Hello, I blog!
I share all my sporadic and toilet thoughts in here, because I am random like that.
Oh hello there, dear relatives!
Was originally considering whether to join the rest of my relatives at an airport send-off. I wasn’t really in a sociable mood and was very, very sleepy. All I wanted was my bed for company.
Eventually, I decided to go. And well, I didn’t regret it. It was only today when I realized how much I missed their company.
Uncle Daniel eyeing the snow ice dessert at Xing Wang Hong Kong Cafe.
Some interesting observations about hanging out with extended family members, or adults in general. (Well, that’s not to say I’m not an adult – but rather, hanging out with people one generation above you.)
1. They can ask you what you want to order at a cafe/restaurant. And then proceed to make a thousand and one remarks about it.
Aunt comes up to me while I was browsing the menu.
“So, what are you having?” she asks.
“Just having a Kaya toast,” says I – not feeling really hungry at that moment.
“Huh?! Are you sure? Is it enough for you or not? It’s dinner time, you should eat something more. I’m afraid it will be too little for you and blah blah blah …”
Well, she asked me what I am having and not what I should be having, right? -.-
2. The younger folks are always made to do the more physically challenging tasks. Several restaurants (including the one we originally wanted to go to) were closed at the airport, so the queues at the remaining ones were snakingly long. While myself and the younger cousin queued – for the entire group of 8 people – for almost 45 minutes, the rest decided to relax in some cozy corner somewhere with cushioned chairs.
Oh, the perks of being part of the older generation. Although I’m in no hurry to get there.
3. You can almost be certain that hanging out with a large group of extended relatives will mean that they will tend to over-order on food. Everything on the menu will suddenly seem more appealing when one is in a group, and especially so when you’re a fifty-something individual who is ravenous after the physically-challenging task of waiting for forty-five minutes seated in a comfortable chair.
Seems like my decision to order a simple Kaya toast for dinner was a good choice because … guess who ended up having all the leftovers?
Should no longer think twice the next time I’m given an opportunity to hang out with them, I suppose. I had fun, for sure.
Cousins united (among the din of kids)
Gee, it’s been such a long time since the four of us took a proper photo together. (Okay, I lied. Our last photo had been early this year – but this is the first one in a long time where all of us look decent.)
Sticking together since young – the awesome foursome.
Clockwise from top left: David, me, Jeremiah, Matthias.
I look really tiny here.
The above was taken during a double celebration within my extended family – my uncle’s birthday, and the 1st birthday of his second grandson.
As usual, I came face to face with so many people I didn’t know. But then again, since when do we attend a large family gathering and not find any faces we don’t recognize?
Apart from the usual members of my extended family who meet on a regular basis – there were vast amounts of people from what I call, “the other extended family” – namely, the extended family of my cousin’s wife.
Kids, kids, everywhere
Boy, “the other extended family” really did know how to reproduce! Look at all the KIDS.
They ran around the living room, screaming their lungs out, shoving toy guns and all sorts of thingamajigs all over the place. They fought over balloons. They pushed each other. They threw themselves on the floor and kicked and screamed.
One kid crawled under my legs while I was seated – which made me jump up and yelp.
And another stepped on Jeremiah’s foot – which was recuperating in a huge cast after a recent operation. (Props to him for not jumping and yelping, though.)
And boy. Not only are they rowdy kids – they’re a bunch of smart alec rowdy kids.
There was one occasion where I shouted (to make myself heard over the din) at them to play outside the house instead of around the living room where plates and cups are precariously stacked, and the adults struggling to watch television.
The response I got?
“YOU WANT US TO PLAY ON THE ROAD AND GET KNOCKED DOWN AND DIE, IS IT?”
– Kid in the orange sleeveless tee.
?!?!?!
Pfffffft, never heard of the garden and the backyard, is it?
More babies on the way?
I received news that a cousin (J) is expecting her second child. (Which makes the fifth kiddo from the fourth generation on the way.) I’ve another expecting cousin as well – although I’ve learnt of her pregnancy much, much earlier.
And it seems that my reactions towards each pregnancy are becoming more and more varied.
Eight years ago, when I received news that my first nephew is on his way, my response was an enthusiastic “Oh my gosh, that’s fantastic!”
Two years ago, upon learning about my upcoming second nephew, my response was a mere “Mmmmmph!”
Last year, when I learnt that the third nephew was coming along, my response was a sharp squeak – “Another boy?!?”
A couple of months ago when I learnt that another cousin is pregnant with her second child (in two years), I reacted with a … “WHAT?!? You mean they’re so bored they have no other form of entertainment at night?!?”
And after tonight’s news? I leaned towards my mum and whispered “Whose condom broke?” Needless to say, my speechless mum couldn’t garner any response.
Later on, J confessed that she decided to have a second child because Little Joshua (her first child, now seven years old) wanted her to.
I immediately had mental images of Little Joshua approaching both parents and asking – “Mummy, Daddy! Can you two have sex? Pleeeeeease?” and couldn’t stop cracking up after that. Hehehehe.
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