happy chinese new year peepz!!! i hope everyone has their ample share of red pakets and ba kwa and all sort of sweet and fattening goodies!!! haha!!!
went over to my grandma's yesterday for my reunion dinner. my uncle and aunt were there too. however my mom decided to visit her mom in malaysia, so our family runion dinner aint that all complete. but ah well. its not like it is a bad thing. my other grandmother over in Kedah is aging, so i understand my mom's desire to visit her. well, my paternal grandmother seemed well yesterday, and i am very happy. she did not complain about her poor health nor nag at my brother about his yellowing teeth, nor ask why i did not major in accounting. it was a very nice and pleasant gathering. and i was very pleased.
one wierd thing for me was that, because i had been staying in the hostel for about 2 weeks now, without going home even once, i felt very happy when i saw my dad and my brother. its like i missed seeing them, even if it was for 2 weeks. i wont say much about my sister cos i see her almost everyday. it was a little funny. cos i imagined that this would be the sort of feeling for future gatherings when the children have all grown their wings and flown away to set our new nests away from the home we grew up in, and meeting only 3 or 4 times a year on special occasions.
so today, on chinese new year, my dad had to work and my mom is still in malaysia. so left the three children to fend for themselves. all i did the whole day was to do what i usually do every year on chinese new year, eat, sleep and watch television. haha!! how productive. this is because i have no relatives to visit and most of the shops are closed and i presume all my friends have their own relatives to visit.
its a good break from all work though. i refused to think about work, even though the thought that all this pile of work still exists and remain there for me to clear is till at the back of my mind. and i got a few panic attacks throughout the day. a clear sign that i am a workaholic who just cannot relax. haha!!
anyway, on days like these, i usually become nostalgic and do nostalgic stuff, like go through my old stuff, or read my diary. today, i watched this cartoon series i have since about 4 years ago. no, its not transformers, unfortunately. its this anime called FRUITS BASKET. its about an orphaned girl who got to associate with this family whose members are cursed by the spirits of the chinese zodiac. they change into animals when they get hugged by the opposite sex. i love the show. i watched from the first to the almost last episodes (i lost the last vcd) and i cant help feeling so heart warming. for some of you who know the show, i know the show is very "girl" (japanese anime and manga are stereotypically divided into those for 'girls' and those for 'guys'. very sexist i know) but its really a very humourous show about relationships, and being accepted by others, and opening up to others. its about love and how one should handle it. its really good. i love the soundtrack especially. i am not afraid to admit it, but it is one of the rare cartoons that got me crying no matter how many times i watched it.
there are two episodes especially that i love. basically, all these people who have the curse (they turn into animals) are excluded from love and social life. and they all yearn to be accepted by "normal" people, to play with them, to have relationships with them. the show brings out their agonies and sadness. until this girl called HONDA TOHRU comes into their life. she is the innocent, sweet, blur, undiscriminating, earnest and oh so cute protagonist who changes their lives by accepting them and enthusiastically wishes to know them. she becomes their beacon of hope and comfort in a world where they are shunned and excluded. there is one episode where Hatori, the cold unfeeling doctor was moved by his assistant, Kana (who was unaware of the curse) and inevitably they fall in love. he discribed her as the 'warm spring breeze' who melted the snow in his heart and 'ten years of happiness had come all at once.' it was a beautiful romance. and this was despite her eventual discovery that he turns into a sea horse (in japan, the sea horse is a representation of the dragon) but she accepted him for she loved him and she wanted him to accept her as well. this was a big and moving moment in the show. until of course, the head of the family, Akito, a miserable, terrible bully (dun ask why, he just was) objected to their marriage and blamed kana for her inability to life the curse. he broke a vase and the fragments blinded one of Hatori's eye and Akito blamed Kana for that too. in the end, Kana got very ill for she blamed herself for everything. then Akito convinced Hatori to erase her memory (Hatori had the ability to erase memory. dun ask why, he just had it), for what was making her ill, was the memory and love she had for him. then there was this scene of snow falling, then both Hatori and Kana were alone in a room, crying and sad, as Hatori erased her memory. she was crying and said, "i am sorry i could not protect you", and as Hatori, at the moment when he zapped her memory, teared and said "i am sorry i could not protect us", then the background music seemed to be the saddest thing you would have ever heard in your life.
of course, i cried. and my nose ran. and felt soo damn sad.
if you were to watch the show, watch it for this scene. i guarantee you, the girls will cry buckets and the guys, if you have any feelings at all, will surely tear.
