From Changi to Chek Lap Kok

Greetings, dear reader

I had been meaning to get this post up for a few days now but just haven't had time to get around to it. I am now in Hong Kong, and after a chilly first few days, the weather is starting to warm up. Now I'm just hoping that the fog will lift so I can go visit the Peak before I leave next Friday!

I have a lot to cover so again I'll try to keep things brief. Chinese New Year (coinciding with Valentine's Day) was fantastic, meeting up with aunts and uncles and cousins whom I hadn't seen in a while, and getting lots of lai see (New Year money). In the evening, I went with some of my cousins to Kluang Mall, an impressive shopping complex opened in December 2008. I'm sure Mum will be keen to check it out when she next goes back to visit.

On the second day of Chinese New Year (初二), it is customary for wives to visit their parents. So I followed Auntie Chia Eng (my 阿妗) and the family to meet her mother in Muar, about two hours drive west of Kluang on the way to Melaka. Auntie Chia Eng's mother reminds me very much of my grandma - they are both in their mid-80s and still physically active - and I understand now where my 阿妗 gets her drive and energy from!

The following day, my last full day in Malaysia, my Third Uncle (三舅) held an open-house banquet for the entire family at his place. Unfortunately, the caterers arrived a little late because they got mixed up with another street of the same name! But eventually the food arrived and we all had a good time.

I was driven back to Singapore after lunch the next day. The trip was surprisingly smooth and I arrived back at my cousin's flat earlier than expected. I was thus able to contact Auntie Irene and arrange for another get-together dinner with the Singapore relatives before flying off in the morning. Since they are related to my grandpa, who is turning 100 this year (according to the Chinese calendar), I'm hoping some of them can make it to Australia for the celebrations later this year.

The trip to Hong Kong was a little more crowded than the flight to Singapore, and I was in for a few surprises on the landing. The first was the announcement that the weather outside was only NINE degrees Celsius, which had me panicking as I had not packed much warm clothing. Auntie Patsy has since joked that I brought the cold snap in with me! The second was during the landing itself. Because the main runway of Hong Kong's airport juts out into the sea, I did not see any land until a couple of seconds before we touched down and seriously thought for a moment, "Are we going to land ON THE SEA?"

Hong Kong International Airport (also known colloquially as Chek Lap Kok Airport 赤鱲角機場) is one of the busiest airports in the world, but fortunately navigating my way to immigration and baggage claim was quite easy - just follow the big crowd and the signs. And of course, Auntie Patsy was waiting to pick me up at the arrivals gate.

Getting to Auntie Patsy's place from the airport was quite a journey. With Uncle Eddie at the wheel, we crossed three bridges, passed under two tunnels and - once on Hong Kong Island - went up a series of steep, narrow and winding roads until we arrived at Fairmont Gardens on Conduit Road.

In my next post, I will catch up on what I've been up to so far. In general, my time in Hong Kong will be spent sightseeing, shopping, and inquiring after English teaching positions. It's not exactly going to be an idyllic vacation, but it will definitely be a fruitful one, especially if I can land a job before I go back to Melbourne.

Cheers and God bless

Jeremy

Chinese New Year greetings from Malaysia

Greetings, dear reader

I am now in Malaysia and have just finished helping Uncle Seng Chong (my 阿舅, Mum's oldest brother) and cousins set up decorations around the house for the New Year, which is now only a matter of hours away. As I am a "tiger", this coming year has special significance for me, and I am so excited to celebrate it in a country where Chinese New Year is a recognized public holiday.

I had a wonderful two days in Singapore, catching up with Jenny over dinner at a nice Japanese restaurant in the Orchard district, and then spending the day going around Singapore with Auntie Irene (who is technically one of my distant cousins but because she is much older than me, I feel more comfortable addressing her as 'Auntie' Irene) before we met for dinner with my distant niece Diana (also older than me), who recently finished her studies in Australia.

I departed Singapore with my cousins late yesterday afternoon, after they had all returned from their half-day at work and packed their bags. The trip back to Kluang - my Mum's hometown, about one-and-a-half hour's drive up from Johor Bahru - ended up taking around four hours! Although Friday traffic on the Causeway is normally quite heavy, this particular Friday was part of what we Chinese call chun yun (春运), that time of the year when Chinese people go back to join their families for the New Year festivities. In addition, I was required to re-write my entry form at the Malaysian border, as new ones had been issued at the start of the month.

On this evening, Chinese families across the world will gather together for a sumptuous feast called tuan nian fan (团年饭). The dinner I shared with my uncle and cousins was quite sumptuous indeed - STEAMBOAT with vegetables, tofu, and various fish paste stuffs.

Tomorrow, I look forward to catching up with the rest of my aunts and uncles and cousins, getting more 红包 (hong bao - red packets of extra spending money for Hong Kong!) and eating more delicious food!

OK, that's it for now. With a big GRROOAAAARRRRR to scare away the evil spirits, I wish you all a very prosperous and blessed Year of the Tiger, cheers and God bless!

Jeremy

I'm in Singapore!

Greetings, dear readers!

I am writing to you from my cousin's place in Bukit Batok in the west of Singapore. A sincere thank you to those who prayed for my safe passage, it was a smooth ride all the way. I flew in the Airbus A380 for the first time and it was quite enjoyable. There were only a few passengers in the plane so I had lots of room to spread myself out. My only complaint was that I chose a seat near the wing, which is quite bulky, so I couldn't catch a good glimpse of the night lights of Singapore during the landing, which for me is one of the pleasures of arriving in Singapore at night.

Acclimatizing to the humidity has been easier this time round, due mainly to the fact that Melbourne is experiencing similar weather to Singapore at the moment (although not as humid). I am only going to be here for two days, because on Friday I will be heading into Malaysia with my cousins for what should be an exciting weekend of New Year festivities.

Just a few hours ago I went to a nearby mall to purchase a microSD memory card for my Samsung phone and have been fiddling around learning how to use it, which will come in handy for storing the massive amounts of photos I will be taking. Tonight I will be catching up for dinner with Jenny, an old friend who attended my church when she was living in Melbourne, and is now working for a media company in Singapore. Until then, I don't really have much to do, so after lunch I'm going to take a ride on the world-famous MRT to Orchard Road to see just how big Singapore's Borders Bookshop is. Should be fun!

OK, that's it for now. I will provide updates soon.

Cheers and God bless

Jeremy