Ho ho ho!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

It really is the season to be jolly. I'm back my homeland, surrounded by family and friends whom I don't get to see very often, there's no winter frost to bug me and I don't have to pay my own bills or cook my own food. It's too bad I only have 12 more days to enjoy all this. Oddly enough, I do miss London, but only just a little.

Eugene is in KL for the weekend. I feel kinda bad that I don't see him as much as I should, but it's because I have too many things to do. The round up to Xmas is normally maha hectic.

Apart from the truckload of family members from Oz whom I have not seen since 1999 (methinks), it was great seeing Yenni and Kuan again. They're probably my oldest friends, since we were introduced as babies and grew up seeing each other develop from nappies to flouncy polka dotted dresses (Yen) and Goofy hats (Kuan) and now, proper adolescent clothing :P

There's a family dinner tonight at the Shangri-La. I have to get some rest so I can be all bright-eyed and bushy tailed for the festivities.

The scent of familiarity

Home at last! I slept at 4 am and woke up at 8 am today. Talk about jetlag. The flight was lousy too. I normally don't have any complaints but this time around our flight was delayed by about an hour because of problems with the engine and cargo. Two hours post-takeoff, the air-conditioning decided it would add to the list as well. With all that trouble onboard, you'd think they'd try to make it up to us by getting the luggage out pronto. But noooo, we had to wait and waaaiittt and waaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiittttttt. We landed at 7 pm (Msia time) but only left KLIA at 8 pm. And I still have this awful wound from lip waxing to deal with...

BIRTHDAYS!
The December 19 babies:
1) My mum
2) Wei Ning
3) Amily

Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday :D

On Friday I told my mum that I'd "changed" my flight to the 19th because of an "assignment" I had to work on so I'd miss her birthday. I only told my sisters that I hadn't really changed my flight, but somehow the news spread to everyone else in the house. Luckily my mum didn't have a clue what was going on and I still managed to surprise her. Coincidentally, Heathrow was offering passengers flying to Malaysia and Singapore 600 euros, a night's stay at a nearby hotel + meals and a free 5 minute phone call to anywhere in the world if you deny your flight and hop on the next morning's plane instead (via Frankfurt). I would've taken up the offer immediately if it weren't for my commitments.

My house is full of people. My aunt, cousin's wife and baby have taken my room so Ming, En and I are camping out in the hall. We're expecting more relatives to arrive over the next few days. Looks like it's going to be a busy busy holiday. But for now, I'm just really glad to be back.

Counting down

Thanks for all the comments on my post about friends last week. I particularly take to what Dian said, probably because it's the most applicable to myself. The strongest friendships really are those which have seen various pitfalls and yet held fast through them. Sometimes I wonder how things would be now if Teresa and I didn't resolve our spat back then in Form 3. I'm especially grateful to our friends who stuck by us (uncomfortable as it was) and constantly nagged for a reconciliation. I remember the day I rang her up to speak to her. The "hello?" I was so familiar with instantly hit me with a plethora of memories. Of how we used to be the only two who would stand by the notice board during recess and eat chicken drumsticks and sip chrysanthemum tea without speaking to each other. Of how we were first introduced to each other two weeks into term by Prema in Moral class. Of how she was the only one who never had to "CHUP! I'M STANDING BEHIND XIAN!" because the assistant monitors were in practice last in the class line. Of her Indian-tinged "debatable" for choral speaking. Of her waddle. Of how everyone was on a continuing mission to make her less of the hard hitting tomboy that she was. So so many things. I couldn't say a word because my throat was tight with emotion and I burst into tears because I realised I'd missed out on 9 months of her life. She started crying as well, then all the sorries came out and by the end of the conversation we'd admitted we were really just two stubborn sillies and everything was dandy again.

Thinking of all this makes me think of KL. But then again, it's the holiday season and I'm often privy to a bout of homesickness at this time of the year. Sigh. Well I shall be home in less than a week. That's something to look forward to. London drama is tiring. I need my cuppa & chill, family & friends at home, mindless chatter and the Hyper Bishi Bishi championship to recharge my batteries. Soon, soon and very soon. Rawrrrrrr.

What's brown and sticky?

A STICK!!!!!!!!!!!! (oh Yiwennnnn)

Anyhoo, I did say there were alot of birthdays this month didn't I? Azlan turned 20 yesterday and Joey is 19 today. We presented Azlan with eclairs because he refused a cake. HAPPY BIRTHDAY you two!

Pensive

Lately I have been thinking alot about the friendships in my life that have gone sour. Sometimes friends drift apart because of distance and lack of communication and common interest. Sometimes it's because of the presence of a significant other. Sometimes it's because of an intricate complication that blows up in your faces and results in estrangement. Who ever said it was easier to forgive than to forget? I think both are equally difficult. Building close friendships are hard, but rebuilding bridges that have broken down involves a mountainload of effort.

Two children

She can see him, but only just
His back is turned to her
She's waiting behind for him to forget all but their game
It's his turn to catch her

She's reading the signs
The facial hair, the spoken words, the quiet when he's alone
She has to run through the night to catch up with him.

She imagined they'd always be together
In their secret world of wonky eyes and fingers and toes
The brash stubborn boy who made her feel unafraid
In her eyes he was beautiful.
But he's leaving her to hold her own,
No more to laugh and hope as two children would.

They were one and the same
Now his hands don't care for her tired tears,
The tenderness is almost gone.

She wipes her eyes and grits her teeth
Falsely believing she can be brave and face the storm
But her world is no longer pure
The darkness only wraps around her and closes her heart to the world.