i will tell you guys the other episode another time.
went over to my grandma's yesterday for my reunion dinner. my uncle and aunt were there too. however my mom decided to visit her mom in malaysia, so our family runion dinner aint that all complete. but ah well. its not like it is a bad thing. my other grandmother over in Kedah is aging, so i understand my mom's desire to visit her. well, my paternal grandmother seemed well yesterday, and i am very happy. she did not complain about her poor health nor nag at my brother about his yellowing teeth, nor ask why i did not major in accounting. it was a very nice and pleasant gathering. and i was very pleased.
one wierd thing for me was that, because i had been staying in the hostel for about 2 weeks now, without going home even once, i felt very happy when i saw my dad and my brother. its like i missed seeing them, even if it was for 2 weeks. i wont say much about my sister cos i see her almost everyday. it was a little funny. cos i imagined that this would be the sort of feeling for future gatherings when the children have all grown their wings and flown away to set our new nests away from the home we grew up in, and meeting only 3 or 4 times a year on special occasions.
so today, on chinese new year, my dad had to work and my mom is still in malaysia. so left the three children to fend for themselves. all i did the whole day was to do what i usually do every year on chinese new year, eat, sleep and watch television. haha!! how productive. this is because i have no relatives to visit and most of the shops are closed and i presume all my friends have their own relatives to visit.
its a good break from all work though. i refused to think about work, even though the thought that all this pile of work still exists and remain there for me to clear is till at the back of my mind. and i got a few panic attacks throughout the day. a clear sign that i am a workaholic who just cannot relax. haha!!
anyway, on days like these, i usually become nostalgic and do nostalgic stuff, like go through my old stuff, or read my diary. today, i watched this cartoon series i have since about 4 years ago. no, its not transformers, unfortunately. its this anime called FRUITS BASKET. its about an orphaned girl who got to associate with this family whose members are cursed by the spirits of the chinese zodiac. they change into animals when they get hugged by the opposite sex. i love the show. i watched from the first to the almost last episodes (i lost the last vcd) and i cant help feeling so heart warming. for some of you who know the show, i know the show is very "girl" (japanese anime and manga are stereotypically divided into those for 'girls' and those for 'guys'. very sexist i know) but its really a very humourous show about relationships, and being accepted by others, and opening up to others. its about love and how one should handle it. its really good. i love the soundtrack especially. i am not afraid to admit it, but it is one of the rare cartoons that got me crying no matter how many times i watched it.
there are two episodes especially that i love. basically, all these people who have the curse (they turn into animals) are excluded from love and social life. and they all yearn to be accepted by "normal" people, to play with them, to have relationships with them. the show brings out their agonies and sadness. until this girl called HONDA TOHRU comes into their life. she is the innocent, sweet, blur, undiscriminating, earnest and oh so cute protagonist who changes their lives by accepting them and enthusiastically wishes to know them. she becomes their beacon of hope and comfort in a world where they are shunned and excluded. there is one episode where Hatori, the cold unfeeling doctor was moved by his assistant, Kana (who was unaware of the curse) and inevitably they fall in love. he discribed her as the 'warm spring breeze' who melted the snow in his heart and 'ten years of happiness had come all at once.' it was a beautiful romance. and this was despite her eventual discovery that he turns into a sea horse (in japan, the sea horse is a representation of the dragon) but she accepted him for she loved him and she wanted him to accept her as well. this was a big and moving moment in the show. until of course, the head of the family, Akito, a miserable, terrible bully (dun ask why, he just was) objected to their marriage and blamed kana for her inability to life the curse. he broke a vase and the fragments blinded one of Hatori's eye and Akito blamed Kana for that too. in the end, Kana got very ill for she blamed herself for everything. then Akito convinced Hatori to erase her memory (Hatori had the ability to erase memory. dun ask why, he just had it), for what was making her ill, was the memory and love she had for him. then there was this scene of snow falling, then both Hatori and Kana were alone in a room, crying and sad, as Hatori erased her memory. she was crying and said, "i am sorry i could not protect you", and as Hatori, at the moment when he zapped her memory, teared and said "i am sorry i could not protect us", then the background music seemed to be the saddest thing you would have ever heard in your life.
of course, i cried. and my nose ran. and felt soo damn sad.
if you were to watch the show, watch it for this scene. i guarantee you, the girls will cry buckets and the guys, if you have any feelings at all, will surely tear.
i will tell you guys the other episode another time.