CNY Reunion Lunch with my 99 year old grandfather
This Chinese New Year has been a rather tiring one for me. Those who follow me on instagram (@cherieladie) would have been wondering whether i was in Singapore or Malaysia on the eve of Chinese New Year because it felt that i as appearing in 2 places on the same day.
I was.
I asked my mum if they could have reunion lunch instead of dinner. I asked the husband if he was OK that we zipped in in the wee hours and arrive to have lunch with my 99 year old grandpa before zipping out to have reunion dinner with his grandpa.
with a stroke of luck, everything fell into place and that was the plan and i was really really thankful for it.
Lunch is a simple affair. Comforting home-cooked food, with some of my favourite stuff – fried leek with roasted pork, chinese sausages, white cabbage fish ball soup with fa cai, steamed chicken, duck and a lot more.
Happiness is simply dining with your family. I don’t get the chance to eat communal home-cooked meals like this often – maybe twice a year (?) and all the more it is a precious experience to me.
I also took the opportunity to take some pictures with grandpa. He’s almost a century old and I still have very fond memories of the days when i was young and staying with him. he taught me so many things, from the abacus counting to acing the chinese chess game as a small kid. It was a lot of fun, and i kind of miss those days where he used to talk a lot more and laugh a lot heartily, telling tales of his past.
I also made sure that we took a proper family photo with grandpa this time round. It’s not the most perfect picture (the kids are looking everywhere else but the camera), but there is so much beauty in this picture that its perfect to me.
The kids get the chance to bond with him too! I think Jerry kinda messed up my grandpa’s work station because there are many niffy little tools and items that are totally ancient and unique to the place. i have to admit there is a lot of charm at his desk because that is where i used to spend a lot of time exploring as a kid as well. Now that im all grown up, looks like my son finds it interesting too!
Ending the post with this last picture of my aunts carrying my sons. It’s totally funny! Both my aunts look like they struck lottery but both my sons look pretty unimpressed.
I swear it is simply taken in the wrong moment. The boys adore their grandaunts a lot!