Now Where's That Clown Suit...

And so it begins... the exodus in response to the call of filial piety.

Tomorrow is the eve of Chinese New Year.

You can imagine the traffic heading out of Kuala Lumpur. World peace be damned, my one desperate wish right now is for the gift of teleportation. Sigh.

What are the chances of nobody else thinking that leaving KL at 7am tomorrow will guarantee a smooth sail down the North-South Highway to Malacca? Slimmer than Chicken Little's legs, I'll bet.

I suck at time-management. It’s the eve of the Eve and I still haven’t:-

1. Had a haircut.
2. Bank in my claims cheque.
3. Drop off the cheque for this month’s loan instalment.
4. Made my EPF nomination.
5. Made my will, to be used in a whole-family-wiped-out scenario.
6. Packed for a week-long trip that covers Malacca, Singapore and Hong Kong.

I did manage to shop for pretty clothes though, it being a cultural tradition and all.

Not just one, but TWO pretty things. Voluntarily. Heh. The circus is definitely hitting town in a big way this year.

My parents will be so proud. :D

The haircut. Well, I have not one, not two, but THREE curl patterns on my scalp. Unruly is too kind a description. My last haircut was in November and I’m starting to look like the Japanese Prime Minister again.

My claims cheque. I work in a bank. I pass the machines every day. The cheque’s been sitting in my drawer for over a week. Let us not speak of it.

My office is on Jalan Tun Razak. ING, where my loan instalment cheques have to go, is, upon consultating a KL street map today, merely two little boxes away. I blame the traffic and healthy distrust for the postal system.

Items 4, 5 and 6. On Sunday, my parents, brother and I are heading for Singapore where the very-soon-to-be-inlaws-for-real will join us for a 4-day trip to Hong Kong starting on Monday. We. Are. Family.

As you’ll know if you click here, I hate flying. I spend way too much time in the weeks before a scheduled flight AND the entire flight time thinking morbid thoughts. I think that’s all I need to say to explain items 4 & 5.

And so, other than the armrest of my seat, I’ll be clutching two other things so hard as to permanently imprint their outlines onto my palms during the flight. My safe passage Celtic charm and my mobile phone, with my thumb glued to the power switch and Snowie’s number set on the most convenient speed dial.

Come to think of it (and morbid thoughts aside), my mobile phone and that speed dial are going to be the most important things to me for the entirety of this week-long trip. An oasis for refuge, a lifeline to sanity preservation in the midst of the overly-loud voices and drama that almost always provide the soundtrack to and backdrop for family time. Oh the joy of family reunions.

At some point during this next week, mum is going to have a chat with the mum-in-law-to-be about the meaning of marriage. How it would be unusual, to say the least, for a wife to continue spending most of her time in Singapore after the wedding because her mum can’t let her go, while the husband has to accept the absurdity of having his wife “visit” him in KL.

Boredom is certainly not going to feature much this coming week.

Seeya in the second week of February. Safe travels and good rest.