Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Chinese New Yr
Chinese New Yr
Back in the office after 4 days of hols. Felt great to have such a break although the time really sped by. And this morning, I really had a hard time getting up, my eyes felt like they were glued together. It was with much efforts that I stumbled to the toilet to wash up.
Can't say there was anything very eventful this yr, except for the fact that this is my first yr having reunion dinner without my parents, and this yr, A's parents & sis came over from China for CNY cuz my BIL's getting married after CNY. So reunion dinner was out, together with them at Roland. My first time meeting them...first impression: they looked like simple people, dressed simply, didn't talk much, really something different from A. But then perhaps, appearances may be deceiving, this I have yet to discover for myself and perhaps have no wish to. Haha. Heard that A's sis is a gynae, but I have actually heard from A long ago. I wonder if A appeared proud of her sis for being a gynae when she told my ILs, but when she told me last time, she certainly didn't appear proud. In fact, she appeared relieved that she didn't follow her sis's footsteps and ended up earning S$200 a month, working in the hospital.
As I mentioned, A's family is in Spore cuz my BIL and her are getting married after CNY, this Fri to be exact. So Piggy & I have to get them a gift. Well, to put it straight, we dun have alot of budget, so we only set aside $2K for their gift. To me, that's alot of money and probably the most expensive wedding gift I have ever gotten someone. It's another matter to mention that my BIL was extremely generous to us during our wedding, cuz well, our financial status differs. To him, $10K maybe just like buying a piece of cake, but to us, it is money that we will take a long time to save up. So if u wanna compare, I guess we can never match up and I actually dun have any intention to, cuz afterall, it's the thought that counts, not the "expensive-ness" of the gift.
So anyway, Piggy and I got A a braclet and a pair of earrings, which cost like $1128 or somewhere around there. It was just a simple bracelet and earrings, which actually I m not confident she will like, but then I thought we probbaly can't afford something that she will definitely like, so what does it matter? It looked presentable enough to us. And guess what, when we met up for reunion dinner, she had on this shimmery bracelet, with much bigger diamonds than the one we had gotten for her and it costs $7000! So of course, Piggy and I looked at each other and our first thought was our gift to her. I guess Piggy felt we should have gotten something more expensive, and he thought of going to exchange it for something else, but I told him, I dun think it's necessary, cuz firstly, the bracelet cum earrings already blew our bugget of $1K per pax and anyway, it's not like if we exchanged it for something else, it would make a great difference, cuz we definitely dun have money to buy her something more than $7K! So I feel that it's the thought that counts, cuz we did put in effort to make that trip down to choose and buy something for her. If she doesn't appreciate it, then it just shows the kind of person she truly is. And anyway, judging from her award-winning acting skills, I think that even if she doesn't like it or it's too inexpensive for her, I bet she wouldn't show it, cuz it would reflect badly on her and oh, she won't do anything to tarnish her own image, dun we all know it so well already?! Ha!
Sometimes, I really cannot stand the fact that she tries so hard to protect her own image, not that she has a fantastic one to begin with. Just to relate another minor incident on the first day of CNY. A came over with my BIL for steamboat, without her parents, cuz they were not used to eating steamboat and stuff and preferred to stay at home to eat the "dumplings" which she had made for them earlier in the morning. So my PIls very naturally asked her why she didn't ask them to come over? Of course, she related the same reason as stated above. But my PILs, being polite, of course told her that her parents can just come over and visit and that there's no need to feel "paiseh" cuz we are all family, so should feel at home with each other, etc. Then A started to complain about her parents (yes "complain", at least that's the way I see it), saying that her dad has a bad temper and that they were very stubborn and just didnt know how to enjoy luxury when they had such a poor life in China, that if they were so unhappy being here, she can jolly well just change their air tickets and let them go back to china earlier, etc, etc. To me, I think she elaborated so much just to NOT make herself look bad for not persuading her parents to come over. Yeah, no doubt, I think her parents are not exactly the most chatty or sociable of peoples, but then there's nothing wrong with that either. Cuz everyone is different, and you can't just expect them to change overnight cuz they are in a different environment. And not everyone is like her, as cuz you came from a life of poverty, when you encounter "richness", you just bask in the laps of luxury, like she does and forget about everything else. And being their daughter, shouldn't she show them some due respect, instead of "bad-mouthing" them infront of her future inlaws? I mean for me, even if I were to fall out with my parents or quarrel with them or feel upset with them over something, I wouldn't go and complain about my parents to my inlaws. Cuz after all, they are my parents, and I need to give them some "face" and show them some respect. I mean, how would her parents feel if they were to know that their own daughter said such things about them, no matter how true it may be?
And my BIL somemore jokingly asked Piggy whether he could bring A's family around when Piggy asked if he needed any help. I told Piggy not to offer any unnecessary help, cuz to put it bluntly, A's parents are my BIL's inlaws, not his. And if my BIL isn't free to bring them around, why can't A do it herself? Afterall, they are her parents. Singapore is so accessible and it's not like it's the first time she is in Singapore. And with the huge amount of money my BIL must have "bestowed" upon her, I m sure she can easily take a cab, book day tours and bring them around. It's not like my Piggy is so damn free, it's true that he isn't working now, but precisely cuz of this, he should be spending his time writing his resume and applying for jobs and not wasting time on pple, who are not even really related to him. And if he really has so much time to spare, why not go and spend some time with my parents, cuz at least they are his inlaws?
I guess I sound really unhelpful and all, but I can't help the fact that I dislike A. The very most I can do is to remain cordial towards her, but dun expect me to be extremely nice to her, cuz I think she is one damn bloody hypocrite, whose number one focus in life is money.
