The one about still catching up...

So Chinese New Year came and went. Nothing major happened, so I'll just let the photos tell the story...

First day lunch at Jo's parents' place




At Yan's place on 2nd day for Hockkein Mee...

Ethan enjoying Yan's dogs...

4th day lunch at the Swimming Club


Dinner at Jhen Hean's place on Friday 3rd Feb... Ethan with Aiden (Alex & Sharon's)


Quite a few events went unrecorded as I had taken a hiatus from being the regular photographer. On Jan 31st (3rd day of CNY), we had a gathering for old schoolmates at Soho's which was poorly attended. We thought at least 20 people would turn up but the number was less even including spouses. Anyway, the roll call for that night:

Kian Hio & Jinny, Raphael, Henry & wife, Woei Der & Helen, Peter Sithamparam, Mei Lee, Sureswaran, Jimmy, Tze Meng, Jo & me!

Then on Monday Feb 6th, May Ling & her hubby Francis came up to Penang and asked us all out. Unfortunately, I had a prior bowling engagement and so Jo went to join Yan, Sue Khoon & Mel as they enjoyed themselves at the new outlet "Opera".

On Feb 8th, the chinese members of the Penang Bar Committee treated the others to a dinner at the Tze Chu-Lin Vegetarian Restaurant. It was a night of talk, talk and more talk. All the planning and scheming for the upcoming AGM.

Feb 10th, we had snuck in the compulsory mahjong night at Jinny & KH's place. So Sue Khoon, KH, Jinny & I tickled the tiles till late while my poor wife sat restlessly alone watching TV!!

The next night Feb 11th, we made up to Jo for her boring night before with a fun and intriguing drinking night out on Upper Penang Road. Yan, Sue Khoon, Jo & I chatted away while the alcohol flowed freely. Mel joined us later on to round up an interesting night indeed.

Feb 12th (Chap Goh Meh) - we all had dinner to mark the end of the Chinese New Year season at the Zhong Hua Restaurant at 1-Stop Midlands. It happened to be Thaipusam time as well and amidst the hustle bustle we sat down to a fairly mediocre meal but great company. All eight of us were there (Raphael & Carolyn missing).




That brought the Chinese New Year holiday break to an end. Have managed to catch up with the posts with just Valentine's day and events after that still to go. Will truly catch up soon! Till then...

The one about playing catch up...

Gosh! I'm so far behind in this blog that I have to just start listing activities and posting photos. So here goes:

Jan 4th - Mum's appointment at GH for her scan results. The specialist said things seem quite ok with the other organs unaffected. Looks like it'll be a fairly good operation - simple. Thank God. The doctor scheduled her operation for Jan 11th.

Jan 10th - Its Hari Raya Haji but more significantly, mum was admitted for her operation today. She seems in pretty good spirits after the meeting with the specialist. The operation's tomorrow.

Jan 11th - The day of mum's operation. I was in hospital early and saw mum before they wheeled her in at around 9.20am. Aunt Florence was there and stayed outside to wait. I left to do some errands and was back at 1.00pm. Still no sign of mum. It wasn't till 2.40pm before I caught sight of mum being wheeled out of the OT. She looked pretty good and was aware of her surroundings. Felt very happy about that. She was put into the HDA (High Dependency) ward - I decided not to spend too much time with her so as to let her have her rest.

Jan 14th - With mum recovering well in hospital, Jo & I could finally relax and look forward to a good party tonight. It's Melvin & KH's birthday function. Mel's birthday is on the 15th and KH's on the 16th but we decided to celebrate on a Saturday at the newly formatted Brasil 68 Restaurant. We had a great time with plenty of protein (predominantly meat buffet) and the alcohol flowed freely at dinner. We were serenaded by "Bruno" a Cuban who it seemed was skilled in Salsa and other Latin American dances.

The music plays on...

Naomi's starting a Brasilian Wave...

The two birthday boys...

The guys...

The girls...

Opening their pressies...

Not to let a good night die out, we progressed to a Karaoke session at the Swimming Club. Needless to say, the alcohol poured, the rhythms got us, the vocals were inhibited and the juices flowed. It was a memorable night for us all indeed!

At the Swimming Club, just warming up...

Hey, there's too many candles!!

Yan crooning away... help!

Discussion amidst the soothing voices...


Jan 16th - We met up at our house to have a much lower key and small celebration for KH's birthday. Since it was his BIG 40th, we thought a simple gathering of good pals on his real birthday was the way to go.

All cosy on the carpet...

Sue posing by our brand new bar!

Jo & Jinny

KH turns 40...life begins!

One for the album...


Jan 18th - My bowling league starts again. We have a new member Roger Foong. So its Simon Tan, Jimmy Gay, Chirt Kye, Andrew Lim, Roger & myself who make up "Priority Lane".

Jan 22nd - After a quiet Saturday with the Tans (KH & Jinny), Sunday was significant cos mum was to be discharged today! After making sure mum was comfortable at home, Jo and I headed off to Brasil 68 for our...you guessed it...Salsa dance class. It was kinda fun. Wished I had taken some photos but then they may have been embarassing too! Still, Jo was picked by Bruno to be the best dancer. Always knew my sweetie had the rhythm and style! We ended with Bruno and his girlfriend Kelly giving us a demo of some Latin moves.

Jan 28th - The week leading to Chinese New Year had been hectic to say the least. That had made the holiday break all the more desirable. So as that sense of urgency hightened and slowly subsided, and as the roads emptied, we got ready for our annual steamboat dinner. Perhaps I'll leave it to the next post to tell more...