Happy New Year Once Again

It is the second day of the new year in the Chinese calendar today. I meant to write this post yesterday but I was too ill. On Saturday evening, I was dragged to a Chinese restaurant for dinner with my cousins and Aunt. I didn't really want to go but I also didn't want my Mum to lose face. So I turned up reluctantly. We had a private room of two tables but the food was lousy.

When I got up to attend church yesterday morning, I felt groggy. I tried to pretend that I was OK because I have been waiting to see a priest from the US since I found out that he was coming home for the Chinese New Year. Minutes after we got to the church, I told my Mum that I needed the toilet because I need to puke. On the way to the toilet, I saw that priest. He smiled. He said, "Gong Xi Fa Cai" in Hakka to me. I knew from that smile right away that he wasn't 'local'. I knew that he had learned to smile like this from over there somewhere. Then we learnt that the toilets were locked because people refused to use it properly. I puked into a bin.I was like a mother frog because what came out looked like frog spawn or bubbles. After a second go, I told my Mum that I would like to go home and we left. The pukings turned real bad after arriving home. It started with bubbly matter to stuff I ate on Saturday night.

I pretty much slept for the rest of the first day of Chinese New Year. I didn't eat much. Paternal relatives popped in but I slept through without a clue. My absense probably caused me to step on a few tails but I couldn't care less. By noon, I was battling chills and then fever. Nevertheless, the red packets kept on coming. It is ultra embarrassing to still receive red packets at my age! Today, I received one from someone 6 days younger than me!! So far, the youngest person to have given me a red packet is in his 20's. I guess this shame is for me to bear for now. The biggest shame is to see my cousins' older children (in their 20's) giving red packets to their grandmother (my Aunt). That was an interesting 'Parade'but I belonged to the useless group because I wasn't doing my bit.

I am feeling better today. I was up receiving guests dutifully. Business partners and friends visited today. The experience was OKAY. Tomorrow, relatives from Canada will be visiting. Strangely, I haven't seen a single Lion Dance troupe visiting our house so far. I did see a Lion Dance performance during a posh dinner a couple of weeks ago but no one visited our little neighbourhood yet. I think that I saw more Lion Dance in Melbourne than over here.