Belated
Yeah, yeah, I sorry I haven't posted anything for two weeks, but as usual, I have extenuating circumstances: Today's the first time in two weeks that I've been able to get onto Blogger to post, but I'll explain that in its own place.
Two weeks ago, I was down in So Hour visiting my grandparents. Unfortunately, the area where they live (as I mentioned before) is a very remote place. Even my handphone signals die out there, not to mention all manner of Internet access. The closest thing to Internet surfing I can get to there is the local cyber cafe; and being the tight-fisted miser I am, guess what? I didn't even go within 50 feet of the place. (Of course, that had something to do with the fact that it's about half-an-hour away from my grandparents' house, but that's beside the point.)
Not, of course, that I wanted to in the first place; it was Chinese New Year, and that means I get to rake in the money--I have plenty of relatives to sponge off when the need arises. It was a pity that the harvest this year wasn't very good, so the cash flow wasn't much; but still, compared to previous years, a couple hundred isn't too bad. (My all-time low was about 30, several years ago; my previous all-time high, about 150, when I was six.)
In any case, it was very enjoyable, since my parents were down and it's the first time in eight years that my whole (father's side of the) family was together. The last time was just before I moved to Patience, so you can guess that most of the reminiscing was centred about what a titchy little mite I used to be. Plus, I like having my family around. It's very comfortable--even if they do happen to remember every single embarassing photo you have (and I have dozens).
I unfortunately got badly sick on the second day of CNY with indigestion. Basically, everything that went into my stomach stayed there for hours without getting digested, so my appetite went way down and I couldn't walk very much without getting severe pains. (I'm not sure about the details, but food in the stomach is a semi-liquid and very acidic. This means that people with indigestion get a sloshy feeling in the stomach every time they move, and also that they are susceptible to stomach ulcers and gastric pains.)
Now you have to understand that my grandparents equate loving care with food. Like, the more they cook, the more they love you, and the more you eat, the more appreciated they feel. Which all combines to mean that I was actually apologising left and right for not eating enough! And besides, during that time there was a non-stop cooking fest going on in the place and I was so, so tempted... and very self-pitying about not being able to give in to the temptation! Thank God, there was an ample supply of medicines available in the house, and I was up and eating in three days.
In all, I managed to eat a tonne and read slightly less. Since it was my grandparents' place and they don't exactly have stacks of English books, I ended up going through my father's antique editions of Reader's Digest. (It afforded my sisters some hours of merriment when they combed through the books and played fashion police--the hairstyles back then, I must admit, were ridiculous. The same sentiment applies to the clothing they wore.)
Anyway, I spent a little more than a week there, during which I discovered how to get your fingers cramped. It's really simple.
Step 1: Get a cousin who doesn't know English a Nokia N-Gage.
Step 2: Fill up said handphone with games like The Sims, which require heavy-duty English.
Step 3: Play said game "for the cousin".
Step 4: Get addicted to said game.
Step 5: Wring out cramped fingers and wonder where the time went, and wish that Nokia N-Gages had bigger buttons.
Back to the story. I came back to KL after So Hour, along with my parents, and that was last week. School resumed, but unfortunately exams ensued (actually I have exams tomorrow but I'm not sure if I plan to study at all) and I had no time left over between school and visiting my parents, who were living in a friend's house and homework to post anything up.
I did want to post this up last week, but for some strange reason the computer lab operators decided to block all blogs, so I was completely unable to access this. In any case, they've rectified the mistake and I'm now blogging.
One last note: last night, my church held an Appreciation Night for the parents--a kind of spin-off from Valentine's Day. (Before you ask, I do have an idea of a person I'd like to ask out, but no, I'm not going to ask!) The parents loved it, and it really is nice to be able to cause so much cheer with minimal expense. (Focus on "minimal expense"--all the cutlery was borrowed, the food was donated, and the background music was pirated.) But all the same the parents loved it.