Can't say there was anything very eventful this yr, except for the fact that this is my first yr having reunion dinner without my parents, and this yr, A's parents & sis came over from China for CNY cuz my BIL's getting married after CNY. So reunion dinner was out, together with them at Roland. My first time meeting them...first impression: they looked like simple people, dressed simply, didn't talk much, really something different from A. But then perhaps, appearances may be deceiving, this I have yet to discover for myself and perhaps have no wish to. Haha. Heard that A's sis is a gynae, but I have actually heard from A long ago. I wonder if A appeared proud of her sis for being a gynae when she told my ILs, but when she told me last time, she certainly didn't appear proud. In fact, she appeared relieved that she didn't follow her sis's footsteps and ended up earning S$200 a month, working in the hospital.
As I mentioned, A's family is in Spore cuz my BIL and her are getting married after CNY, this Fri to be exact. So Piggy & I have to get them a gift. Well, to put it straight, we dun have alot of budget, so we only set aside $2K for their gift. To me, that's alot of money and probably the most expensive wedding gift I have ever gotten someone. It's another matter to mention that my BIL was extremely generous to us during our wedding, cuz well, our financial status differs. To him, $10K maybe just like buying a piece of cake, but to us, it is money that we will take a long time to save up. So if u wanna compare, I guess we can never match up and I actually dun have any intention to, cuz afterall, it's the thought that counts, not the "expensive-ness" of the gift.
So anyway, Piggy and I got A a braclet and a pair of earrings, which cost like $1128 or somewhere around there. It was just a simple bracelet and earrings, which actually I m not confident she will like, but then I thought we probbaly can't afford something that she will definitely like, so what does it matter? It looked presentable enough to us. And guess what, when we met up for reunion dinner, she had on this shimmery bracelet, with much bigger diamonds than the one we had gotten for her and it costs $7000! So of course, Piggy and I looked at each other and our first thought was our gift to her. I guess Piggy felt we should have gotten something more expensive, and he thought of going to exchange it for something else, but I told him, I dun think it's necessary, cuz firstly, the bracelet cum earrings already blew our bugget of $1K per pax and anyway, it's not like if we exchanged it for something else, it would make a great difference, cuz we definitely dun have money to buy her something more than $7K! So I feel that it's the thought that counts, cuz we did put in effort to make that trip down to choose and buy something for her. If she doesn't appreciate it, then it just shows the kind of person she truly is. And anyway, judging from her award-winning acting skills, I think that even if she doesn't like it or it's too inexpensive for her, I bet she wouldn't show it, cuz it would reflect badly on her and oh, she won't do anything to tarnish her own image, dun we all know it so well already?! Ha!
Sometimes, I really cannot stand the fact that she tries so hard to protect her own image, not that she has a fantastic one to begin with. Just to relate another minor incident on the first day of CNY. A came over with my BIL for steamboat, without her parents, cuz they were not used to eating steamboat and stuff and preferred to stay at home to eat the "dumplings" which she had made for them earlier in the morning. So my PIls very naturally asked her why she didn't ask them to come over? Of course, she related the same reason as stated above. But my PILs, being polite, of course told her that her parents can just come over and visit and that there's no need to feel "paiseh" cuz we are all family, so should feel at home with each other, etc. Then A started to complain about her parents (yes "complain", at least that's the way I see it), saying that her dad has a bad temper and that they were very stubborn and just didnt know how to enjoy luxury when they had such a poor life in China, that if they were so unhappy being here, she can jolly well just change their air tickets and let them go back to china earlier, etc, etc. To me, I think she elaborated so much just to NOT make herself look bad for not persuading her parents to come over. Yeah, no doubt, I think her parents are not exactly the most chatty or sociable of peoples, but then there's nothing wrong with that either. Cuz everyone is different, and you can't just expect them to change overnight cuz they are in a different environment. And not everyone is like her, as cuz you came from a life of poverty, when you encounter "richness", you just bask in the laps of luxury, like she does and forget about everything else. And being their daughter, shouldn't she show them some due respect, instead of "bad-mouthing" them infront of her future inlaws? I mean for me, even if I were to fall out with my parents or quarrel with them or feel upset with them over something, I wouldn't go and complain about my parents to my inlaws. Cuz after all, they are my parents, and I need to give them some "face" and show them some respect. I mean, how would her parents feel if they were to know that their own daughter said such things about them, no matter how true it may be?
And my BIL somemore jokingly asked Piggy whether he could bring A's family around when Piggy asked if he needed any help. I told Piggy not to offer any unnecessary help, cuz to put it bluntly, A's parents are my BIL's inlaws, not his. And if my BIL isn't free to bring them around, why can't A do it herself? Afterall, they are her parents. Singapore is so accessible and it's not like it's the first time she is in Singapore. And with the huge amount of money my BIL must have "bestowed" upon her, I m sure she can easily take a cab, book day tours and bring them around. It's not like my Piggy is so damn free, it's true that he isn't working now, but precisely cuz of this, he should be spending his time writing his resume and applying for jobs and not wasting time on pple, who are not even really related to him. And if he really has so much time to spare, why not go and spend some time with my parents, cuz at least they are his inlaws?
I guess I sound really unhelpful and all, but I can't help the fact that I dislike A. The very most I can do is to remain cordial towards her, but dun expect me to be extremely nice to her, cuz I think she is one damn bloody hypocrite, whose number one focus in life is money.
Kimmie scribbles
11:16 am |