CNY Eve Hotpot

I found out that at least three of my friends have been keeping up with my blog. It's a funny feeling, both pleased and a little queasy as it's the first time I'm publishing online. But more importantly feeling happy out of sharing.

I went with a hotpot CNY eve dinner with Elian, Stefy, Kanica (I need to find out how to spell 'Kanica''s name!), Mike, Kanica's friend Andrea and her room mate. All of us are Chinese except for Kanica. I can't believe that Kanica only stays 2 doors away and this is the first time I talked to her proper. We had a great chat on the bus and her bubbly and cheerful personality is very likeable! Andrea and her room mate are Canadian-HK chinese. Andrea is pretty, looks quite typical HK-chinese and is very nice; glad to have met her.

It was a good dinner because there was hot soup! We had what would be called a "yuan yang guo" with half a pot of 'mala' broth. Kanica surrendered when we could go on for another 45 min and she was labelled the 'weakest link'...haha. It's good that she enjoyed the dinner so much when she didn't even know what hotpot is about before she went into the restaurant!

First CNY eve dinner away from home. There is not even a tiny festive sign here, except for an obscure poster with some CNY chinese food menu at the Hall lobby. This will be one of the more memorable CNY dinner yet, for good or bad reasons. I realise that the environment that one is in determines one's feelings about an occasion. Every year's new year back in Singapore feels like a real start of a fresh year- I would make some effort to make some resolutions (which I don't usually follow up), clean up my table and clear my things, and talk about new year plans with sisters. There is a real count-down and a feeling of having crossed on to the other side to a new year. But it's just another day here.

Anw, got to start working on my paper first thing tomorrow morning, by hook or crook!