Stories from the Malaysian Treehouse

Today the Chinese community all around the world celebrates the Chinese New Year, and the celebration will go on for 15 days. This is to commemorate the beginning of a new lunar calendar year, and to also mark the beginning of spring, therefore also known as the Spring Festival. It is the year 4703 in the Chinese year, and it also known as the Year of the Dog!

Chinese New Year is also a time for families to get together for a reunion, just like what Western families would do during Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's very special and festive. However, for the past 7 CNYs (including today's), I've been away from my family and home. And I hadn't really had the opportunity to celebrate with any Chinese families around here in order to continue the tradition. But now that I'm married, I've felt an even greater urge to continue this tradition and to include Josue into this special part of my culture and identity. So this time around, I invited close family friends of ours, the Laws, to join us in a CNY dinner. It wasn't fancy and very casual (the traditional dinner is very elaborate with massive amounts of food), but it meant tons to me that they were with us. Kyna and I grew up together while her parents were missionaries in Malaysia, so she knows and understands some Chinese traditions like the Chinese New Year. Heck, she's practically Chinese! Thanks so much for coming, you guys. It was tons of fun and indeed a very special evening.

Posted by Malaysian Debster at 8:24 PM | Permalink | Comments

I had never done anything like this before, but someone suggested I do it and moreover it was exciting to think of the outcome. So I gave it my best shot. It required much attention and dedication--specifically between the times of 10 am and 4 pm yesterday. And believe me, I was absolutely determined to succeed because I really wanted it. What the heck did I do??

Posted by Malaysian Debster at 5:30 PM | Permalink | Comments

The kickoff to my 27th year has been fab! My birthday was celebrated 3 times, which is probably the most I've ever had. The first was on Monday night during Life Group. We were at the home of the Whatley's and after our time together we celebrated 3 birthdays: 2 from December and mine for the month January. That was really fun. Then on Tuesday when Tim hosted Tuesday Night Dinner at his apartment (with an out-of-this-world, fantastic gourmet dinner), the ACU gang celebrated with me--complete with a cake, the birthday song and fun party stuff.

Yesterday was THE day. Josue went off to the office as usual early in the morning, and shortly after my parents called me from Malaysia. We talked for a short while, but it was a lovely start to my day. Josue came home a little after lunch time, a lot earlier than usual since he wanted to spend the rest of the afternoon with me. Needless to say, I was glad to have him home. (He's been working a lot lately at the office and doesn't come home till late.) By the way, Jeremy also called me and sang the entire birthday song for me over the phone!! That was sweet. Anyway, we went to play tennis some, came home, showered and later he took me out to dinner. We went to have Thai food at our new favourite place, Bangkok City. I had no clue what was lying ahead for the rest of the evening. After dinner, we dropped by Best Buy (he was trying to kill time) and then we came back to the apartment. I walked in, and "SURPRISE!!"...there were people in my apartment!! Familiar faces from church and such. Wow, I was shocked and blown away. It was an awesome feeling. I think my last surprise birthday party was during my freshmen year at ACU, so it's been awhile since!

Needless to say, in 3 days I had 3 celebrations, 3 cakes (Monday's german chocolate cake, Tuesday's chocolate cake with chocolate icing, and Wednesday's cheesecake) and 3 times the love!! And most of the people who came to my surprise party last night had already celebrated with me once before, either on Monday or Tuesday (come to think of it, Zach did it 3 times straight)! The fact that they did this twice or three times over makes me feel absolutely special and loved. I couldn't have asked for more. A special shoutout goes to: Zach, Melissa, Tim, Laura, Adam, Candice, Rob, Melanie, Morgan, Robert, Alys, Summer, Renee, and of course, to my sweet and amazing hubby Josue who put last night's terrific bash together. Thank you all for making my birthday extra special with your presence and your well-wishes. You're my 'family away from family' and I feel truly blessed to have you in my life. I love you all!

Posted by Malaysian Debster at 10:14 AM | Permalink | Comments

I'm so excited, I'm so anxious, I can't wait anymore. Exactly 3 weeks from today, my cool hubby and I will be flying up to Chicago for a 5-day vacation. Why the trip? There are many reasons as to why we're taking this trip at a random time of the year, but there are mainly 2:

Reason 1: Our "honeymoon" back in December 2004 lasted only 3 days in San Francisco before we had to rush back for my brother's wedding in Abilene. The trip was lovely but it was also a rush at the same time. I don't think it really counted as a "honeymoon". :)

Reason 2: Jeremy keeps asking all of us here in Dallas to go visit him in Chicago. Looks like we will afterall.

Of course, we also hear that Chicago is a beautiful city. We want to see that for ourselves. So this begins yet another countdown (not forgetting my birthday countdown too!). How exciting!

Posted by Malaysian Debster at 4:50 PM | Permalink | Comments

Exactly one week from now, I'll be celebrating my 27th birthday. Woo hoo!! I don't feel 27, heck, I haven't felt 26 all last year. Guess I have one more week to start feeling like it, huh?

Speaking of birthdays, our good buddy Jeremy just celebrated his 25th on Sunday. Instead of being surprised on his birthday, he in turn surprised his close friends by flying into Dallas from Chicago and showing up at the Cheesecake Factory with us there. That was fun. Happy birthday, Juice!

Posted by Malaysian Debster at 10:05 PM | Permalink | Comments

SuperMom Sarah asked if we were feeling better. The answer is yes and no. We've felt a lot better since returning from our trip to Brownsville, though not completely recovered, I believe. Just when I thought things were going back to normal, I fell terribly ill again yesterday. I woke up sneezing and having the runniest (is that a word?) nose ever. I had to miss church and a baby shower in the afternoon in which I was supposed to be one of the hostesses! Yikes. And then today...well, I've felt like I've gotten most of my energy back again. Don't ask me how this whole illness works. I'm confused myself.

I'm promoting Nyquil as one of the best put-you-to-sleep-when-really-sick medicine. It's the only thing that works for me so far, and I can rely on it when I absolutely need to sleep through the night uninterupted. It's almost addictive!

Posted by Malaysian Debster at 11:02 PM | Permalink | Comments

You know I'm not the greatest American football fan, neither do I ever fully understand the game. But I willingly chose to watch the Rose Bowl with my hubby at home last night. Texas was in the finals and they had to win! Sure enough, they not only gave a great performance, but they also snatched the title.

Posted by Malaysian Debster at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments

Happy 2006 everyone! We're finally back in town. Exhausted physically and emotionally, but at the same time very much thankful for the trip overall. Will blog more later. For now--cleaning, unpacking, laundry...and yeah, we're sick too. :(

Posted by Malaysian Debster at 9:02 PM | Permalink | Comments