On the 23rd of January 2012, the chinese celebrated the Chinese New Year and ushered in the year of the dragon. It's the start of a new lunar year. The year of the rabbit ended with financial crisis over in the Eurozone while the Japanese tries to resume their lives following the earthquake & tsunami. It's hoped that the dragon will bring the world its much needed prosperity.
Meanwhile for me, I followed the annual routine and the wife, kids and I made our way back to Johor to meet up with the in-laws. We had had the re-union dinner at my parents' place so on the first day of Chinese New Year we started our annual migration south.
This year the in-laws decided to meet up in Desaru, a tourist attraction looking out to the South China Sea on the east coast of Johor. It is a gruelling six-hour drive from KL. We arrived at around 4pm to the resort. The check-in process was slow as there was a sea of other people trying to check in/out of the resort. To describe the scene as chaotic is putting it mildly.
When we finally got to our room, I heard that the in-laws planned to have dinner at Sg. Rengit which is a good 20 minute drive away. The car was running low on petrol so I decided that I had better top it up before the trip. So out into the rain I drove in search of a petrol station. When I reached the station, it was jam packed with motorcyclists that were using the station as a shelter from the pouring rain. They took up a lot of the kiosks and I had to wait in turn with the other cars to fill up.
After the car was topped up, I headed back to the resort and barely had time to shower before we had to start our journey to the restaurant for dinner. During dinner we had the 'yee sang' and that was the end of the dinner for me. Since I have sensitve skin, I could not take seafood except for fish but lo & behold, the in-laws ordered shellfish or 'la-la' in Cantonese, lobsters and crabs. Delicious dishes if only I could eat those. So dinner ended with me still hungry and it's another 20 minute drive back to the resort where 2 cups of Maggi instant noodles waited for me.
As my wife's side of the family has a lot of members, we had to share a 2 bedroom suite with her brother's family, that's 8 persons in a suite with a double bed and 2 twin beds. Needless to say sleeping space was at a premium. So that night I could hardly sleep.
The next morning started with breakfast at the buffet table and after that we took the kids to the beach and had them playing on the sand. After the beach, it was dip in the kid's pool. Then it was time to freshen up for lunch which was thankfully taken in the resort itself.
After lunch we took a short nap back in the room and my daughter decided that it was a good time to catch a fever. Luckily we had prepared medicine for the trip but my daughter decided that she would throw up twice before we retired to bed that night and once was smack in the middle of dinner. So the second day's dinner for me was ruined also. Fortunately, that night I decided to sleep out in the living hall of the suite. I got me some much needed rest.
The next morning, my daughter was feeling all ok again. That was a relief but then it was time to check out and begin another 6 hours' drive back to KL. So off onto the highways again and we reached home at around 5pm but not before one of the lenses on my spectacles decided to plunge to its death and broke into two at the Air Keroh overhead restaurant stop. Fortunately we were driving my wife's car so she could take over the wheel. I had an old pair of specs at home to last me until I can get a new pair done up.
That was how I spent my first 3 days of Chinese New Year. It was tiring and not much fun at all. I did take my camera along but with all the things happening I took a grand total of ZERO pics over those few days! I'm so glad it's all over now and I can rest at home for a couple of days before starting work on Monday the 30th of January. Thank god Chinese New Year only comes once a year!
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