A sombre and a celebration.. looks like I am contradicting myself.
Hi All, I guess it is still not to late to say Happy New Year. My first entry for the new year, now the 6th day. My bad for my tardiness. Been meaning to write but lately couldn't get anything out of these old bones.
Hi All, I guess it is still not to late to say Happy New Year. My first entry for the new year, now the 6th day. My bad for my tardiness. Been meaning to write but lately couldn't get anything out of these old bones.
But back to the Annual Family Reunion that we usually hold every new year eve. This year was done on a slightly sombre scale to respect the memory of my late uncle's demised. My uncle, my dad's youngest brother succumbed to his illness 2 days before the new year. My uncle has been ill with the big C for quite a while. Though he responded to treatment earlier on, he apparently turned out for the worst after Christmas Day. My siblings and I had the opportunity to visit and talked to him a little on Christmas Day when we visited him at home. It was a shock therefore that after a few days, my cousin called us that he had passed away in the hospital.
Our uncle was the nearest to a father to us all as our own father had gone to Lord years ago when I was still in my teens. Deepest sympathy to my aunt and cousins. A rather bleak new year for them. Though sad, we take comfort that God has taken him to a better place, a place where there is pain no more. Rest in peace uncle. Till we meet again someday, we will hold on to the memories...
My siblings and I then contemplated whether to hold the Reunion. But as all the preparations had been made, we proceeded to hold it though on a much lesser scale. No singing, dancing or games. We had our exchange of gifts and of course the usual.. eating. Life has to go on after all. Would like to share some pics taken during the new year eve, some are taken by my sister. My regret, forgot to take nice pics of the food...aiyaaa.
Cheers every one, and God bless.
my sister admiring her pressie. It's gentle reminder
to 'momoli bas' sis..hehehe....
my daughter (left) and my niece
Sweet Young Things... my niece (right) and friend
"i wonder what's this"
my elated daughter ..
ohh... love the shoes.. Those spikes are a killer!!
my beautiful niece..
my lovely niece pleased with her presents..
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wonder what they saw..
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handing my pressie to my lovely sister..
pressies for the kiddies all the way from Australia...
Hi Angie.bestnya tukar2 hadiah..Family reunion is always a merry occasion for evryone.hopefully I will try to set a date this year for my family with cousins .nieces, brothers and sisters..to have such a lovely day..best boleh jumpa, gelak2 and share cerita2 and of course gossips..
ReplyDeleteHi IndaMarya
ReplyDeletehow are you? We have our family reunion every new year eve. Previously we celebrated it 'cos it fell on my mum's birthday. Usually, most of the family members balik rumah my mum and so later we decided to make it like a reunion as well, and we had exchange gift sessions as well as games some entertainment. After my mum passed away, we continued with the tradition. At least sempat lah be together once a year. Yang duduk overseas of course some tak sempat balik. I come from a large family, 8 of us so even with my own siblings punya family pun dah ramai...hahaha.
We also did a reunion with my cousins, nephews and nieces once.. took a lot of preparation hehehe.. but it was fun and really worth it. Our preparations took 6 months in advance but happy 'cos some of our relatives from overseas like US sempat juga balik
Angie,firsly here's wishing you a Happy New Year 2013,and my condolences for your late uncle.But as you rightly said "life goes on". I am sure your late uncle would want all his family members to be happy as though he is still around and i am sure he's watching from afar joining in the happiness.May God Bless you and your lovely family this New Year 2013 and may he grant you his tender mercy and grace always. Best regards from Uncle AL and Aunty Ina in Penang.
ReplyDeleteHi Uncle Al
ReplyDeletehow are you? Hope you are doing well and in a pink of health. Thank you for dropping by and for your
lovely comments. Yes, my uncle would have wanted us to go on doing what we wanted to do.
Hence, why we went ahead and did it except that it was made at a much lesser scale.
Here's wishing you and Aunty Ina a very Happy New Year and may it be filled with lots of love, good health, peace, joy and happiness. God bless..
Angie
I remember one Chinese New Year, when I had just discovered the Chinese side of my family, when we held our reunion dinner and amidst it remembered those who had gone before us. That was a tradition in itself. It appears to me, that from what you are doing, that "you are not far from the Kingdom of God". Your heart is firmly in such a right place that others may plot their course from its reference.
ReplyDeleteBTW, the contrast this time is very easy on the eyes.
Be well Angie.
Hi there hobbit1964
ReplyDeleteThank you for the sweet comments.
Must have been a pleasant surprise for you to suddenly discovered that you have relatives of whom you never imagined you had. What a wonderful discovery that is. Family or clan reunion used to be quite popular in Sabah. It is always a pleasant surprise when attending the reunion, one suddenly discovered being related to so and so.. hahaha..
