Going...going...gone. ladies and gentlemen, the new year spirit has just left the building.
this new year has been nothing out of the ordinary, aside from the whole hospitalization thing, that is. as per tradition, we went to my first paternal uncle's place for lunch yesterday, where we met up with almost everyone from my dad's side of the family. seems like the number of kids present keeps increasing with each passing year. so far, the oldest of my nephews and nieces is 15 going on 16, and the youngest is...9 months old? something like that. there are approximately 9 others between them, which makes 11 total. at least that's what my aunt has told me from her calculations. personally, i lost track of how many people should call me "uncle" about 8 years ago! at least i can still recognize all my cousins and their spouses, though we typically only see each other at that gathering for that one day each year (unless we meet at other family functions like wedding dinners, or bump into each other on the street). it was interesting to hang out with the kids, even if some of them are less than half my age. makes me feel young.
one of the more interesting pieces of news i heard while visiting was that one of my nephews just started primary 1 at cat high this year. and after confirmation with several other people, we've determined that he's only the second-ever cat high boy in the family (yours truly being the first. so cool!). though i can't really do much now, seeing as i wasn't from the primary school side, i may be able to help him a little when he starts secondary school 6 years later. this is, of course, provided that (1) he chooses and gets into cat high again, and (2) some of my old teachers are still teaching in the school. but that's looking quite far into the future already, so i'll just stash that thought away until the appropriate time.
while chatting with one of my friends on facebook just now, i was commenting that i expected to get less money this year, what with the bad economic situation and all. boy, was i wrong. my total haul this year (assuming i don't receive any more red packets this CNY) is $934, which is close to a 1.5X increase over last year. of course, this is largely due to a $500 red packet from my aunt (the same one who did the calculation of how many kids are in the generation below mine). completely stunned me when i opened it. it's the biggest red packet i've received so far in my 20 years, 3 months, 10 days and 11+ hours or so of life. guess surprises do happen. as for what will happen to the money, most of it will be heading to the bank. have to exercise self-control, especially now that i'm (STILL) jobless. maybe i'll buy something for myself to round the number down to the nearest ten or hundred, but that's it.
seems like as i get older, my appetite decreases more with each passing CNY. i vaguely remember eating way more at reunion dinners back when i was 10 or 12. i suppose it's for the best after all. have to watch the intake these days. all in and no out isn't good for health.
something's still bugging me. it dates back a few weeks to the 3rd of the month. i'm not going to post what it's about or anything potentially disastrous like that, and neither will my past posts give a leading clue to what it is. think i should call the person involved and tell that person exactly what's on my mind. if i do do that, there'll most likely be one of 2 outcomes, none of which are really in my favour. oh well. what to do? maybe my need for inner peace will eventually win out over my reluctance to step into the deep end.
right now, i really should be sleeping. after all, i do have plans to run tomorrow morning. will probably do it a bit later than the SOP in army though...start at 7:45 and end around 9 (or earlier if possible). hopefully i'm not rusted beyond salvaging.
this new year has been nothing out of the ordinary, aside from the whole hospitalization thing, that is. as per tradition, we went to my first paternal uncle's place for lunch yesterday, where we met up with almost everyone from my dad's side of the family. seems like the number of kids present keeps increasing with each passing year. so far, the oldest of my nephews and nieces is 15 going on 16, and the youngest is...9 months old? something like that. there are approximately 9 others between them, which makes 11 total. at least that's what my aunt has told me from her calculations. personally, i lost track of how many people should call me "uncle" about 8 years ago! at least i can still recognize all my cousins and their spouses, though we typically only see each other at that gathering for that one day each year (unless we meet at other family functions like wedding dinners, or bump into each other on the street). it was interesting to hang out with the kids, even if some of them are less than half my age. makes me feel young.
one of the more interesting pieces of news i heard while visiting was that one of my nephews just started primary 1 at cat high this year. and after confirmation with several other people, we've determined that he's only the second-ever cat high boy in the family (yours truly being the first. so cool!). though i can't really do much now, seeing as i wasn't from the primary school side, i may be able to help him a little when he starts secondary school 6 years later. this is, of course, provided that (1) he chooses and gets into cat high again, and (2) some of my old teachers are still teaching in the school. but that's looking quite far into the future already, so i'll just stash that thought away until the appropriate time.
while chatting with one of my friends on facebook just now, i was commenting that i expected to get less money this year, what with the bad economic situation and all. boy, was i wrong. my total haul this year (assuming i don't receive any more red packets this CNY) is $934, which is close to a 1.5X increase over last year. of course, this is largely due to a $500 red packet from my aunt (the same one who did the calculation of how many kids are in the generation below mine). completely stunned me when i opened it. it's the biggest red packet i've received so far in my 20 years, 3 months, 10 days and 11+ hours or so of life. guess surprises do happen. as for what will happen to the money, most of it will be heading to the bank. have to exercise self-control, especially now that i'm (STILL) jobless. maybe i'll buy something for myself to round the number down to the nearest ten or hundred, but that's it.
seems like as i get older, my appetite decreases more with each passing CNY. i vaguely remember eating way more at reunion dinners back when i was 10 or 12. i suppose it's for the best after all. have to watch the intake these days. all in and no out isn't good for health.
something's still bugging me. it dates back a few weeks to the 3rd of the month. i'm not going to post what it's about or anything potentially disastrous like that, and neither will my past posts give a leading clue to what it is. think i should call the person involved and tell that person exactly what's on my mind. if i do do that, there'll most likely be one of 2 outcomes, none of which are really in my favour. oh well. what to do? maybe my need for inner peace will eventually win out over my reluctance to step into the deep end.
right now, i really should be sleeping. after all, i do have plans to run tomorrow morning. will probably do it a bit later than the SOP in army though...start at 7:45 and end around 9 (or earlier if possible). hopefully i'm not rusted beyond salvaging.
-random thought of the day: I'm thinking of going back for a judo training session...-
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