bits and pieces of my mind

these were written over the past year. somehow along the way, i stopped myself from publishing them on my blog. since i am so bored now, might as well let them see the light of the day.

15/2/10
Although my paternal grandma passed on last September, Chinese New Year is still being celebrated in our house. Dad is giving away angpows as usual. Decorations and red lanterns are up too.

Our family has been doing away with lots of old traditions and taboos, and we have to thank my late grandparents for this. They were the pioneers in our family; simplifying tedious rituals and getting rid of taboos.
I never once stepped on the cemetery land to visit the graves of my ancestors. My late grandparents were cremated and their ashes scattered out at sea. We don't have their graves to pay respects to during Cheng Beng. We just prayed at home. It is the thought that counts, right?
With their deaths, the circle has been broken; we no longer need to return to our 'ancestral' home for reunion dinner. This year marks the first Chinese New Year I celebrate wholly in TI. Our reunion dinner was a modest affair. We ate as a family....

5/2/10
Last week, I went to MPH and splurged RM99.20 on four books (3 fantasy, 1 manga).

Then, my sis asked: "Why do you like reading so much?"
The pertinent question here should be directed to you: "Why don't you like reading?"

14/12/09
Travelling in Malaysian highways is fun. Except paying toll, that is.

I love to sit in the back seat, with my siblings (this time around, only my brother) and Dad driving, Mom sleeping although she is supposed to be the co-driver.
Singing along to songs on the radio or my brother's Taylor Swift CD, watching the scenery as we zip through the highway at 110kmph, on lookout for mahogany trees (they are purple in colour!) or birds (spotted two eagles on two separate occasions)...
Back when I was still a kid, I used to be able to imagine various things out of the clouds in the blue sky - dragons, peoples, monsters etc. I would point them out, and asked my siblings if they could see the same things, and very often they could. Those moments were the highlights of my childhood memories. This time around, I find that I could no longer see them anymore. Maybe I lost my imaginative power, or I simply have grown up.
But increasingly, there is this overwhelming feeling of needing to reach out to those scenes

1/10/09
To Father Time,
Daddy retired two weeks ago.

And I am already 20.
Some of my friends also started to have boyfriends... if one of them suddenly announces their engagement and invites me to her wedding ceremony, I won’t be surprised. =)
I have been here, at Perth for almost 8 months now and there’s 60-odd days left to the journey back to Land of Glorious Food, Balmy Weather but Horrible Politicians – Malaysia.
Father Time, I know I am a horrible person for twisting your mind around. At times, I want you to walk slower, because I need to enjoy my holidays.
Sometimes, I want you to walk faster, so that I can go back to TI as soon as possible.I am so difficult to please, eh? I know. I know. Sorry.
I can remember the days when I was still a little kid, basking in the sunlight under the shady mango tree in my grandma’s house – an attempt to make myself look darker. (Since I was already teased for my dark complexion, I might as well make myself darker... that was what I thought.)
I can still remember the days in primary school, when it was monsoon season and the school grounds would be flooded with water. During that time of the year, I would bring an extra pair of slippers to school, in anticipation of floods. Sometimes we would be able to see an eel swimming around in the murky waters, or a crab. Or we would stand at the corridor; looking out at our school padang and it looked like a sawah padi. Glorious scenery, I would say.
I can still remember my first day in secondary school. We were all assembled in the canteen - all jam-packed against each other, being nervous and excited at the same time. That time, 5 years studying in one place seemed like forever and now, it seems like it never happened at all.
Father Time, people often say: Time heals. Now I could say that it is quite true. Because of you, the only place I had so wanted to run away from - now turns out to be the only place I want to return to.
Time flies. Or maybe it is just me... who is blind to your presence.