and he sat there for nearly an hour or so eating and drinking. After some time, there was a man who walked by, and the stray went up to him, they talked, and the stray went on his merry way. I was later told that the man was actually looking for beer at our party and I nearly fell over laughing. IRC-ian parties tended to be VERY clean. We don’t usually serve alcohol out in the open too.

The countdown was hilarious, we were early by a few minutes, Deru was in a yukata complaining all the way, I am very sure that three of the IRC-ians who attended are in a ménage à trois (go look up the meaning yourself :p) regardless of their denials, there was a toast, a very heartfelt speech and another that felt it was planned in advance, but good days hopefully lie ahead?

I went home, talked to people online on IRC, and then went back to sleep. I fell asleep with a bear hugging me.

Dec 30

This and Dec 29 to follow. I think I shall make that one a pic post. 😛

One thought on “Christmas + New Year Update

  1. I am so not going to a zoo or a theme park for a long long time.*pukes*

    Geminianeyes: *Offers a bag* There there dear. The thing is, while I don’t mind going to a zoo to learn more, I draw the line at the amusement parks. In most cases the Zoos are there to help preserve the animals, while amusement parks… during the safari on the jeep we passed by a tiger, a large majestic one, and it was simply sitting there watching us go with a disinterested look. I suspect it was drugged, because it was unnerving and I feel unnatural to see a tiger do that.

    I am grateful for the chance to see a liger (lion + tiger) up close though.

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