It was a tremendous trip to be back home in Malaysia for Chinese New Year. It was tiring but extremely satisfying. The anxiety and anticipation began when we were stranded in Changi airport for 3 hours (thanks MAS!!!) and only arrived in KLIA past 1.30AM. Nevertheless, all the frustration and anxiety quickly wane off upon seeing mom and brother greeting us at the arrival hall. A great big hug from mom was all that was needed to make us feel we are finally home.
The next day, we had breakfast with dad, taking in our fill of the different rotis and nasi lemak. Ethan is still enthusiastic with dad (one of our concerns on him not able to relate to anyone back home) and that made dad shed tears again.
Over the next few days, it was a frantic going around with Kellie to settle lots of chores that was long overdue. But every lunch and dinner, we try to make it a point to meet up with friends or relatives and have some of our favourite foods. Mom commented that we were like on a mission to catch up with all the long-lost food... well, kind of true. Thankfully, Ethan still has a Malaysian stomach, taking in all the hawkers and side street yummies without any ill-effect.
Beside food, shopping was also one of our 'to-do' list. We have actually prepared a list of items and were quite gladly that most of the malls were on sale. Kellie also had her 'once-a-year' hairdo and me, hehehe... once a year hair colored :)
Needless to say, being able to catch up with my basketball kaki was one of the highlight for myself, and Kellie truly values her time with her own family. I also spent quite some time with Ken in catching up on KJL outstanding issues and also some stuff that he was managing for me while I'm away.
Besides the 'work', spending time with Ken and family makes the trip even more worthwhile. The highlight was when I brought him to a Thai massage and he was like a small kid trying his first ice-cream. On the way to the place, he cheekily told everyone he met (including MY friends and the receptionist and the masseur) that it was his first time.
Due to the schedule of Feb, we only managed to attend one ECF service. Walking into the church, it feels the same as I walked into my own KL home. Seeing all the church friends does feels like brothers and sisters. Just a bummer that we only managed to catch up with Ps. Tim and some other leaders for a short time.
When CNY finally arrives, it was all relatives... but this time around, it all seems so, errr... peaceful on my side of family (Kellie's side has always been peaceful)... there's no bickering and gossiping about others, just genuine 'good to see you' feel. I guess everyone is too old to be bother anymore or the bad apples are no longer around. We also had a very fruitful time mahjong-ing with Kellie's mom and sisters. Meeting Johnny (Poh May's hubby) for the first time also gave both us a very comforting feeling as he seems to be a good husband.
The month went by so quickly... but we look forward to another week with mom and bro in Gold Coast
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