How do you like my new background?

Let me add first, though, that this is not my intended background image. I wanted something radically fascinating yet simple upon a canvas of black, but due to the severe lack of grasp in HTML handling the best I could do is fix up my Death Note wallpaper. It looks well enough for me, so I guess I’ll have it up for sometime.

I guess it’s pretty weird to put up a post regarding the change after weeks of having it up, but I was succumbed to the exasperating haul of the inevitable coming of days, and those days happen to be the Chinese New Year.

I’ll get this down and straight; I don’t enjoy CNY. I used to, but in the recent years of increased fatigue, I generally prefer my holidays locked up at home with as many sleep as I want and as many hours I can get on movies, books and my PS2. Going around visiting relatives and strangers, and being visited in return doesn’t count down as comforting and relaxing on my book. Sure, there is the oh joyful gladness of receiving them red packets of money, which on fortunate times are brimmed with generosity and on usual times are dripping in cold touches of misers extraordinaire… well, they hardly add up to provide me a blissful and well memorable holiday of doing nothing and absolutely nothing.

(I understand that on those days of nothing and absolutely nothing, I tend to rouse up a cascade of “OMG I’m bored to death” topics and complain).

So, CNY. The big, ever populating C, going through their own N Y with crimson glory and insurmountable wishes of wealth and health (wealth always come first). I used to love CNY. I liked the fact that I’m getting new clothes, which will be the topic of a few talks amongst my relatives. I liked going on visits, meeting cousins and collecting ang pows. And then I enjoyed being visited, thrust with more ang pows and chilling with more cousins. Nowadays, things have changed.

For one; purchasing new clothes has become quite a drag for me, and I have developed a certain lack of interest in it (and it often reflects to me my ever increasing weight and waistline). For two; hanging out with cousins isn’t as fun as it used to. Back in the younger days we just hitch up anything fun and played till we’re bored (which never usually occur), laugh and eat. Now, with most of us all grown up, our communication kinda dropped (most times just spent sitting in silence under the banter of the adult chatter… which is the opposite of what it used to be) and playing something seems horrendously childish now. No, we just sit, chat if it’s good and stay silent for the rest of the day. Unless you’re someone like my bro, who can crop up any conversation with anyone, and the way I see it he’s something of a rare breed (too thick in the face, see, and they don’t market them like him no more… ouch kor just kidding… don’t bust my nuts…)

Anyway, CNY just don’t symbolise that, of course. There’s the spring cleaning, which ate up enough days just managing the un-necessities (dad’s fish tanks and stuff). There’s the decoration; hitching up the same old lantern and pineapple and perverted-looking boy holding up a gold bar. There’s the food (the best part of CNY), and this year I’m the har pheng cook (look! Perfectly flat har pheng with the perfect tan). Dad took a change in the snacks line-up by filling jars with sour stuff pregnant ladies adore, and the kuaci took a severe downfall this year with only one jar. The rest is standard pineapple tarts, chilli snacks, dragon meat, kuih kapit (or carpet, variations depending on grandma’s preference in the name) and them white biscuits shaped like animals… I forgot what they call them (this year, I found one shaped like a battleship. Or a very headless owl).

As usual; first day, head down to PJ and visit aunt and uncle, and during then dropping by dad’s aunt and uncle’s (in which brother gets set up with a distant female cousin… very humorous, and very unsuccessful to begin with). After that, back to Kajang and to grandma’s for dinner.

Second Day, i.e D-Day, where we get visited, and everyone’s up early to prepare for the feast (dad’s excellent chicken rice). Being maid-less this year around, we’ve reduced our guests to relatives only; friends and acquaintances are happily forgotten and left brooding in their loss. Food is only chicken rice, chicken and veges with complimentary soup. No chicken feet, friend ma yau fish in soy sauce, dark soy sauce chicken, curry rendang chicken and whatever dad would often throw in. Workload and hectic-ness down from insanity to considerably comfortable. Ang pow haul down 50%, though… but still, can’t complain.

I broke new ground this year by tackling the task of de-seeding the chillies without any form of skin protection whatsoever, which resulted in several hours of immense agony and some tears (yes, I shamefully admit… then I’ll just leave you to imagine the pain). My hand was throbbing, stabbing, burning and numbing. Good combo of pain. In the end mom had to take to me to the clinic because it burned so badly. It took 2 layers of different creams to soothe the pain; something salt, a bucket of water, a running tap and ice could not.

Past day 2 and the rest of CNY settles down to a calmly descend of tasks and troubles. Things would’ve been great if my copy of Rogue Galaxy (I’m in Malaysia, so you know what sort of copy I own) wouldn’t load any further down Chapter 7.

The time being, the best thing to do is just nothing. And nothing gets boring after a while…

Goodnight people.