CNY Eve

(I must get on with my posts even though this is the saddest CNY)

CNY eve dinner was with my family as per the previous 3 years. 
2023 The first year I'd spent this day with my family since getting married.  I was so happy heh.
2024:  Eventful one as our 2 maids caught covid and then my father.  Eventually managed to celebrate this day, yay.
2025: Normal one. :)

On to 2026 aka now.    First the yee sang which my mum made from scratch.

Huat huat

Next the steamboat.  Improved the menu based on previous year's experience - less fishballs and more other items!  This time we had added shabu pork, cuttlefish, chicken on stick.

Eat eat chat chat

 

The kids were looking forward to gambling.  My bro prepared the RM3 'seed money' as usual.  SE lost everything haha.

Gamble gamble

If only hubby had been around, this time he could just have conveniently walked upstairs to his room at my parents' place.  Instead of waiting for the night to be over as the other years in order to go home.  

For me, I missed him a lot this night.  Chatted to my aunt about him - helps me to be able to think back on words of understanding/support.

My sis's family had to go early to the airport and we forgot to take a photo.

2025 photobook

One thing I had been busy on was our yearly photobook.  For once this was such an emotional task for me.  Hubby was with us 11 months of 2025.  Seeing how healthy hubby looked at the beginning of the year, seeing us as a complete family, in fact just seeing pictures of hubby... I was sobbing my heart out while putting this book together.  

 
Front cover

I'd planned on starting the book with a photo with four of us and end with one of only three, but JE said to put one of four.  So ok, start and end with four.  Hubby was using a tongkat/walking stick after radiotherapy and steroid medication for swelling in the brain. 

Back cover

Finally my job was done and the order sent off.  The physical book arrived - only this time hubby wasn't around as usual to check out the book.  And complain why I selected some pictures of him that weren't flattering haha.  

SE thought there wasn't much point printing this book out.  Well, for me growing up with non-digital cameras, we always had printed photos in albums.  It seemed good to me to have a book to turn over pages and pass around.  ONE book a year is already less than the photoalbums in my parents' cupboard!  I'll probably continue this practice. 

Our rings

At hubby's wake, I was advised to remove jewellery including my wedding ring.  I have worn this ring for 19 years.  I liked how it looked on my finger, the small clunk sound it made when I smack my hand on something hard.  I had a habit of twisting it round and round.  

But I have not put it on since the wake.  For one, I had 'grown in size' and some force was required to pull the ring up past my knuckle.  It would be difficult to get it on and off again.  Mainly though because... I feel that our story - mine and hubby's - has already ended.  How can there be an "OUR story", symbolised by these matching rings, when he is no longer here with me?

Two rings at the start

We never said the word 'LOVE' but I guess we lived it

Hubby kept all kinds of things.  Among his stuff I found this leaflet, which I never even knew existed, from the jewellery shop.  The rings are platinum-plus-gold; hubby liked platinum because it has little resale value.  I don't get it... wouldn't something with high resale value be better?  Haha.  

Ah, ours is the first design

Two rings now at the end

 My plan now is to store them together.  Together as hubby and me once were.

Grief

After our Taiwan trip... there certainly was a lot to do to clear up and settle.  But no, wave after wave of grief struck, relentlessly.  Every time I woke up, I immediately thought of him and how he was no longer in his bed.  Every time I stabilised a while, all too soon I would be hit afresh with the realisation that there was now a void in my life where hubby once was.  After over 20 years of being together, there was nowhere I could find peace from the pain of losing him.  Every location, every object held reminders that he was once there, and that now he is not, and that he never will be there again. 

SE took these pictures of his place at our dinner table.  She said she wanted to remember how it was.

The first chair was hubby's

Snacks and stuff still where he left them

Honestly I was surprised by how unbearable, how unthinkable, how awful losing hubby would feel.  And many times I wonder how I can carry on from here.

Taiwan Day9 - Home

We reached home with no delays at all.  Well in time for the "3rd 7th-day" prayers for hubby later in the day. 

This had been a surreal trip - from the original normal planning and preparation, to the 'backup plan' of us having to leave hubby at home, to finally us going without him because he had already left us.  We talked about him throughout... Papa would have liked the weather as it's not that cold, Papa would have liked the food, Papa would have complained non-stop about this queue, this tour would not have been suitable for Papa, no way Papa could have walked this trail with his recent mobility level (and hubby had been so fit before the brain tumors sigh).  We remembered to get Captain Hook out for pictures. 

From an initial damp start, I got into the groove as the trip progressed.  Seeing my girls enjoy the itinerary I had put together made my step light in the morning as we left our hotel for another day out.

As usual we bought some snacks home to share with family and friends.  The loot is much less without hubby's portion as he was the biggest shopper and consumer.  Oh, now he is not here to defend himself.  Well some of the snacks he had bought from Bangkok are actually not eaten yet.

Our Taiwan loot including our jeans from NET

Taiwan Themed 7-11s

One post on this... we went looking for some 'themed' 7-11 outlets which are a thing in Taiwan.    Initially we couldn't find one even with a map.  Apparently it's common enough for a themed outlet to revert to a normal one so maybe that's what happened.  We were excited to find our first one - 'Open Chan' is an alien dog with rainbow ears which is the official mascot for 7-11 in Taiwan.

Found one!

Take another pic with building-brick version

Themed outlets have deco with the mascot - eg walls and ceilings - and sell related merchandise.  We weren't crazy about any character but hunted and detoured to a few outlets.  

Found a Hello Kitty one. Very pink

See how PINK? We are not fans

We do like Sumkko Gurashi characters.  The soft toy merchandise were too big to be bringing home though.  Would have been good if they could sell more things including smaller items like keychains or stickers.  

Now these are cute

Cute characters and in nice colours

Most of these themed outlets were small hence didn't have the space to decorate very well.  

Aha found a Snoopy one

Anyway, just for fun!

Taiwan Day8 - Taipei 101, Songshan and Huashan Cultural parks

We had one more day in Taipei, but had already gone to all the places on my list.  Had to scramble to find things to do.  We checked out from our hotel (listed as "UrbanAbode Dugu") which conveniently had a luggage storage area - no regrets staying there!  Took the train to the touristy Taipei 101.  I am not a fan of visiting high-rise buildings.  Charges to go up to the Observatory were high so we didn't bother.

We were there

Nah we didn't go up

Decided to check out Songshan Cultural park next.  I saw a well-patronised Hong Kong restaurant while walking... but hubby who would have appreciated Chinese cuisine wasn't around.  I must say that hubby was very much on my mind this trip.  :(  We walked into a Japanese yakitori place instead - food was average only.

Ok lah can eat lah

Songshan was a tobacco factory converted to an arty place.  Hmm I don't GET it.  It's not really an art place, many areas seemed to be more for students or other people who belonged there, there were things to see but not organised.   

Funny duck

Funny octopus-monkey stack

Cool things in the shop

Cool wall painting

We decided to move on to Huashan Creative park, which had a similar concept. This one had more visitors, had food outlets (unlike Songshan) and was overall more 'fun'. 

Giant Snoopy on a cream puff

Found some pixies

Pretty wooden things at Wooderful

Still, I don't get the concept of these cultural parks.  There wasn't enough happening (on a normal day) to warrant a visit.  We wandered around a bit then headed back for our luggage and then on to the airport for our flight home.