There are people with fiery hearts. What they say can make you feel like burning up. You can feel your ears get hot as CNY weather and as sweat goes down your forehead in torrents, you flush.

Temperature II

There are others with icy hearts and stony faces. When you’re with them your heart stops beating. Your mind goes blank. You find it hard to think. So you stand there

just

frozen.

Temperature III

But thank God for the warm hearts. When you meet them, you feel your heart melt. In a nice way. It melts gently and tenderly. You feel like opening up. The walls between you and that person disappear.

We actually left the house on the 26th (Boxing Day) at 6.30 p.m., but arrived at 1.20 a.m. the following day. Technically.

We had to pass some customs and immigration officers, both Malaysian and Singaporean. But it took a long time to pass them because the line was so long. There were too few counters in the Malaysian immigration. The forms that Mom had filled out to present to the Singaporean immigration officer were outdated versions of the forms so Mom had to fill them out all over again.

By the time we got to the place we were staying, it was 2 a.m.

to be continued…

lol

Shock 1: Violin exam results.

Shock 2: Onysha is a REAL name. My mom gave me that name thinking she and dad made it up by changing the word onycha just a little. Switching the “c” for an “s” seemed like a name fit for me in her point of view. Then one day I typed my name into Google and bam! comes this result with a pdf of a book of baby names.  Turns out, Onysha is a variant for the name “Onesha,” meaning a “patient woman.”

Shock 3: Before my mom decided to call me Onysha, she was considering the name “Cassandra.” Yuck. I beg your pardon, those of you with the name of “Cassandra.”  I’m sorry but I just CAN’T picture myself with that name. It’s impossible.

I went to Junior Orchestra with my Mom and I saw my teacher, Mr. Hao, parking his car, as w got off our car. All of a sudden he said, “Congratulations Onysha!”

I was surprised. So far not much had happened to congratulate me about. I asked, “About what?”

Mr Hao looked absolutely wonderstruck. “You exam lah! You got 130 marks.”

Mom and I still didn’t get it. “So.. what does that mean?”

“Distinction lah!” Mr Hao was probably amazed that we were so “blur.”

“WHAT!!!???” Mom and I exclaimed. At the same time.

Well… this is definitely a hilarious memory I’ll cherish. Maybe I’ll remember it forever.

The New Friend at Midnight

Puck, puck, puck, puck puck! Went the firecrackers. BOOM! Went the fireworks.

“Hey, man,” said a small kid.

“Hey, man,” I replied.

“HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!” he shouted.

“Happy new year to you too,” I grinned.

“Woahhhhhh…….” he said, while pointing at some fireworks, “hou lang.”

“Yep. They’re pretty.”

A floating lantern drifted nearby, and the small boy pointed up again. “Wah! Another one!”

Then he started chatting with my youngest sister. Then he looked at a neighbor’s house and squealed, “Close your ears!” Firecrackers were about to be set off! We closed our ears and saw the firecrackers burn up. One bit of it hit my foot, but it wasn’t hot.

After the firecrackers, the same neighbors built an offering that looked like an upside down red-colored pail and he said, “Fire in a pail!”

Soon after, we went home, seeing us get into the car, he asked, “You live far away?”

“Not really, almost 15-minutes drive.” I answered.

“Oh… Bye!

Mahjong!!!

Yay! My sister learned how to play Mahjong! I won 6 games of Mahjong this year.

 

 

 

http://jugglersblah.blogspot.com/2011/01/200111.html