Closing the Gap: 2023 Edition

Tried my level best to catch up. Finally I'm blogging about 2023, although its 2024 in just a couple of days. No parties, no raves for New Year's Eve. Typical for me to spend it at church although in recent years, there's no fireworks or fellowship. Just the mandatory mass, and "Year in Review" video. 

In the first week of 2023, there was already a wake service for a fellow BEC member. The death statistics have been higher than usual. On a happier note, the year started with a gathering at Apollo's house. His mum cooked up a storm again, and we had good bitching session. In terms of the Lunar Chinese New Year, preparations were heating up everywhere. The morning market was flooded with new year goodies, and students peddling calligraphy. Along with it, the signature traffic gridlock. At church, decorations were also in full swing with help from various Mandarin BECs. All sorts of design ideas were thrown around, and combined with a mash of whatever we could find in the store room. 

Mum and her Taichi buddies were also very excited for the coming celebrations and arranged for a CNY-themed photography session. All the uncles and aunties wore red, and brought photography props to get the mood going. In the end, I printed out a photo book for them. 

In mid-January, SK and I had dinner with several of our Form 6 classmates. One of them I had not met ever since I left Kuantan 23 years ago, Although petite, she drove a hulking Volvo that ran on both NGV and petrol. Every day, I would catch a ride with her to school. She insisted on bringing her dog, so we had  to find a pet-friendly F&B options. Luckily there was a pet cafe nearby called Ngong Dog Dog. She just recently settled down in KL as a paediatrician. The other classmate actually has a crush on her, but I don't he has a snowball's chance in Hell to hook up with her.