Category Archives: Reflections

Counting Our Blessings

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In case you didn’t know, today is Chinese New Year.  It marks the start of the Year of the Rabbit.  Now, before you go asking me what that means, let me just say I have no idea…will it be a good year? Well, there are a lot of people in this world so I’m sure it is bound to be a good year for at least one person, right? 🙂

As is tradition, I got a red packet (or “lucky money”) from my parents.  For the first time this year, I would not be getting one from my Grandmother since she passed away recently (In Loving Memory for my Grandmother).  The very thought threatened to bring tears to my eyes but I was determined that I would not start the new year with tears, but rather, I was going to remind myself of the many blessings in my life.  And it would seem that I am not the only one to be thankful for my friends of late.

This next story I am telling does not belong to me but it makes me happy telling it just the same.  You see, earlier this week, my favourite actor, Matt Bomer (star of White Collar) was appearing on US late night TV talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live.  All of us Collars are excited at every opportunity that we get to see Matt.  So needless to say it was very exciting for us fans seeing him promoting our favourite show, but of course, not everyone can get to L.A. to meet the man himself.  And this is where having great friends makes me “squee”…you see, Christine Antonios could not make it to L.A. to meet Matt in person, but two of her friends were kind enough to go, and here is the best part.  Not only did they get to meet Matt outside the studios, but they went, armed with a handmade sign for Matt to hold so they could photograph him with it…and below is the result:

Matt Bomer holding a sign in support of my fellow Bo-mite Christine Antonios

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Keeping It In Perspective

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For most of the past 18 Christmases, the special day was celebrated at my sister’s house.  Although not so much the biggest fans of dinner parties, my sister and brother-in-law would host the Christmas Day lunch as they had the biggest house to accommodate both sides of the family.  Lunch was traditionally the good ole Aussie BBQ with a touch of side salads and variety of cold meats and the like – the usual fare that would leave you thankful for wearing pants or skirts with elastic waistbands.  Cleaning up was always the “fun” part and that was another good reason to have the luncheon at my sister’s since they have a dishwasher (I, on the other hand, AM the dishwasher).  My sister has two pieces of household machinery that she swears she cannot live without: the washing machine and the dishwasher (I suppose you could say the refrigerator is pretty important too but if the fridge dies you could just eat out).  So it came as no surprise that she went into hyper-crazed mode when her dishwasher died just before Christmas a few years ago.

That year, I spent Christmas Eve at my sister’s and she suddenly proclaimed: “My God! My God! Why have you abandoned me?”  Now, I have to point out that I am from a pretty spiritual and religious family, so for her to say that was pretty serious (for the non-Christians who may not be familiar with this phrase, these were the words uttered by Jesus Christ at his Crucifixion)!  So I stopped and reminded her that there were people in the world who were homeless or had no family to celebrate Christmas with and that a broken-down dishwasher would be the least of their worries!

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A Time for Reflection

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This is that time of the year when people are suffering the post-Christmas blues (you know, complaining they ate too much or spent too much) and contemplating what resolutions they are going to make on New Year’s Eve, ideally ones that they might actually keep.  This is also the time of year when people say to themselves “where have the past 12 months gone?” or exclaim “I can’t believe it’s another year already!” as if it has taken them by surprise.

For me, new year’s resolutions have never been an issue.  I simply don’t make them.  What is it about that one day of the year that makes it different to any other day?  Oh, I am not a party-pooper by any means. I love the parties and the fireworks and the all-night music video shows that count down to midnight.  But I believe that if you are going to resolve to lose weight (which is likely the most common resolution on NYE, right next to “I’m going to find my perfect partner”) then eating and drinking copious amounts of caloric food and alcohol is probably not the best way to start off.

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In Loving Memory: For My Grandmother

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My Grandmother's visit to Sydney June 2004

To be honest, I am not really sure what my earliest memory of my Grandmother was.  To my sister, Stephanie, and I, she was “Po Po”, meaning “maternal grandmother” in Chinese.  She, and our Grandfather (known as “Gung Gung” – maternal grandfather) used to babysit us before or after school, depending on what grades we were in, until our parents got home from work.

They were the typical grandparents – they spoilt us and they indulged us, or rather, I should say, mostly me, in my bad behaviour.  Don’t get me wrong, I was not a bad child, just naughty.  I will be the first to admit I was one of those naughty children who liked to push the boundaries of tolerance to see how much I could get away with.  Everyone knows that my sister, just over 2 yrs my senior, was the poster child but as they say, if the first-born was a nightmare, there would never be a second one!

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