So much for the year of Rat, here comes Mr. Ox

My sister was reluctant to have her Mickey mouse decorations from last year removed... Gosh, they had been there for a year. I took them down and told her she can "recycle" them 12 years later! ;)

The year of Rat wasn't smooth-sailing for Rooster (me)... Even the last days, I was bugged with viruses. Flu, sore throat, fever and more... I finally gave up on the Saturday before Chinese New Year's eve and went to the doctor. I really dread being ill when I have to go house-visiting. So... fortunately I managed to welcome Mr. Ox with a speedy recovery. I wasn't fully recovered, but at least I wasn't having a temperature anymore, my throat was no longer swollen and painful to swallow!

This year it is very special that Chinese New Year actually falls over Monday and Tuesday, so there was lots of time for preparation over the long weekend. Unfortunately, I was bedridden half the time and didn't do as much as I could.

The first day was as usual, we parked ourselves at Grandma's house and everyone gradually turned up. It was a long day, sitting there doing the usual stuff (smiling, greeting the elderly, eating, watching TV). It was boring but at least it was the only time ALL OF US would turn up, 90% of my cousins were there (yes, I have lots of them!!). One of them whom is my age got married last year, and this year she's actually giving us Ang Pao.. which is kinda funny since she's as old as us or even younger than some of the bachelorettes.

The second day, we had a few families (neighbours, aunts, uncles, cousins) over. Poor mum had to get up super early to prepare the meals for all of them. Feeling exceptionally eager to help, I helped her with some of her food preparation and learnt a new dish - Pig's organ soup. The cleaning is quite disgusting, and I was shocked at how dirty the intestines were. Eeeew. Now that I learnt it, I don't even know if I want to cook that in future. I didn't have the soup at the end (probably after what I saw!). I tried chopping the chicken with a chopper too, but didn't do a very good job! :P

Speaking of the year of Ox, it reminds me my dad is almost 60. Dreadful.

On the third day, some people have gone back to work. I wanted to visit the temple (in the new chinese year of Ox) but mum told me that it was a holiday for God that day. So I went to a friend (a couple)'s place with Syn and was wii-ing and mahjong-ing till I almost missed my dinner time. Dinner was steamboat at home, the same thing over and over during the festive season. We had it on the first day too.

Finally on Thursday I headed to the temple, its surrounding was congested with lots of people. God has came back from his/her holiday and everyone was already asking favours from him/her. I can imagine him/her having a hard time. Normally I would draw a lot but I didn't yesterday... I only went to talk to him/her. I also found my favourite mini oranges on the way back... those small oranges are really sweet. YUM.

Here's some pictures to share - on the temple trip.

Crowds gathering around to buy BIG SWEEP tickets from a handicapped guy near the "big balloon Fortune God statue".

Superstitious people would go for a face-reading, palm-reading or have their date of birth analysed for the year of Ox.