CNY 2020

It is sad but I have to admit that somehow I have grown 'old' and am bothered with image whatsoever.  I do not give oranges for CNY visiting because I do not eat oranges and do not want to bring home the exchanged oranges. I also avoid bakkwa and cookies since I am sure my aunt would be well stocked with these. Thus I will always try to find something unique to give in place of oranges or these traditional CNY stuff. I did not go for any CNY visiting last year as my aunt was in Australia but in previous years I had no problem finding a decent gift but this year wow.. everything was boring and expensive such as small tubs of cookies for more than $30 or things which are not in CNY theme such as Japanese dried scallops and snacks, chilli and sauce for meals/cooking, potato chips. To add to my headache, an aunt and a cousin (from another aunt) came here for CNY this year and usually they gave me angpaus so I have to return them something since usually I cannot give them anything without meeting.

After an evening of window shopping and another evening of actual shopping, I ended up buying a  jar of hae bee hiam cookies for my aunt here and kurobuta bakkwa for my aunt and cousin from Indo. My aunt was worried that the customs would not allow pork to be brought in so she opened the bakkwa for us to eat during the CNY eve dinner. Wahlao it is not as tender as advertised. I don't know how the hae bee hiam cookies taste but I can conclude that this year I spent a lot for not nice things. One thing to take note for future CNY shopping, now the CNY fairs end on the day before the eve so there is no more chance for last minute shopping on the CNY eve.

My CNY holiday just went up to the smoke. Instead of resting, I had to accompany my aunt :( Sianz.. On the first day of CNY, I refused to go to a distant relative whom they visited since I did not know that person. To make it worse, after that they went to Jewel. Gosh.. The hottest item in the news recently is the Wuhan virus and airport is considered the most risky area of the moment with the travellers. I saw my friend's facebook post that people were already wearing mask there when he flew back for CNY.

They did not call me for Jewel so I though I could rest for the day. After ordering my dinner, they asked me to come to MBS -_-" It was a waste of time to just wait 2 hours for the fireworks as my aunt got the timing wrong. I expect most businesses would close on first day of CNY but it was business as usual at MBS. People were wearing masks but majority did not. As we were waiting for the fireworks outdoor, at least it lessened my worry of Wuhan exposure.

We went to Jurong on Sunday and again there was no planning to agreed on timing whatsoever. Luckily I woke up before they contacted me and I reached a good 45 minutes before them so I had KFC for lunch as I was tired and did not want to stand up while waiting for them. We journeyed so far just for Ippudo Ramen and after reaching that my aunt did not really want to eat but she was more eager to take photos with the bowl decorations on the wall of the shop. Gosh.. My aunt did some shopping today so at least I got some free credit card miles hehe..

On Monday, they went to Tanglin Mall before calling me. That was good because I was not keen to join them to eat beef noodle there. From there, we went to Vivocity. My aunt did a little bit of shopping so I got more free miles. My cousin mentioned about Jay Chou-endorsed pancake shop which unfortunately already closed. We ended up having a meal at the FairPrice. Never knew the FairPrice here has the pork ribs, pork knuckles, and the eating area inside. Well I hardly visit Vivocity anymore so I am quite out of touch. They wanted to have seafood dinner at Punggol and I decided to go home.

My aunt and cousin are going back tomorrow so today was the last day to meet.  My cousin was meeting his friend but I heard nothing from my aunt until I ended my gym. Lucky I was contacted when my train was at Botanic Garden and I transferred easily to Orchard. If I was already at Bishan or at home, I would decline. We did not have dinner and we just sat outside Takashimaya to talk for about 40 minutes.

My CNY is over just like that :( With all the jitters about Wuhan virus and I visited all these busy tourist areas, I do not know how much risk I have exposed myself to. What a start to the Rat year 2020 which does not seem gonna be a good one.

Taken at FairPrice JEM.. If only I wore something better, I would sit in the middle to take a photo :(