My sister's Birthday!

25 May is my sister's birthday! In China, we usually celebrate our birthday's by having a "special" sweet noodles and eggs, so signify having a longer life. However, in Singapore, and especially at a rented place where cooking should be kept to a minimum, this might not be so practical. So I was wondering how I should celebrate my sister's birthday???

I decided to buy a birthday cake for my sister. She wasn't really for buying a cake as she has been trying very hard to lose some weight. Ha ha. She has been working non-stop, even sacrificing her one free day to work overtime for a little more pay, so it's been hard to find any time to exercise at all. I feel quite lucky compared to her... at least I still have time to go jogging in the evening, and even do Yoga! For her, it's like the moment she gets home at about 11pm, she washes up and go to sleep and then wakes up and go to work! What a life for my poor sister... but we are both glad that we have a job in Singapore, knowing how hard it is to work here with the reduced foreigner's quota these days.

I told her it's only once a year! We should not forget to relax once in a while, even while we come to Singapore to earn a living! And to ease her guilt, I bought a mango cake. While still a cake, it at least has some fruits and my sister likes mangoes! In a simple celebration, we both had a slice of cake when she came home late at night. I offered my landlord a slice and kept the rest for another day.

For her birthday, my sister dressed up specially nice. She put on favorite best dress and make up for the day. She also bought herself something from the place where she worked... a pair of new shoes! Don't you think we both look a little alike in this picture of her (center pic)? Her face is a little rounder but the features are similar!

Our family gathering!

While writing about my journey to Singapore, I'll intersperse my writing with posting of my current life back in China. This is so that you can read about my current situation as well. My journey to Singapore was already 2 years back in history. I hope to be able to submit enough articles so that my blog will catch with my current life... There's alot of catching up to do... and I'll probably take quite a few months before I can catch up to my current situation. Bear with me...

Last weekend was a special weekend for us. It was one of those rare weekends where my whole family was together; my sister, my brother and I, together with our parents. Living in the country side, most of us have to stay in the city during the weekdays to be closer to our workplace and as such, we don't see much of each other often. If not for mobile phones, we may not even hear from each other for a long time. Thanks to technology, we're able to keep in contact on a regular basis.

I love dumplings (饺子)!

Dumplings(饺子) is a favorite food in China and it is our family's favorite food too! We always make it on special occassions like these. My mother is good at making dumplings. They are always delicious and since young, she had taught me the art of making good dumplings (饺子)! So this weekend, we bought the necessary ingredients such as pork, vegetables and flour to make dumplings (饺子). Since there are only 5 of us and most of us can only eat about 10 dumplings each or thereabouts, it does not make sense for us to just make 50. We normally make several hundred and either give some to our neighbours and relatives or keep them in the refrigerator for future consumption. In the village, we are a close knit community and normally share what we make with others... and they share theirs with us too. We share the joy with each other too... like if my neighbour's children do well in school, we will all congratulate them... but often, we keep the sorrows to ourselves!

My brother caught a big fish (carp) in the nearby lake and so we had a good meal of dumplings, fish and rice for dinner! It's not just the food, but also the camaraderie... that I really enjoy! I personally had not experience such a family gathering for such a long time as I had been a way for 2 years and did not even have enough money to make it back for two Chinese New Year celebrations in 2009 and 2010.

I had a really great time...