cny week, not huat all the way

what a difference a week made.
last sunday, we celebrated the coming of the year of the snake, and today, it is already the 8th day and it is the time for hokkiens to celebrate their new year.
there are bound to be firecrackers lighting up the sky at midnight again....and oohh....how i wish i was deaf to all noises.

last week, i was happily celebrating the new year, but today, i am slowly dreading going back to work.
well, i managed to get another of break but it is by no means any cheating. i am really sick and i really cannot, i repeat cannot wake up at 6a.m. to drag myself to class. i will be coughing and wheezing and feeling drowsy the whole day no doubt.

so i finally dragged myself to the doctor and got that medical certificate....and also some pills which i told him to make them knock me out. i need my sleep! i am so sleep deprived! there is no way i can pay back the sleep debt i owe. i haven't been sleeping soundly for more than a few hours for the past 3 nights.

i was awake when my brothers came home, i was still awake when the azan sounded from the mosque calling the muslims for prayers at dawn and i was awake to hear those birds feeding their chicks outside my brother's room windows!!! how irritating!!!!

my failing health was due to sleep deprivation (when i got home at 3a.m. and had passed that sleeping time of mine), getting wet in the rain when i did my japan visa application, air-conditioner from the mall and the car, changes of weather and the odd sleeping hours. hmm....signs of aging.

i better finish this post fast so i can get to bed afterwards.

now, it is time for some photos to do their talkings.

1st day of cny:

 

we held special prayer for grandma's first death anniversary at home. it was all vegetarian on the table. not because grandma was a vegetarian, but it was more because it was the first day of cny.

on the 2nd day of cny, my dad, aunts, uncle, cousins and siblings went to the memorial to offer their prayer while mom and i stayed home. mom's sis and nieces were coming, so i decided to wait for them instead.

i did this special braid on my cousin's hair. nice eh? i saw the picture on facebook and took some time to analyse how to go about doing it. it was the first time i did it and it was successful. i could never do this on my own hair, it was too tedious and my hair would go all messy i am sure.

i did not house visiting on the first day, just stayed home waiting for relatives from mom's side to come. we seldom see each other, so it was apt that i stayed home to see them since they made it all the way from puchong just to see us.

i only went out on the second day, afternoon.
that night, we also celebrated a friend's birthday. i had never celebrated her birthday with her before, so it was good being able to do that and to give her a surprise birthday cake.
the location was none other than ma-ni, thai restaurant. oh, my brother asked why ma-ni was chosen, the boss told him that it meant come in thai.
i managed to get us a private room where we could make so much noise and not disturb other patrons.

red lanterns were hung at strategic places to suit the cny mood.

another flower decoration at the bar.

curry.....and lots of them!!! seafood tom  yum, seafood dry curry, stir-fried glass noodle, mango salad, grilled duck curry, steamed cuttle fish and fish cake.

rasberry cheesecake for the birthday girl. i searched the whole town and the only cake shop which was opened, was secret recipe. gosh, their whole cake is so expensive now. it is rm87 for one.
well, if you are reading this, i don't need such expensive cake for my birthday ok. a slice will do. and i haven't tried rainbow cake yet....that will be the best choice for this year ;) muahahahaha.

and how can a meal during cny be without 'lou sang'? see that top left corner in the picture? those are raw fish slices for you. the presentation of this dish was even better than those in the chinese restaurants.

and after all the 'lous' and all the wishes and hope being shouted out loud, you have this pile of mess left on the plate. may all wishes come true. this dish is a truly malaysian created one but has caught up in other places as well. i heard those in hong kong are also doing it. it is really an auspicious one for chinese new year, so have you had one??

there was also a day, the 3rd day of cny to be specific where i played driver to my sister and aunt and i drove them all the way to subang for their friends' reunion. i only tagged along for free food and some ang pows ;)

lattes and cakes at empire with aunt while waiting for sis.
that trip took me to empire, usj 6 and also paradigm mall. my first time to paradigm, not bad.....of course, i did some shopping there!

got home kinda late that night, 1030pm and still got invitations to go out. gosh, i wanted to decline but one of the groups sent me a nice pick-up in the form of a volkswagen passat and off i went. how could i decline when the car stopped right in front of the house?

it was just one big can of heineken for me that night. i had 3 coronas at the same place 2 nights ago. i was definitely too tired....and this was the night where the sleeping time all started to get screwed up.
only went home at 3a.m. and i couldn't sleep till morning came. it was waaaay passed my sleeping time hence i couldn't fall asleep. two plus was ok, but not 3 for sure. lesson learnt.

on the 4th day,oh, valentine's day as well, it was just resting and doing nothing at home. well, during the day only. went out with friends to loaf at the newly opened old town kopitiam. the food and service really sucked! left a bad taste in the mouth. don't think i will hang out there.

then on the 5th day, it was off to kl again to submit my japan visa application. i had to do it this week!!! woke up, got the documents ready, went to town to take that passport sized photo with white background and off i shot off with my siblings in the car. rain had started to fall when i went to town to take that photo and i was praying during the drive to kl that i wouldn't be delayed by any accidents or storms. oh, time was crucial here as the embassy would close at 4pm. we finally reached the embassy at half past three. phew!

visa was submitted and klcc was the next destination to meet an aunt of my cousin.
the meeting went well, we had dinner and my sister and i shopped ;)
luckily the trip back was a smooth one. no more rain.

a new watch for my sister...the one on top. a seiko similar to mine but hers was limited edition and came with a date face. a good buy. 20% discount.

my friend picked me up to ma-ni restaurant again that night. i was already having a cold then but i went along. got a stalk of pink rose from the boss- post valentine's rose. yeah.....one flower this valentine!!!

visa application. kaka....of course i am not going to show my passport photo here albeit i have only received good compliments on the photo. i looked young, like a korean, bla bla. have to thank the photoshop work too, that pimple next to the nose, disappeared.

dinner in kl that day was at bens.

lemon meringue pie, 3 plates of spaghettinis and one plate of nasi special for my bro.

wohoo....my shopping loot! the first time i shopped more after chinese new year than before. there were still sales in the mall, so i made good use of the opportunity and hot myself a few new blouses and skirts.........and below:
a few pairs of shoes too!!!
never had i bought so many pairs of shoes in one week. sales sales sales!!!

reminder, clean the wardrobe when you get back and get rid of clothes and shoes which are really worn dy.

all the red packets i got this year won't be enough to pay for the things i got above. there were no angpows from the family this year as we were not supposed to celebrate so the collection was much less than what i got last year.

the total: rm164. good enough.

and now to some medicine collection to get rid of this cold.

mom helped me buy clarinase from the pharmacy but it kept me awake the whole night atfer i took it yesterday. a friend of mine also had this effect on her. so i guess, i will keep this for daytime...hopefully not in the near future.

and i went to the clinic today to get another medicine for the flu and i got cough mixture too. yeah, the cough came already and i am wheezing now. the nose is slightly blocked.
am going to sleep after this. hopefully the pill will help me sleep better.
i am dreading midnight when all those firecrackers will explode.
thank goodness i have got that medical certificate. it would be impossible to wake up tomorrow and having to go to classes. tomorrow is vital for rest to get ready for tuesday.
tonight.....it is essential that i get my sleep!

good night.