CNY 2008 ('08 is supposed to be a good year! I'm positive! So why is this?)

Chinese New Year is a big deal among the Chinese community, at least that’s what I can see in Penang. I had the intentions of writing about it, tripled with pictures and videos but unfortunately this year’s celebration ain’t so merry at all. For me, that is.

Let’s start with my car breaking down. Now, as some of you might already know, CNY is the time when most businesses shut its doors, especially if it’s a Chinese-run business (again, this refers to Penang). Until now, it has never occurred to me that almost all the mechanics that operate in this little island are Chinese. So do you get what I’m trying to say? Yes, I’m practically stuck in my house until someone can fix the car.

Now, had I been staying in my old place, there wouldn’t be a need to worry about not having transport. Everything used to be 5 minutes walk away; the coffee shop, the market, the convenience store, the abundant mamaks, the police station (!), the mall (if you walk fast enough), even the bus stop itself. You name it, she’s got it; my old place, of course.

But where I’m staying now is a 10 minute run downhill to the nearest coffee shop (and then you’d have to consider the 30 minute climb uphill back home), a 10 minute walk to the what I would call “abandoned” new plaza the community knows little of, and everything else is just in a range of an eternity of walk away. Just.

I think I’ve complained one too many times about my new place to those close to me; their ears are probably bleeding already, but at least now they don’t need to listen. They just need to read. Right? Ok, fine, I’ll shut up already.

Although the car broke down, I was able to visit my aunt’s house, where the family always gathers on the first day of CNY (you see, problems with the car only started after we got there). However, however, there’s always a however, not all the relatives showed up. Stupid cousins who think they can go off elsewhere after getting married. God, CNY is so different this year. Of course with fewer relatives mean fewer ang pau, but things didn’t have to be so quiet! Everyone was like quietly watching TV. Yo, what’s wrong with the noisy people?

And we didn’t even get a single call from my dad’s fussy sister. No call at all! Every year, without fail, she would call my dad on the first day of CNY, reminding him to visit her. But she didn’t call this year! This is like…I don’t know…impossible! It’s like winning a lottery; you know it’ll never happen to you. Maybe she stumbled into my blog about her. Eeek! Think of beautiful thoughts, think of beautiful thoughts…

So this is me, after days of rotting at home and heaps of procrastination, finally putting some efforts into this blog. Even though I’m not able to share the celebration here, not like there’s much in my four-walled room anyway (if it’s five, then something must be wrong with my head), at least there’s still something to talk about. Right?

So let’s hope Chinese New Year 2009 won’t be this bad but instead filled with joy and many words, pictures, and videos. (I was pretty sure there was a couple more things I planned to talk about but I just can’t freaking get it out of my head now. Sheesh!)