CNY

I've have been celebrating CNY for 22 yrs now

Truthfully, I've never understand the true meaning behind CNY until recently

I am sure to every Chinese celebrating CNY would know that it's a simple celebration with closely related family members and a reunion where everyone meets everyone annually without fail

For 21 yrs, CNY has been just an ordinary yearly routine 

Basically we do the same thing every year

An ordinary reunion dinner at my grnadma's place, followed by stacks of DVDs for the rest of the days (violent movies most of the time) and of course not forgetting CNY visiting as well as red packets

Everything was the same every year until each and everyone of us could predict what we are gonna do for the following years and soon we got bored of it

Hence, CNY no longer possess any significance to our family

The spirit of CNY died off as years pasess by

Until recently, I truly understand what is CNY all about

It's such a simple term, FAMILY..

Being able to gather together and meet all ur close relatives is best thing u could ever wish for be it a reunion dinner in a fine dining restaurant or in that old house of ur grandparents'

Being able to catch up with them is a blessing telling me that I should be grateful

Playing a simple game like 'chor tai ti' and blackjack minus the gambling with a big bunch of cousins would make such a blissful memory

Watching violent movies on every CNY eve, a trademark of our family shall it be

Grandparents', Aunties, Uncles, Mommies and Daddies distributing ang pows is a great delight to all of us by the end of the day

Loud laughs and voices of everyone in the house providing enough joy to share over the festive season

Lastly, lousang, big prawns, roasted duck and chicken, cans of shandy, packets of kuacis and groundnuts, a basket of mandarin oranges, containers filled with cookies are the favourites of our family

That was CNY to me, what about yours?

I've seen all this coming to me this few days

At some point, I felt that everything makes sense after all

And I did not understand it until I am 22

I should be ashamed of myself, shouldn't I?