One year ago, it took me a long time to realise that something major had happened. I am talking about the tsunami. I mean, it's only later at night I went online and everything was clear.
I know I mentioned about the Boxing Day tsunami in my first of the unofficial series of what is big in 2005 for me but then I thought, I will go a little further here.
At that time, it took me long enough to realise the scale of the event and it was something for the first time, I realised people can be real vulunerable. And interestingly, it was this event that made ordinary Americans able to understand how the Boxing Day tsunami survivors feel when Hurricane Katrina hit their backyard. Also, it was also this event that actually saw the peace treaty being agreed by the Indonesian government and the Aceh peace rebels in August this year. Blessing in disguise indeed.
Now you know why, I don't see Christmas as something nice enough to celebrate anymore after that happened. It will be forever hanging over as 'cloud' over the whole Christmas celebrations thing.
Today's visiting at our relatives' place just so reminds me of Chinese New Year visits. Mother had said yesterday that her relatives from China had already arrived in Singapore and it's common politeness to meet them. Along the way in Dad's car, she explained a little about her China relatives (which I can consider them distant relatives to me) and it was also revealed when we were at our relative's place that one of her uncle and aunt had moved to Singapore and their young children can speak Hainanese (the family dialect from my mother's side) actually, other than the Mandarin. It's interesting after we had arrived there that I met this young girl who can reply in Hainanese to her mother (I suppose) and it's the same person when Mother (she was talking about one of her relative's background) was in the master's bedroom which her cousin owned the house. I was in the room then and so I knew of that.
Yeah, I did brought the fifth Harry Potter book with me. What can you expect when you are at a relative's place and you have nothing to do except when there are meals (if there are) and/or hanging out with your cousins? Now there are like less than 10 chapters left for me, I wonder now if I should bring that together with book six The Half-Blood Prince to our trip to Malaysia on Thursday. Because from previous experience when in Malaysia with my family three years back, bringing more than a novel to read while on your holiday trip is not advisable as Dad explained that people go travelling overseas for leisure is mainly for the case of sight-seeing. Dad knows well as he had jet-set many times all over the world, literally.
You know, I had gotten back the Discman today. I was commenting about it in the car on the way home that I may need it (I sound that way in front of Dad...heee) on the trip to Malaysia because we will be travelling by a coach. Now the thing is, I want to get Carrie Underwood's first CD. I want to have at least a new CD to listen to while on the highways of Malaysia and reading my Harry Potter books. This is what I call leisure, my friends. My own kind of leisure. Unless my mouth wants to behave, maybe I will have luck before Thursday and if not, I will see how. Actually I wanted to sound it out when Mother and I were at Junction 8 but then my mouth was silent on the matter. Darn, and I said I wanted a new corection pen instead (because really, I needed it) then. This has to be one of those sticky times. I'm not like many of my peers who will get whatever CD they like at their own will. I know many will be thinking I am a nutter or what but then I had been so used to the way how things go around in the house.
It's just one of those things people will never know and understand.
