And Then There Were 4....

The Chan family is back to being a foursome.

Cheryl, Miss Fancy Harvard Grad, has decided to uproot herself once more, to go back to her alma mater, in the hopes of graduating a fancy Harvard LAWYER.

Sadly, I'm unable to follow the parents on this excursion, as I'm a sad, working serf and unlike school where I could play hookey, I have no more leave to take.

Sigh, guess the next time I'd be seeing her would be December at the earliest. Or the next opportunity would be June, when somehow, I get myself a ticket to America.

On some level, I'm envious that my sis would be bold enough to leave her support system here, leave her comfortable, high paying government job, leave her apartment, fancy living, car...

To become a poor student for three years. Saddle herself with a huge debt, and only have the means to start repaying when she graduates at the age of 33.

But I suppose I'm being short-sighted here. Hey, if she becomes a high-paying lawyer, what's US$150,000 in debt right?

I'm not sure if I have the guts to make the same step.

I've kinda settled into a comfortable lifestyle.

And yet, sometimes I wonder if comfortable is enough.

Sigh.

CNY is bad for the waistline

Oh My Lordie, Lord, Lord! I think I've consumed more calories in the past 3 days than a small nation. It's disgusting how much I can eat when presented with really, really good food.

Let's see.... It was Jumbo seafood on CNY's eve, Sweet Salty Spicy on CNY day 1, Royal China on CNY day 2.

In between, we played mahjong at my mum's behest, which meant non-stop snacking.

And at night, there was Mac's and Canadian Pizza.

How like that????????

Oh, and I must say, nothing is sacred in my house. For some reason, Cheryl and I got into a word slamming contest, using each other's Zodiac sign.

It all started after lunch on the CNY second day, and for some reason, Cheryl called me a "crazy cow". (technically, I'm an Ox, but more on that later).

So that really fired me up, and in retaliation, a whole string of stuff came out from my mouth...

"Stupid sheep!" (technically, she's a goat, but oh well).

"Silly sheep!"

"Slanderous sheep!"

"Sala sheep!" , "Siao sheep!" (yes, at this point, we gave up on the English language)

Then remembering that she's actually a goat...

"Grotesque Goat!" , "Goateed goat!" (I especially liked this one)

She, whose vocabulary is strangely limited, starting yelling...

"Crazy cow!" , "corny cow!" , "crappy cow!" , "cucu cow!" (her Hokkien is so bad.. it should be kuku lah!)

So this continued until the night, and when we were having dinner, Cheryl lamented that "C" was such a tough letter to be rude about.

That's when Fadz chimed in...

"Callous cow!" , "Crude Cow!!!" (my own boyfriend leh)

And reminding all that I'm actually an Ox...

"Obscene Ox!!" (at this point, Cheryl fell off her chair in hysterical laughter)

Then my mum walks in, and being a horse, we had a go at her too.

Cheryl: hairy horse

Me: humongous horse

Fadz: hamsup horse

Geraldine: HORNY HORSE

My mum, as you can guess, did not laugh.

My Family, the Jokers

At dinner tonight, for some strange reason, we starting talking about weddings and all the idiosyncracies, craziness that goes with it.

And for some strange reason, it turned towards the traditional custom of getting the newly wed couple to eating something sweet and sticky, to symbolize a 甜甜蜜蜜marriage.

Not that any of us are getting married anytime soon, of course.

Mum: In my days, I was made to eat sweet mee sua. For you, I'd be kinder. Can eat 汤圆.

Cheryl: (continuing her Westernized, Chinese-eschewing ways) Told you my wedding will be free from anything cheena.

Me: A Krispy Kreme donut, I'd eat a Krispy Kreme donut!

(Cheryl and I start waxing lyrical about the beauty of a Krispy Kreme)

Mum: (after a long pregnant pause) Cannot. Got hole in the middle.

Cheryl: I can't believe we're having a serious conversation about this.

(after another long pause)

Me: Mochi! Japanese mochi!

(Cheryl and I continue oohing and ahhing about mochi)

Mum: (after careful consideration) Ok, mochi can. I'd fly to Japan and get for you.

Yes, my family is VERY into food. Definitely live to eat, not eat to live.

Why waste calories on something non-tasty?