First day of CNY!!

Woke up this morning(er..or should I say, *cought cough* afternoon) to the sound of my phone ringing.

"..It's bananas..B-A-N-A-N-A-S! ITS BANANAS..B-A-N-A-N-A-S!!!" (I seriously need to change my ring tone!!....Anywayyyy..)

Who IS it so early in the morning? *rubs eyes* I stretched out my left hand, started flailing it up and down my bed, looking for my phone, while still lying down flat on my belly, head turned to my right.. THERE! found my phone! put in a whole lot of effort to turn my head from right to left, opened my left eye lazily and read the caller ID..

MEI LING

I jolted up in bed, shook my head, cleared my throat a little, and put on my most energetic morning voice I can manage.

Me : "HIIII!! How're you doing?" I said sweetly, along with a HUGE SMILE, hoping it'll make a difference.

Mei Ling : "Hey! I just got off work. Er..Did I just wake you up?" *hint of disbelief in voice*

She knew! She knew I'd slept in til after 12! Someone send me for acting classes please! Or maybe start me off in voice characterization first! I suck at this! I'm destined never to deceive anyone! I cant even keep a good impression for goodness' sakes! :P

Anyway, that phone call started off my eventful day of the first day of Chinese New Year.

I was to be at Mortdale station by 5. I looked at the clock.

1pm.

!@&$*^#%^&%*@#!!!!

ok, I didnt swear as I am a very naive and innocent young girl who's not accustomed to foul language..REALLY!..but

That's like freakin 3 hrs to get ready!!! (1 hr's reserved for travelling)

How IS a girl supposed to brush up, take a shower, make breakfast, eat breakfast, get hair done, choose dinner clothes, get face made up, choose accessories, wear accessories, put on finishing touches, get money from ATM, return to room to put money in ang pows as instructed by my mother and walk to the bus stop.. in JUST 3 HOURS??!!!

Well, fret not ppl.. I, the pro at multi-tasking, managed it..

*Applause* *Applause*

Click here to skip process. :)

While brushing my teeth, I stripped myself naked. Stepped into the shower and scrubbed myself clean in the quickest time ever!! (17 mins)

NEXT. A pit stop in the kitchen, still wrapped in my towel, on the way back to my room, popping in 2 slices of bread into the toaster. (5 mins)

Spent 15 mins choosing what outfit to wear. Trying on top after top takes a while. Finally decided on my oriental looking red top and black slacks. (15 mins)

Rushes out of room after remembering that I made toast! Made myself breakfast and ate breakfast. Wisdom tooth coming out, HURTS!cant eat fast! (25 mins)

Goes back into room to check hair. Atrocious! Decides to pull hair up into a bun with a chopstick. doesnt look good! Lets it down. NAH. Pulls hair back in half-ponytail. Reasonable, but I still dont think so. Pins hair up and decides to come back to it later. (10 mins)

Now the face. Ahhh..Must take a bit more time to beautify the already beautiful sculpture. Slaps on moisturiser. Sunblock. Concealer (good for hiding the fact that I slept at 6am!). Blusher. Tries to decide on eye-shadow. This is tricky. I never wear eye-shadow. Hmm..should probably stick to earth/skin colour tones. Applies brown-ish eyeshadow. Eyeliner. Lip balm. Decides I'm too pale today to wear just lip balm. Chooses a colour for lips from lip palette. YUCK! Blots out with tissue paper.Tries more colour til a reasonable shade of colour is found. (50 mins)

Now, back to my hair. Lets hair down. Looks up to sky and thinks, Why, oh, WHY did I perm my hair?!!. Grunts. Plays with different hairstyles for a long time a while. Finally decides on a hairstyle I STILL dont like. Declares it an official bad hair day! (20 mins)

Wears black heels, looks in the full-length mirror and admires how long and slim my legs look in black slack + heels (TIP for girls who want to achieve the illusion of LONGER SLIMMER LEGS!!hehehe...),purposely bringing attention AWAY from my hair. (5 mins)

Walks down to convenience store. Enjoys small talk with the guy and requests, sweetly, to change my $20 notes to $10 notes. Cashes out money from atm. Decides to buy snacks, but dont know which one. Spends time looking at every shelf from left to right so that I'll be able to make a well-informed decision. Finally chooses RED ROCK DELI sweet chilli & sour cream. :) (15 mins)

Quickly walks back to room, puts money in ang pows and writes short greetings behind ang pows. (10 mins)

Walks to bus stop. (5 mins)

Add all those minutes up and you get a grand total of.....*drum roll*

177 mins = 2 hrs and 57 mins!!!

I made it in time and STILL had 3 mins to spare!!! mUahhahAHaha!

See, told you I'm good! :)..But, in the first place, if I didnt make it, I wouldnt even blog about it! hehe.. So you still wont think any worse of me! hehhee.. *taps fingers together*.. I LOVE the power of total creative control!!

So, I made it to Mortdale train station and met Mei Ling there. She looked great in her shorts, white top and sunnies with white sides. A 'sporty' look well done!

Oh, btw, Mei Ling's my cousin who grew up here in Sydney. Havent had the privilege to spend that much time together, thus explaining the want to keep a good impression.

I had dinner that night with Aunty Joyce, Uncle Paul, Matthew, Luke(O'Gorman), Helen, Luke(O'Sullivan) and Mei Ling. Had Peking duck, which is actually like the Roast Piglet we have back in Msia, complete with the wrap. Dinner was really good. Enjoyed it tremendously! Maybe good company DOES make a difference to your food!


Some of the dishes we had at dinner. YES! I'm aware of that jug of yellow liquid in the middle of the table!

Fancy beer with chinese dinner..anyone?? hehe


Mei Ling and bf, Luke O'Sullivan. She looked ravishing in her red cheongsam and well applied light make-up

That photo wasnt that good coz the sunlight was really glaring. Anyone knows how to photoshop???


All the 8 happy faces at dinner..Back row from left-Luke, Helen, Mei Ling and Luke. Sitting from left-Me, Aunty Joyce, Uncle Paul and Matthew

There! Doesn't everyone look happy?

I was! Though I think my hair could've looked nicer and my make up more flattering..but, oh well..

This is the first time I've spent CNY away from family back home, and I really miss

-the atmosphere!
-The crowd
-huge, and I mean, HUUUUUUUUUUGE family gatherings
-CNY cookies
-shandy
-so many, many ang pows
-house visiting
-buffets
-annoying CNY songs (yes, i miss that too, for some sad reason)
-delicious food
-firecrackers
-laughter and loud banters
-relatives you havent seen in AGES saying "WOW! you've grown taller/prettier/uglier/slimmer/fatter" .
-cards . both greeting and playing cards
-friends
-love
-splashes of bright red everywhere...

and the list goes on..

However, I do NOT miss one thing though.













Putting on damn lotta weight and feeling bloated during Chinese New Year!!



Muahaha..

While all you guys back in Msia grow fatter and more bloated get to enjoy things I've missed, I hope that you'll still think of me..

..and remember to collect ang pows for me as well, whenever you get one.. and KEEP them for me, not USE them(as CY suggested)!!!OK, you can use them, but only to buy stuff for me kays??.. :)