2024 Christmas Letter
24/12/24 21:01 Filed in: Christmas Letters
Dear all,
So it’s Christmas Eve (again) and I’m late writing the Christmas Letter (again).
The year had been full of ups and downs as usual. I continued my cooking journey (which was good), but then, we finally caught Covid (that was bad) and we did more post-lockdown travels as we try to do a balancing act with maintaining our Qantas status while handling mum’s increasing reliance on a wheelchair.
Since the first lockdown, we have been diligently taking the covid jabs and wearing masks, using hand sanitisers etc. So I was NOT happy at all when after 4 years, we were kicked out of the “I never had Covid club”! Yes, all four of us caught it at the same time so looking on the bright side, we didn’t need to isolate from each other. Luckily, it wasn’t too bad. Took me about 2 weeks to get over it but it was just one of those “you don’t feel very well but you don’t feel very sick” feeling.
Also luckily, we didn’t get sick before or during our trips, so that was very good fortune.
We visited two cities I’ve never (officially) been: Launceston and Brisbane. I’ve only stopped over Brisbane airport to catch a connecting flight (twice) previously. This is the first time I’m visiting the city (and got out of the airport).
Brisbane city looks very similar to Sydney in many ways. I reckon they must have hired the same architects as Sydney. I didn’t enjoy driving in Brisbane city because I never seem to have enough time (and the locals don’t give way) to change lanes when the GPS tells me I need to make a left or right turn. Their traffic is also as bad as Sydney’s, but my sister found some very good places to eat so that kinda made up for it. Brisbane airport is also the best (we think) when it comes to disabled parking / pickup etc. We were able to put mum at a safe seating area for disabled access while we went to get the rental car. Then, we could drive right up and have time for her to get in the car.
Launceston was going to be not bad (though not as good as Hobart) but ruined by the staff (including the GM) at the hotel we stayed at. It’s VERY green and pretty and reminds me of the country side in the BBC series “All Creatures Great and Small”. It also has lots of farms with cows which made me played “The Magnificent Seven” theme song while I drove through. Food wasn’t bad. I prefer Hobart over Launceston in Tasmania. They also have the sole remaining 150-year weaving mill in Australia and also where the Beaconsfield Mine collapsed on Anzac Day in 2006. If you ever get to visit Launceston, I strongly recommend you to visit Beaconsfield Mine (it’s now a museum).
We also saw wildlife we don’t normally see:
We also made our first long haul overseas trip to Taiwan via Hong Kong. This is the first time in over 4 years we’ve taken an 8.5 hour flight. Many things have changed, including mum’s gotten older, and after her dramatic performance last year in Perth, we were worried about how she would react taking a flight almost twice as long (as flying to Perth). Luckily, with what we learnt from our Perth trip, we broke our journey in Hong Kong so she could rest and our return flight to Sydney was an overnight flight so everything went ok. We also didn’t think of one thing: there’s really no way she could get lost in a plane and the Qantas flight attendants were very good, looking out for her.
We met up with some of our Singapore cousins in Taiwan. As usual, it was a lot of fun. I’d arranged for all of us to stay at the same floor, so we could gather at the club lounge for breakfasts and afternoon teas and whatnots. I love our dinners together. I think it reminds me of when we were kids and having dinner at Grandpa’s. We visited the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. Here are some photos of me appreciating (and creating) art:
We also visited a couple of cat cafes:
The kittens are now the Terrible Twos! They’ve turned two and this is their second Christmas with us.
Chance, the boy, is very much Mama’s boy but he’s gotten friendly with me now. Sometimes when I’m working on something, he’d come and just sit/hunch at the side and kept me company.
Maddy is still the prima donna but I made good on my promise and we’ve taken her outside for walks (with a harness). She sees the harness and she knows to stand still while the harness is being put on her. The other two don’t like being put in a harness so they can only watch from the door or window on the inside. Oh well, them are the rules, no harness, no outing.
Kizzy remains the “customer facing” of the trio, she loves the strokes and cuddles and treat my sisters’ laptops as electric blankets.
I did not cook Italian much this year. I continued to expand my repertoire in Chinese cooking. It was more by curiosity. I saw some videos on YouTube cooking tofu and it looked easy enough and after making it and watching a few other videos, I realised that a lot of the dishes use some common ingredients and they just vary the quantities a little here and there.
I also started missing some of the dishes I’ve ordered in restaurants and takeaways and decided to see if I can make them. Not surprisingly, I found out many of them are quite simple to make - that’s how the restaurants can make them so fast and have quick turnovers.
I was confident enough with my Chinese cooking that when my former Singapore schoolmate came to visit, I invited him and his wife to come to the house and I cooked all 3 dishes (with a bit of logistic planning).
Recently, one of my sisters had to go overseas for a few days and I prepared all the meals for the time she was away. We did not have a single night of takeaway / eating-out!
And I had a craving for a sandwich one day so I went to our local Italian supermarket and bought some Italian meats and created my ultimate sandwich:
I’ll make you one if you come visit on a Sunday.
That’s all from me this year.
Mum’s probably doing well for her age except her memory is just about gone. When she’s tired she sometimes forget who we are. I regret I didn’t learn to cook when she still had her memory so I could ask her if she likes my cooking.
I’ve always wondered whether my dad would like any of my cooking, or which would be his favourite, if he was still with us.
There are not many things I regret in my life….but this is one of them. Funny, the things I regret, pretty much all have to do with my dad.
Here’s Kismet on Christmas Day, 2016:
Have a peaceful, safe and enjoyable Christmas. Enjoy.
And I hope you’ve enjoyed listening to “O Holy Night” by Michael Crawford.
Your friend,
Bevan