Oh ya, I decided to change the outlook of this blog to something a little drastic I must say, but yeah, I quite like it. :)
Have a great day and my best regards.
Family gathering is always beautiful.
ReplyDeleteFor us, we always try to visit in-laws on my side on Christmas and wife's side on new year & vice versa
Excellent time for rebonding with family.
ReplyDeleteGreat compromise that de engineur. At least everybody happy. Children the most happiest. haha
Their interaction with their grandparents, cousins, aunties is precious that can create lifelong memories. I believe this bonding with families will shape them into good adults too. They have the sense of belonging.
Hi Angie, very nice family gathering. Good to see everyone so happy and enjoyed the reunion especially the children. Anyway it's a good example for the younger generation too.
ReplyDeleteNice pictures and I like your new header, very gorgeous picture.
Have a lovely day ahead,regards.
Hi Amelia
Deletea once in a while family reunion is good. For us, we try to do it at least once a year. Yes, the children are the most happy. Also it is a time for them to bond with the rest of their cousins. They then treat each other like brothers and sisters, hence just like one big family hahaha..
The header pic I took sometime last year during harvest festival celebration. Instead of the girls doing their pretty beauty queen pose, I asked them to give me a freestyle pose hahaha..
Thanks for dropping by.
Best regards.
Hi Angie, I sure love your header pic. Wow! Took me a few minutes to admire each and everyone....and that is one real classic photography.
ReplyDeleteNice pics of your gang. Can't help but notice the window iron bars and door ones too.
Is that your residence or relative's?
Incidentally Angie, you all talk England or your Kadazan lingo? Or mixed. Just curious.
I have never experienced a family reunion since being where I am....oh well. Used to it now.
But friends are family too.
You have a great new year, keep a song in your heart.
Lee.
Hi Lee
ReplyDeletethanks for dropping by. How are you? Ahh.. the header pic..Kadazan beauties. Nice huh. I like it too. I asked them to give me freestyle poses instead of the normal modelling or beauty queen pose, and I think this looks better ya...hehehe.
Oh ya, here in Malaysia, it is quite normal to have iron bars or grill in our windows and door. It is to keep away would be burglars or some criminal. Of course it is not fool-proof but at least keep away the common thieves. We also sleep better at night and when we go away say for holidays and no one at home.
Oh ya, at home we speak a mixture of English, Kadazan and Malay pasar hahaha. Why? First because of inter-marriages, so we tend to speak a common language which everyone understand ie English and Malay. It is sad however that the Kadazan language is hardly spoken except between us siblings. Nowadays, not many of the younger generations speak fluent Kadazan including my own kids. The KadazanDusun Language & Cultural Centre (KDLC) is of course taking measures to ensure the language does not get lost in time and taken measures by having set up syllabus for the language that are taught in schools. In the annual Unduk Ngadau Harvest Queen competition, we also put it as one of the conditions that the participants must be able to speak a passable Kadazan. During the competition, the judges would be required to asked them a question in KadazanDunsun language and that they too reply that language..hahaha.. Proud to say that this year, the contestants fared very well...
Yes, Lee friends are family too, sometimes more so.
Have a great new year too and yes, a song in my heart.
Angie
Hi Lee
Deletesorry, forgot to answer your other question. This was taken at my sister's house and the exchange gift session was taken on the balcony. :)
Angie
Hellooooo Angie...
ReplyDeleteBah..i soooooo loveeeeeeeeeeeee the new header!! Santekkk ooo! i mean the header, and of coz all the beautiful unduk ngadau ladies in it.. definitely freestyle photograph, a much better choice then the formal one hehe..
bah kamurang pun ada family gathering juga? i suppose macam sudah jadi tradition bah itu to have one kan. My family punya gathering pun memang was plan to coincide dengan kami punya kepulangan ke kampung. Memang syiok dapat berkumpul sama2 satu family. Itu bertukar2 hadiah tu just untuk hiburan bah..kalau nda macam sunyi ja pulak kan.
sorry to hear about your uncle's demise..may he rest in peace. Take care Angie..
Hi Azwa
ReplyDeleteahh finally see you blogging again hahaha.. macam rasa lama juga kau punya rumah kosong kan. But I know you were in kg enjoying the timadang and durians hehe..
Yes, kami buat tu family gathering to coincide with the ushering of the new year. At least adalah juga excuse to stay up late and welcome the new year. The exchange of gifts is so much fun kan. Even the giving like going shopping and searching for the perfect gift pun saya rasa fun betul. The gifts need not be expensive, asal poh ada. It's the thought that counts.
oh ya thank you for your message re my uncle. What to do, God said it was time.
You take care too kio..hugs.