Sunday, December 25, 2005
I left my waist in D.C - 8:59 PM
I left my waist in D.C. I used to have one, mind you. But as the holidays go past and the celebrations continue, the only thing I find getting thinner n thinner is my wallet. After all that razzle dazzle lights, trimmings, festive songs, what remains behind is a straight-cut fit from the chest to the hips. WHAT HAPPENED?!! I swear I have no clue!!!....ummm actually, ok I might be able to come up with a few reasons why.Well... it MIGHT had been the shiokalicious Thanksgiving meals in D.C, or it could had been the binging here n there during Finals week, or hmmm...what about the extras from Christmas right up to the New Year? Why do we let ourselves go so much during the holidays when its not as if we've been deprived the entire year? Ok, other than the exception of the turkey and Christmas logcake (n there's no really such thing such as a logcake the last time I checked in the US) which is associated with Xmas of cos, the rest of the goodies are available to us all year round.
If you look at it, the pineapple tarts, almond cookies, hay-bee-hiam rolls of Chinese New Year sit on the shelves of Bengawan Solo and the likes EVERY single day of the year, but yet we choose to piah and finish all within that 1 week in late January. Lim Chee Guan and MeiZhenXiang bak-kwa are ALWAYS there everyday, yet queues only start appearing a few weeks before CNY. Similarly, Kueh Lapis sit in the refrigerators dutifully every day, yet it is often forgotten the other 360 days of the year. Remember that gigantic whoot of Ham you had during christmas? It had always been there in Cold Storage. What about the overwhelming amount of chocolates that get pushed around as gifts? Hmmm...
So I pondered on that for a moment and decided that because eating is one of our most expressive ways of celebrating. In Singapore where our national hobby is eating and shopping, food has become a big part of our lifestyle. Especially during the holidays, we 'celebrate'- doesn't matter whether you're Christian or Halal, you overeat during Christmas just cos there are so many Christmas lunches/dinners/parties to attend. No matter whether it is a buffet, traditional turkey and stuffing or a very Singaporean BBQ, you eat, and have fun.
Whether you are Chinese or not, you still get the 2 days off work and school during CNY and of cos, JUST have to celebrate THAT. More importantly, we celebrate the love around us and be thankful for what we have on the table. Isn't that the reason why the traditional Chinese HAVE to have fish on the table during reunion dinner night? Because it signifies 'extras' in the coming year. What about the yu-sheng you eat on the 7th day? We honor 'Ren2 Ri4' and celebrate life. Oh, and that tang yuan and ba-zhang? Each holds a story behind and we acknowledge that.
On the Ang Moh New Year on the 1st of January each year, young Singaporeans like myself are dancing away in Siloso Beach. YAYYY foam party!! ummm...OK. I'll pass, thankewverymuch. So, Ruoying...you're 20 years old and yet you don't enjoy what your peers are doing, den how? HOW? It has never affected me in my past 20 years, what makes you think it will affect me now? Intimate get-togethers and spending time at home are my thing, not gyrating to horrigible music in a crowd who only knows boobs and butts. Besides, I'm sure a waist-less person is not really invited to such GETtogethers, don't you think? Though I don't feel as much for the Ang moh New Year than the Chinese one, I do think about other issues.
People often ask 'what are your New Year resolutions for this year?'. I tell them I don't have any, just because. Goals are necessary in the sense that you know where you are off to especially in the New Year, but yet I don't see a point in them because I believe that in that 365 days of 2006, I will gain new perspectives, new insights, new ideas and even new distractions that will maneuver me away from the resolutions I have set the previous year. Isn't that precisely our resolutions remain resolutions? And we quietly reuse them the next year, I know I did in the past.
But of course, although I won't say that 2006 holds new things for all of us because alot of them are leftover projects to be completed, broken relationships waiting to be mended, and overdue dues to be paid, I dare say that 2006 will be a better year for all of us. How do I know that?
In the turn of the New Year, I celebrate the start of greater things. Looking back at the past year, I believe most of you out there have (hopefully) seen more, learnt more, felt more. Use these newfound skills and knowledge to take on 2006, and use them well. There are still loads out there that we do not know, obviously, and why not make it THIS year to discover them? Often, we say 'sigh. yet another year has passed and I don't feel I have accomplished much.' I feel the same way too, cos there weren't much HIGHS in my life. But at the same time, I'm thankful that there wasn't any, if not many LOWS. My family is healthy and whole and this applies to my extended family as well. My friends are doing well in their various fields save for a few whom I believe are just going thru a rough patch and will get up shortly after. When it comes to the things I have, I have much more than an average person's.
And for those, I celebrate life.
Haven't we raced past 2005 relatively unscathed and most importantly alive? Ok, so alot of you are still unconvinced. Raise your hand if you feel that 2005 have been bad to you because you had SO many projects and assignments to do? What about those who have had to shuttle to school every day so early in the morning just for that damn 8am lecture? What about failing to meet expectations and targets and kena-ing it bad? oh, n those stupid uncooperative project mates. VERY IRRITATING RIGHT? No doubt I am a person who prides herself on all the goods she have done, but I am also the same person who believes that it is from our mistakes, that we learn the most.
If its not the case, why do we remember 'that time when I forgot this...then this happened and I die lor', and not for the other 10 times that you actually remembered? Therefore, even the bads of 2005, we should take into consideration, because with every failure comes a test of the Human Mind, Body and Soul - the self proclaimed being superior to all other animals when the baby of Man is the most vulnerable and fragile of all the other young of the Animal Kingdoom. It is the way the mechanism works, to test who are the ones who can survive in adversity and pull themselves together, from the ones who give up.
Having said ALLLL that, I have only one question left..... HOW TO MAKE MY WAIST REAPPEAR AH?! die la die...
Have a Happy New Year, people. The Best Is Yet To Come.