As I am writing this, I am having some serious post-CNY blues and possibly a mild depression, which probably also resulted from having enjoyed myself too much during the 12 days I was away from work.

Chinese New Year this year wasn’t very much more special than Chinese New Year last year, but I guess with age, I tend to appreciate more the people whom I celebrate with, and I tend to ensure that my “presence of mind” was where I wanted it to be, instead of just passing by the days with little interest in things that didn’t really interest me.

A few days before CNY, I got news that one of my girlfriends’ younger brother had passed away. He was 27. I wanted to cry, not because I knew the deceased very well, but my heart was broken into pieces because this had to happen to one of my friends. The following days as we were preparing to usher into the new year, I kept thinking about how my friend would be coping and how unfortunate that many of us weren’t there by her side when she needed us most. And every time I thought how this could happen to any one of us, I fearfully shook my thoughts away.

My sister has left for Brisbane, though not before crying buckets, LOL. We arrived at KLIA a few hours before the flight and spent some time playing Truth or Dare at McDonald’s, which was funny and hilarious. One of us had to have his hair tied until his next turn, one of us had to do a Macarena (which was super funny) and I had to get a phone number from an uncle seated a few tables away from us.

I proceeded to Penang to spend the last days of my CNY break. I visited a CNY bazaar somewhere near Pitt Street, and the bazaar really reminded me of Jonker Walk in Melaka. There were a lot of stalls and people were selling food and drinks, books, sugar candy, and there were also mini stages where (older) people sang karaoke :D The highlight of the bazaar must definitely be the Khoo Kongsi building, which looked so majestically beautiful especially when the lights were all switched on!

The following day I visited Kek Lok Si temple before sundown and managed to take a couple of really nice photos of the temples during the day. Shortly after, at about 7:30pm, the lanterns were lighted and Kek Lok Si once again turned into this beautiful and colourful temple that people all over the world flock to during Chinese New Year :)

It has been exactly a week since I have returned to Kuala Terengganu, and I am sorely missing the company and fun I have had during my CNY break. I still go through the pictures taken during CNY once in a while and smile at them, wishing I had the power to turn back time so that I could enjoy it once again. But I guess the world doesn’t work that way :(

And since all good things must come to an end, I shall look forward to more greeeat stuff in the coming days :) I hope you too, had a blast during CNY and I wish you a new year filled with lots of joy, happiness, good luck and love :D