Familiarity.

Red eggs (intentionally dyed ones, of course) can mean one thing - there's a birthday! The Chinese believe that it is a symbol of happiness and fertility, so where there is a birth under the roof of a Chinese, there are eggs.

That day marked an auspicious time for a figure in Chinese mythology (it slipped from my memory) and an early birthday celebration for Guan Yin, the goddess of mercy.

By 3am the furnace was allowed to run. By 7am, we were greeted by the usual amount of food in the kitchen, ready to be taken out for rituals. Red eggs, ang ku kueh (红龟糕) , fatt kueh (发糕 or prosperity cake), colourful fruits, bowls of jelly, duck, chicken, and pork.

Here's a different angle as the lens can't fit everything in. I wouldn't question the taste of the food either. After so many years at work and befriending the poultry sellers at the morning market, we are in good hands.

If I translate the word literally, ang ku kueh (红龟糕) means 'red tortoise cake', but I'd go with the description. That is, a kind of pastry with vibrant warm colours in the shape of a tortoises' shell. I've been told as a child that it symbolises longevity.

Food is an unmistakable art as well.

Weeks before the event, paper money would be prepared. I help out when I can.

As always, after that, they would be burnt as an offering. I've been having mixed reactions regarding this particular tradition. On the one hand, it IS tradition, and yet it seems to be contributing to global warming.

While the fire devoured the paper, and the heat sent the burnt bits flying in the air, we walked back into the house to divide the food. It left me pondering - everything was such a familiar sight. Only an unfamiliar thought burned into my mind.

Happy 20th birthday, Mei Shan...

Australia and UK are hardly antipodes (meaning they are not directly opposite one another), but the distance is far enough. While technology will do its bit, the next time we meet face-to-face will be quite some time away.

Happy 20th Birthday...I have a picture prepared but can't upload it, for some reason. It'll be in your inbox.

I'll remember the ten songs, the 'old town' Kopitiam and the S-U-F-F-L conversations. I can't wait for next time! The next adventures (beyond Titanic) and new days ahead...

i should delete this post.

Lately I've been feeling incredibly down. Is that normal?
It's the kind of situation where I sit before the laptop
hoping to finish up a blog post on a happy event
but no fine words come out.
I blame the mixture of feelings inside.

Rage. Sadness. Diffidence.
Confusion. All bottled up.
All brewed together.
Lethal concoction.

I should delete this post. It's starting to say too much.
And yet. The words came out too naturally.

Floria '10

I wanted to spend some time somewhere other than home, and kept asking if we could attend the Flower Festival. So last Saturday, Pa and I went to Putrajaya.

They have an indoor exhibition, which mostly displays floral designs. Apparently, some are 'masterpieces' by botanical artists from other countries; others are projects from local institutes.
It's amusing how flowers can act like colours on a palette. And while some are put together to please the eye, such as the cartoon characters above and the peacock below...

...others are meant to be abstract art. Supposedly, you can derive your own meaning and experience different emotions from it. Quite like literature, but I just wanted to enjoy them visually that day.

The title for this was 'Through the Looking Glass', maybe to create distortion like Alice's Wonderland. Or on the lines of that.

Anyone up for a 'green garment', fashioned from the freshest of blossoms? A guaranteed spotlight stealer and fashion statement, though I doubt they are refundable once it wilts.

That were merely glimpses of the indoors. Outside there were many more, all dressing up the earth with eye-catching hues. You can imagine this being a hot spot for avid photographers and green thumbs. A bazaar was held nearby, with plants, seeds and gardening tools for sale.

Everyone was busy snapping photographers and enjoying the view, but on one occasion, everyone stood still on their tracks. As the song begun, all eyes shifted here and there, looking at each other as if thinking, "What are we to do?"

Can you guess why? There is, I believe, only one song which we were taught to remain perfectly still as it is being played. Not that I object, just that...

...it was played out of the blue. *coughs* Speaking of the colour, how did they give that flower that shade of blue?