I wouldn't mind doing the same next year, even if they do insist on me singing in public. (But then I was with a bunch of other people and their voices drowned mine out.)
Two weeks ago, I was down in So Hour visiting my grandparents. Unfortunately, the area where they live (as I mentioned before) is a very remote place. Even my handphone signals die out there, not to mention all manner of Internet access. The closest thing to Internet surfing I can get to there is the local cyber cafe; and being the tight-fisted miser I am, guess what? I didn't even go within 50 feet of the place. (Of course, that had something to do with the fact that it's about half-an-hour away from my grandparents' house, but that's beside the point.)
Not, of course, that I wanted to in the first place; it was Chinese New Year, and that means I get to rake in the money--I have plenty of relatives to sponge off when the need arises. It was a pity that the harvest this year wasn't very good, so the cash flow wasn't much; but still, compared to previous years, a couple hundred isn't too bad. (My all-time low was about 30, several years ago; my previous all-time high, about 150, when I was six.)
In any case, it was very enjoyable, since my parents were down and it's the first time in eight years that my whole (father's side of the) family was together. The last time was just before I moved to Patience, so you can guess that most of the reminiscing was centred about what a titchy little mite I used to be. Plus, I like having my family around. It's very comfortable--even if they do happen to remember every single embarassing photo you have (and I have dozens).
I unfortunately got badly sick on the second day of CNY with indigestion. Basically, everything that went into my stomach stayed there for hours without getting digested, so my appetite went way down and I couldn't walk very much without getting severe pains. (I'm not sure about the details, but food in the stomach is a semi-liquid and very acidic. This means that people with indigestion get a sloshy feeling in the stomach every time they move, and also that they are susceptible to stomach ulcers and gastric pains.)
Now you have to understand that my grandparents equate loving care with food. Like, the more they cook, the more they love you, and the more you eat, the more appreciated they feel. Which all combines to mean that I was actually apologising left and right for not eating enough! And besides, during that time there was a non-stop cooking fest going on in the place and I was so, so tempted... and very self-pitying about not being able to give in to the temptation! Thank God, there was an ample supply of medicines available in the house, and I was up and eating in three days.
In all, I managed to eat a tonne and read slightly less. Since it was my grandparents' place and they don't exactly have stacks of English books, I ended up going through my father's antique editions of Reader's Digest. (It afforded my sisters some hours of merriment when they combed through the books and played fashion police--the hairstyles back then, I must admit, were ridiculous. The same sentiment applies to the clothing they wore.)
Anyway, I spent a little more than a week there, during which I discovered how to get your fingers cramped. It's really simple.
Step 1: Get a cousin who doesn't know English a Nokia N-Gage.
Step 2: Fill up said handphone with games like The Sims, which require heavy-duty English.
Step 3: Play said game "for the cousin".
Step 4: Get addicted to said game.
Step 5: Wring out cramped fingers and wonder where the time went, and wish that Nokia N-Gages had bigger buttons.
Back to the story. I came back to KL after So Hour, along with my parents, and that was last week. School resumed, but unfortunately exams ensued (actually I have exams tomorrow but I'm not sure if I plan to study at all) and I had no time left over between school and visiting my parents, who were living in a friend's house and homework to post anything up.
I did want to post this up last week, but for some strange reason the computer lab operators decided to block all blogs, so I was completely unable to access this. In any case, they've rectified the mistake and I'm now blogging.
One last note: last night, my church held an Appreciation Night for the parents--a kind of spin-off from Valentine's Day. (Before you ask, I do have an idea of a person I'd like to ask out, but no, I'm not going to ask!) The parents loved it, and it really is nice to be able to cause so much cheer with minimal expense. (Focus on "minimal expense"--all the cutlery was borrowed, the food was donated, and the background music was pirated.) But all the same the parents loved it.
I wouldn't mind doing the same next year, even if they do insist on me singing in public. (But then I was with a bunch of other people and their voices drowned mine out.)
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