24 Jan 09 - 29th of last lunar month

is it very late to blog? :P it's nearly 1am! i had such a incredible long day, but i'm so happy.. cos it's so fulfilling~

.. i didnt go church service today (still feeling abit regretful) cos my 'queen of house' issued a decree that no one is go out today but to help in the final cleaning and preparation for reunion dinner..

my day started with early marketing (as usual) and went into non-stop of house chores.. in case u r asking 'J, i tot u cleaned already?', well... i guess it's in the blood.. when women of this family want to do something, we really go all out for it.. yes-we cleaned the house from inside out, but today we did our 'final touch' of cleaning outside in. from squeezing thru crowded markets (we even did market-hopping to get our ingredients) to clearing dust and mopping floor, we practically didnt rest, not even for lunch. imagine all the work that has to be done to present a totally CLEAN house and sweet-smelling dogs! (my 2 sis even had to walk and exercise with the dogs today..including cleaning them outside in) it was at 6.30pm that we finally had our rest..

had our dinner in the nearby hawker (pls dun expect us to cook after all the hard work).. we went straight for our annual 'see see walk walk' in the flower fairs and markets 辦年貨賞花市過小年 . I simply love the 29th day of the last lunar month~ though i know we have to slog in our final clean touch, it's so nice to be walking through the colourful flowers and plants (though i'm always the first to be bitten by mosquitoes!).. the whole market place is so alive even at this late hour, which they are usually closed by 9pm. (fyi, on 29th day of lunar mth ALL the shops all be OPENED THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT) .. i can still remember i had such great fun chatting with my primary mates in our neighbourhood at 3am on this night! this is the 'happening' night of the year - we can stay out so late without being interrogated. so happening.. :)

by the time we came back it's 12midnight... totally wore out but i'm still full of excitment for tomorrow's reunion dinner. not just bcos it's family bonding, but also bcos we have invited some foreign friends over to join our reunion dinner! imagine - 2 vietnamese, 1 indonesian + 5 singaporeans.. ahha.. my family is really very hospitable!! (maybe that's why i study hospitality? hehe) i remember my dad even once invited a couple of Japanese tourists over for homestay, even though they had only met on the street! (is this in my family's blood again? it's so inborn of us to befriend foreigners in streets - remember my good taiwanese friend??) i really cant wait to share the joy and excitment of Chinese reunion dinner with them!! what a cultural exchange!

it'll be another long day for me tmr.. got to prepare and help to cook, for our guests who are coming at 5pm.. gosh, i really like the last 3 days of lunar year - every year it's such a tedious excitment :)