Bits and Pieces

It's more than a week since we ushered in the year of the boar. In a few days' time, we will be celebrating "Chap Goh Mei", which, customarily marks the end of the lunar new year celebrations. Life has almost return to the normal routine. Ruth's back to school after a week's break and will be facing her first semester examinations next week. She had not been putting as much time and effort in her revision and I am not too confident that she will do well this time round. Maybe, some last minute cramming could be helpful.

Hubby left for his week long trip to Sdyney, Australia last Saturday to attend a meeting. He had been travelling quite frequently since the beginning of the year so the task of ferrying Ruth to and fro her tuition centre fell on me. It's fortunate that I had only Ruth to cater to, and I can imagine the weariness of those parents or mothers having to send and fetch several children just for school and tuition everyday.

Mum's back from her China trip and, as usual, she bought lots of herbs and chinese tea as gifts for friends and relatives. She reminded me to collect my "share" when I return to Sibu during the coming "Ching Ming" or tomb festival. She's, what I could say, a seasoned traveller. There are not many places in the world which she had not visited and at times, I could not help but envy her financial freedom, which allows her to enjoy travelling and globe-trotting..

Our new year odyssey

Kong Xi Fatt Choy! Happy New Year! We celebrated the lunar new year with greetings of good health, wealth and prosperity. Time really flies and we are already into the 4th day of the celebration. We had our new year eve reunion dinner with hubby's eldest brother in Miri. A sumptous spread of good food, company and family ties. Then, at midnight, it's the lighting of the fire crackers by the adults and the children scurried about with sparklers to usher in the year of the boar. The next day, we proceeded to Limbang to visit hubby's second sister. It was a three hours' drive through the sultanate of Brunei. Hubby was not too familiar with the route so we had to stop a few times to ask for directions. It was only then that I realised the premium or super petrol is dirt cheap in Brunei at B$0.53 or RM1.21 per litre, compared to RM1.91 per litre in Bintulu, a hefty difference of RM0.70 per litre.

We returned to Bintulu on the 2nd day with tired, aching bones, happy memories and Ruth received lots of "angpows". She counted her ringgits and it appeared to be tidy "nestegg" for her savings and future education. Being more adventurous, hubby and Ruth continued their odyssey yesterday to visit the aunties, cousins and other relatives in Sarikei. I stayed put in Bintulu as I had to resume work today and to welcome any visitors to our humble abode.

Those funny times..........

I was pleasantly surprised to receive two containers of home-made cookies from a family friend. The cookies were her new year gifts to us and hmm... chocolate and butter, my favourites. I love cookies but must admit shamefully that my baking skills are really lacking. I recalled baking a batch of butter cookies some years back but the result was a disaster..I set the temperature of the oven too high and the whole batch was burnt. What a waste and I got a good scolding from hubby! The whole kitchen smelt like a BBQ pit. It was a good lesson learnt.

Hubby never really trusted my baking skills after the disastrous incident and he insists that we order cookies and cakes for every new year celebration. He even took over the preparation and cooking of the reunion dinner itself although his was also not without any mishaps. During one such occasion, his lemon chicken dish was rendered unpalatable as he dipped the chicken meat in too much cornflour before frying. The fried chicken pieces were as hard as stone and Ruth jokingly remarked that she had to "sharpen" her teeth before eating them. Finally, the chicken pieces were offered to our cat Angel, but she was't too keen on them either. I noticed that she had difficulty chewing and swallowing them. So much for a good laugh over the whole episode!

Here and there.........

Been real busy recently. Office work has been alot more demanding with new projects coming along. So much so, that I hardly had any time to update my blog. I drove back home in the evening exhausted, and had little energy to supervise Ruth's homework.
Plus the fact that hubby's outstation this whole week and I had to ferry Ruth to and fro her tuition centre.

The lunar new year festivities is just around the corner and I had yet to do any shopping for bottled or canned drinks, tidbits, candies, savouries, etc, etc. Maybe I can get better bargains at the last minute rush! Fortunately, I had ordered my cakes and cookies earlier so I need'nt have to bother about any baking.

My brother John, called to inform us that he bought a brand new terrace house with all the furnishings. He will be moving in soon and we promise to visit him during the coming school holidays in mid March. At forty-one years of age, it is about time he invested some of his earnings in a home for his family.

Mum's going for a tour of Southern China over the lunar new year holidays. She will be going with her senior citizen "gang" for about 10 days. She just wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of the new year festivities and get herself an opportunity to relax and enjoy the sights. Lucky her!

Well, that's all for the time being. Maybe some updates later.