Happy New Year 2009!

This year is the first year that I spent New Year in London.

For the past 5 years I was in the UK, the 1st and 3rd year was spent on the streets of Bukit Bintang in KL.

My 2nd year was in Edinburgh with my crutches, hopping amongst the crowd at the Hogmanay street party.

4th year was slightly better - without the crutches but still buffeted among the hundreds of people at Princes St. Fabian bro was there to celebrate New Year's with me though so it was a family thing.
Sorta.

Come 5th year and I am down in London due to a myriad of events, namely me attending the Malaysian Christian Conference (MCC) and having to stay on to do my US visa after New Year.

Firstly, I have to say that attending the MCC was one fantastic experience. Although half of the participants were over the age of 40 and the other half under the age of 20, I have to say that I found it refreshing and I was exposed to a whole lot of things that I have never thought of in the past. Let's just say that I found it thought stimulating and I have never given notice to how unconditional and bountiful the love of our God is; that it knows no boundaries - not between races, religions, age, background nor nationality.

He is truly great and I am so glad that I have come to know Him.

After 3 days of good Malaysian food and desserts at MCC, I returned to London in time for the New Year's celebration.

Now, I fell sick after returning from Scandinavia which was before Christmas.
First came the cough. That was fine. Between suffering from the cough, sore throat or a blocked nose, I pick coughing at any time.
Christmas was spent in Edinburgh eating non stop for 2 days.
And boy, I have once again realised how much I Heart Food.

Salmon starter by Jo

From a Christmas Eve lunch with turkey to dinner and followed with a Christmas Day's potluck and dinner steamboat, I was fed enough food to last me a week.

Roast turkey also by Jo

Worry set in after Christmas when I checked my waistline and I am thoroughly convinced that it has grown at least 2 inches.

God forbid.Turkey, stuffing and condiments platter. Divine.

MCC came next and I was once again served MALAYSIAN food and that, my friend, is IMPOSSIBLE to reject. All main meals came in the form of something familiar and well loved - laksa, nasi lemak, char siew rice. I don't eat supper but the nightcaps were barley dessert, red bean dessert, bubur cha cha and lobak ko - I really have NO IDEA how ANYONE can reject something like that, especially when you are in the UK and it is in the middle of winter. NO. Don't tell me you can eat them at a later time because when you are deprived of Malaysian food for a good half a year, you cannot decline it when the opportunity presents itself at your doorstep. Sorry, I mean, your mouth.

How Can You Turn Away from Bubur Cha Cha!??!?!?!

Yes. You. Can. Not.

If you say you can one more time, please convert your nationality.

After MCC, my waistline expanded an extra 2 inches.

@#$%^.

During MCC, my cough expanded to a sore throat and runny nose. However, I was still able to sleep at night and also taste food. Thank God for that. Imagine not being able to taste laksa. That would be a sin that is unforgivable.

Now, I should really say out of the 3 flu annoyingness, I Absolutely Detest having a blocked nose.
First of all, I can't breathe and will have to resort to using my mouth which is by then suffering a sore throat. That's a double whammy. Bah.
But the crux of this symptom is that only very seldom do I actually develop a loss of taste due to the blasted sinuses that is filled with gunk.

And that's just what happened upon my arrival in London.
Bayswater duck rice had never tasted so bland.
Loads of wasabi with sushi did not make me tear.
The famous Selfridges Ox Tongue Sandwich..... had a great texture and..... that's about it.
And my 25pounds Turkish New Year's Eve dinner had no taste at all.

All the starters that tasted the same.

It even came to a point that I stopped eating as I felt stupid eating something that I cannot taste.

For someone who loves food, you have no idea how heartbreaking that is.

My nose was well and truly blocked and my taste sense well and truly gone. I tried nasal decongestants, steam inhalation, blowing into tissues before eating but all to no avail - I was this close to going to the hospital and demanding a saline/salbutamol nebuliser.

Though of course, what the doctor will probably tell me is to tooting stop wasting his time and go home.

So after a tasteless NYE dinner, we headed over to JJ's place that was placed strategically in front of the London Eye at Waterloo.

What do a group of Asians do when they gather around?

Yes! Play cards!

With the Edinburgh crowd, it would be Chor Dai Di or Bridge.
But with the London crowd, it was Texas Poker or BlackJack.
You see the discrepancies between both city folk.

And when 11.45pm came, we traipsed down to the London Eye to wait for the firwork show and was rewarded with a brilliant 10 minute display of dazzling, glittery bursts of lights that lit up the sky, ushering in the New Year.



My resolution for the new year?

To be a better person than I was the year before.