Tuesday, January 27, 2009

East and West Celebrations

The first day of Chinese 'Niu' Year (26.01.09) is also coincidentally Australia Day this year. So while a minority of us Chinese celebrate our lunar new year, majority of Australians also get a much welcomed public holiday.






KK in new clothes, with his ang pow and a sweet.



I read that there are some debate ongoing about the appropriateness of 26 January as 'Australia Day' as it is the date of the arrival of the first fleet of Europeans in 1788, which the indigenous people considered as an 'invasion' of their land. Regardless, Australians are out in full force celebrating this beautiful day and to me, this is a day to celebrate the Australian spirit and quality lifestyle.








Celebrating Australia Day, the Australian way

As I wondered how to spend the day meaningfully, we were invited to go to the beach and have a BBQ. So the whole family woke up really early on this day to set off on an hour long drive to Kingston Beach with Sherin and her family. As we neared the beach, we saw that a lot of others were already up and about, cycling, roller blading, jogging or simply strolling with prams and kids in toll.

XX giving a push to KK

The beach slowly fill up with people, families with beach umbrellas, tents and picnic towels. It was a beautiful day, the sun was out and there was a breeze. Not too cold, not too hot. And I didn't perspire at all!! I actully enjoyed sitting there doing nothing, looking at the kids play. I don't ever remember doing that in Singapore. Just don't overlook the importance of sun protection. I had applied sun block but forgot about my ankles and feet and I'm now regretting it.

KK buried in sand.

We got home about 4pm and as XX took a long nap, I went about preparing for dinner. We had invited a few friends over for Chicken Curry to usher in the new year. Altogether, 8 adults and 3 kids visited us that night. It's really 热闹! Although it meant a little extra work, I really didn't mind as I enjoyed the company. Of course, having a dishwasher and a husband to vacuum the floor afterwards helps!

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