Chap Goh Meh

I've never attended any tossing-of-mandarin-oranges event before.

Back in those days, single maidens threw the mandarin oranges into the river, on the 15th day of the lunar new year, hoping that the gentleman who scoops them up, some where along the river, would be destined to be their future husband. These days, we find our own destiny. Single women write their names and contact numbers onto the mandarin oranges and throw them in the direction of the men of their choice. The men would eventually scoop them up, hoping that the woman that they called would be on the good looking side. Even if they didn't end up as lovers, they would still be friends.

This year, out of curiosity (and no, it's not out of desperation), I've attended one of those events at the nearby lake. It was full of people. Lovers enjoying the roses and the heart-shaped balloons. Friends enjoying the food stalls, the games and the wishing candles. Families were just there for the fun and the atmosphere.

The most crowded place was definitely the fountain side, where they had a stage for performances, lion dance shows and games. And so I jostled my way to the front of the lake to participate in the event. I'd planned to toss a few oranges, with my number on them, into the fountain and wait for some guy to scoop them up and contact me. Just like the age old culture, but with a modern twist.

What a disappointment it turned out to be. Entirely not the scene that I thought it would be. First, not many oranges were being tossed into the fountain. And I can clearly see why. The men were not outside of the fountain scooping them. They were in the fountain, picking them up. And the ones that went in were mostly middle-aged men, with huge bellies and their hair dyed gold. Second, they brought huge sacks with them to collect the oranges. For resale I presume. And thirdly, not only were oranges being tossed into the fountain, bananas were being tossed as well. Oranges representing females, bananas representing males. The concept was so wrong and it was a total eyesore.

If you'd want to know, I didn't toss my oranges in. This would be my first and my last time attending such an event. Enough for me.

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Privileged

A friend and I wanted to watch this blockbuster movie. Drove ourselves to Mid Valley Megamall on what alot others considered a holiday still. Arrived to find out the cinema hall was jam packed with people. The queue at both the ticket counter and the food counter was snake-long, which was not an unusual sight at the Mid Valley cinema halls. It seemed impossible to catch the next immediate screening as we had decided on a rather last minute.

But, thanks to a certain benefit entitled, we were able to walk straight up to the ticket counter and got our tickets purchased in a few minutes. It was the same treatment at the food counter. No queue. No cash involved. Good service. Left the rest of the crowd starring in envy as we would've already be seated in the designated cinema with the popcorns and sodas, while they have not even moved an inch. 

Sounds like an ad right? Well, it's not an ad and you'd get the very same treatment if you'd had one of these:

Yeaps. The GSC-EON credit card. Only applicable at Golden Screen Cinemas. Not only are there specific counters for GSC-EON cardholders only, the counters are even laid with red carpets. All you got to do is walk right up, skip all the queue, flash the card and you'd get what you want. Well, literally. Plus, there's a 60% off for every ticket purchase! For more details, please look out for their sales rep at GSC cinemas. I don't want to look like I'm selling the cards for them.

For avid movie-goers like myself, it is so much more convenient. I'm a "VIP" at GSC now. Feels like star with preferential treatments. Just like the ad for the card. Hah!

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Year of the Rabbit

Going oriental in the year of the bunny

By living in the city, we never really did got the real feel of celebrating chinese new year. Even more so when there are not many elders around to tell you what you should do and what you shouldn't. The basic stuffs would be just not to sweep on the first day, not to wear black, get the titbits ready and put on something red around the house. Even the reunion dinner was held outside, as oppose to preparing them and having everyone gathered around the dining table. Tradition is obviously fading little by little in urban families.

To be honest, I've never put on a cheongsam before. So it does feel good to be a little traditional amidst all the jeans and dresses. Feels more like chinese new year. It does bring compliments from the more elderly aunties and uncles. :)

And once again this year, we've found out that we had 'additional' relatives. A distant cousin and her family whom we've never met before. I have another 30 year old nephew. And we said nothing more than a "Hello, Happy New Year".

So, Gong Xi Fatt Chai. May the new year brings prosperity and happiness to everyone. Have a great year ahead!

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