To summarize my trip back home, from Feb 1st – 9th, it’s all about Eat Play Love or 3 F (Foods, Family, Friends).

On festive season like this, I realize that I am more towards “live to eat” kind of person although I’m not a big eater. Could be my family culture since I was a kid, we love culinary trip and enjoy foods a lot especially my brother. I just wish I can extend my stay in Medan, haven’t get to do spa, eat Fountain ice cream, mee-hoon curry from Tabona, satay padang, and so on. Oh slurrpp…

Then there is gathering with high school friends. Some are married, single, in a stable relationship, have baby, continue to take Master program while I’m just a Diploma holder – maybe I can consider online university course.

On every year, in every meet-up, be it with friends or relative, there is always questions. From do-you-have-a-boyfriend question to when-getting-married question and when-to-have-baby question. This year my two tops questions are: When do you plan to have baby? and Do you work?. Quite annoying consider have to answer those over and over again, but see the bright side it shows they are caring. Heh, or busybody -> for aunties.

Feel like it’s yesterday only when we all were in the Christmas and New Year mood and now Chinese New Year is around the corner already! Just 10 days away.

Can’t wait to be home as the last time I went back was post-chinese-new-year last year, which was on March. Missing the food so badly and of course family & friends. Haven’t meet my grandparents and dearest friends for quite some time, since last year March actually. Miss them 100x.

CNY is equal to spending season as well. Buying or baking cakes, cookies, family reunion dinner, red pocket, decoration, buy new kamik rain boots, new dress, blablabla. Almost the same like how western people celebrate Christmas I guess.

Anyway, aside from spending, CNY is also a clear-things-off season (for me). There is an old saying or rather belief: if you owe someone (stuffs, money, etc), please return it before Chinese New Year or else you’ll continue to owe people (financial problem or bad luck) throughout the year, something like that. I guess it gives exception to long term loan like house and car.

I always keep to the saying closely, although I know that it’s just a belief and no real statistic proof whatsoever. But it’s a good practice, can take it as a “cleaning season” once in a year. Now I’m trying to dig my memory of things that I owe people, hmm…

Welcome to the year of OX!

The day didn’t start so well but luckily things started to get better after that. When boyfriend’s hometown is greeted by Mr.Flood, whom never fails to visit them yearly, Medan itself is freaking hot that I wish to keep myself in the fridge. Seriously.

Anyway, flash back to last night (Chinese New Year eve) when we had the worst reunion dinner ever at the restaurant of Emerald Garden Hotel.

The foods s*cks to the max. I never thought that it could be oh so worse. Sigh. I would be more than happy to have a relaxing reunion dinner at home with Mum’s cooking or at Delima Restaurant, if not because somebody has ordered a place at Emerald Garden for the big family.

We ended up having a supper at the road side stall behind Hongkong Plaza. It is probably the best and the most delicious fried rice in Medan.

Anyway, coming back to this morning.

After breakfast yadayada, we went to Maha Maitreya temple at Cemara Asri.

Went inside to light up candle and stick a few wishes around the candle.

Pray for a better year and peaceful world. Btw, I saw less and less people was wearing red clothes. It used to be a MUST but not anymore.

I also wrote a few wishes and hung it on this tree.

The above was the wisdom quote that I received from blind-picking it from the Buddha’s bowl (something like that).

After that, we went back, had lunch, my aunties came with the cousins for a few hours, continued to watch the Korean drama, went to Grandma’s place, went to a close-relative’s place, had our dinner at Nelayan Shanghai Kitchen – Sun Plaza, and came home with pain on my feet. The new white shoes is so not comfortable at all, but it looks pretty, how?

And, that is my first day of Chinese New Year. Now, I just want to have a damn good sleep for… let’s say 10 hours, can?

How fast time flies eh? Chinese New Year is just 10 days away. This year, Mum is in lazy mood to bake any fabulous-yummylicious-and-time-consuming cookies so we are going to buy them from cookies’ shop. However, we remember there is one cookies that we can bake ourselves, which is chocolate cornflakes. Probably it is the easiest-to-be-baked cookies, ever!

Prepare cornflakes and cut the chocolate into small pieces, melt the chocolate, stir in the cornflakes, place it into the baking sheet. Done! Like I said, it is very easy to do. Besides, kids like it, teens like it, adult like it too.

Now, I am counting days to Chinese New Year, although I don’t know what am I looking forward to. The excitement of receiving angpow (red pocket/money) is no longer there. There won’t be any big family gathering too.