Anyway, the festival literally stood still for a minute, then everyone went back into momentum and continued on their own ways. I'll leave you to scroll on your own pace.

We had lunch at one of the stalls, which was tasty, or a better term Pa used was "Too tasty." There was a lot of 'Ajinomoto' (MSG) in there.

Then Pa took me on a mini trip around Putrajaya since I have little memory of going to a Flower Festival years ago. Beautiful, state-of-the-art, I agree, but everything seems so expensive at this side of town. I'll leave it here for now.

Court of Justice, Putrajaya.

An illusion, a shadow, a story.

"What is life? An illusion, a shadow, a story. And the greatest good is little enough: for all life is a dream, and dreams themselves are only dreams."

~Pedro Calderón de la Barca~

Last Friday, five of us went to watch 'Inception'. It's about the power (and vulnerability) of dreams, where a man can steal information from the subconscious mind while battling inner demons of his own.

We sat in our seats with our hearts racing as fast as the actions took place, leaping as high as the characters did off the bridge, and stopping with each twist of the story. Even at the end, the whole hall let out gasps of awe and horror. To find out why, just watch it, by hook or by crook. On second thought, don't resort to crook.

In short, I'd say it was one fantastic movie.

This was probably something many people questioned after that - do you think we're all in a dream? An illusion, shadow or story? At first, it bugged me all night. But I've came to terms with it. Although I believe that dreams can be prophetic and reveal one's emotions in it's metaphorical state...

A dream is a life confined to sleep.

Now back to reality!

Moonshine

Though very random, this captivated me one night. I'm not sure if you can see it from here, but the moonshine had an illuminating rainbow glow - red at the fringe and the other colours diffusing inwards.

Don't you just love the moon? There is mystery around it, the way it gives such an enchanting glow as it reflects that of the sun. I know I do.

Days pass by at such a confusing rate now. There are times when it simply drags on; more often they go by pretty fast. I miss college so much that even my subconscious mind is telling me so! For two consecutive nights, many familiar faces appeared in my dreams.

Before I go further, you should know that I think dreams can tell us many things about ourselves. To me they always carry meaning.

In the first, I met them in an airplane that had a restaurant theme for the interior with rows of long colourful tables. In the second, I was wandering through a shopping mall looking for a drink, and spotted them in different shops, looking for clothes or buying food.

Well, how curious that the moon should seem so poignant at this time.

I like being at home, but maybe it's a sign that I should go out for a while. In fact, coincidence placed an outing for me tomorrow. The fresh air would be good too! And the movie that we are to watch too.

That would keep me from staring at the moon.

Surpise(d)!

"Who else is joining us?" I asked as we hurried into Midvalley.

Simultaneously, I heard Jennifer say "nobody" while Pei Pei uttered "somebody". Something seemed to be in motion, but with it being only a hunch I decided to forget about it and just follow the lead.

And Jennifer was walking really fast! I thought about how she said she wanted to buy accessories today, and wondered why the hurry. Still, we made our way to RedBox and...

...a birthday cake awaited Pei Pei and I, with so many college mates singing the 'Birthday Song'!!


Before I go on, here's a huge thanks to Jennifer, Eevon, Adrienne, Sher Lynn, Pei Pei, Sher Min, Rachel Q, Jin Fan, Kimberley and even those who couldn't make it. It was so thoughtful of you guys for remembering and planning this. I miss you all as I type this post.

The surprise(d) us cutting our cake. Pei Pei's didn't know it was planned for two people.

While we had our share of cake (many wanted small slices to keep in shape for the ball the night after that) and lunch, we stretched our voice boxes as far as they could. Hitting the notes was not a priority - we had a blast!

This was from 'I Gotta Feeling'.

This was probably from 'We Are the Champions'. A lot of this, I realised, was familiar because it was something we did last year, right here.

I'll await the next time we meet. We'll have microphones in our hands, giving the songs another go, crossing paths again and again. Till then.

PS. Thank you for the photos, Jin Fan!