a quiet entrance into the year of the horse

 it's the second day of chinese new year and it has been all right so far. well, nothing out of the ordinary....similar like last year when we also did not celebrate the day with all the normal festive stuff.

it was a solemn affair for the indian neighbour 2 days ago, on the eve of cny when there was a death in the family. before the death was confirmed by another neighbour, all the signs were there showing there was a funeral going to take place from the obvious signs. and all the signs that i observed, reminded me of the poem by emily dickinson- there's a death in the opposite house.

There's been a death in the opposite house 
As lately as today.
I know it by the numb look
Such houses have alway.
The neighbours rustle in and out,
The doctor drives away.
A window opens like a pod,
Abrupt, mechanically;
Somebody flings a mattress out, -
The children hurry by; They wonder if It died on that, -
I used to when a boy.
The minister goes stiffly in
As if the house were his,
And he owned all the mourners now,
And little boys besides;
And then the milliner, and the man
Of the appalling trade,
 To take the measure of the house.
There'll be that dark parade
Of tassels and of coaches soon;
It's easy as a sign, -
The intuition of the news
In just a country town.

the indian neighbour had a white canopy in front of the house and friends and relatives started arriving at noon in normal clothes and not any wedding fineries. there are only 2 things to associate with when there is a canopy outside a house - wedding or funeral. the funeral was quite a simple affair but it was considered grand by indian standard as they also had musical instruments playing when conducting the last rites before the body was being sent for cremation. i wasn't spying at my neighbour but i could hear all that was happening. see, death could just happen in the midst of all celebrations. the neighbour was only in his 60s and he died of asthma attack. how fragile life is.

our cny reunion dinner was only a simple affair as usual with all food home-cooked.

these were all the dishes we had and i did not even have any rice. burp!
we spent quite a lot of time in front of the tv and computer this year. my brother and i went out with friends but i am not keen to go house visiting this year. we are still in 'mourning' period as grandpa's death happened less than 100 days ago and it is not apt to go to people's house. there are some who do not believe in all this kind of thing and have insisted that i just go, it was all right. for others, i try to avoid as a sign of respect.

hence, i do have quite a lot of time in hand to do my stuff. am thinking of finishing my book, but all the colourful bands attracted me instead and i had finished making bracelets using one whole packet of bands that i got someone to bring back fro australia. here are the results:

which is your favourite?? i am thinking of starting the second packet now. haha......the kids will have quite a lot of choices to choose from after cny. it is satisfactory to see all the happy faces and to get all the compliments when i show them my collection.

well, my nap comes first before i start the second packet. it is late night every day and waking up at around 9 in the morning being jolted awake by all the sounds of exploding crackers.

spending time with little callum is important too since he will be going back in a few days' time. awww.....we are so going to miss him.

just look at al his cute expressions. he loves playing in the play ground opposite and going for a ride on dad's motorbike.
and the serious expression in the second photo, sitting on my lap watching youtube children clips.

wishing everyone a good year of the horse.

there is a career change for me and i hope it is going to be a good one. i am reporting at the office on monday again to get my official briefing and to get my staff tag made so i can enter the office with a blip of the card. fingers crossed for the year of the horse.