Family~

Dinner at Marina South last night... @ Chin Huat Eating House... I think its been months since we managed a gathering that is as complete as this one... Wasn't hundred percent attendance of course, still some missing in action as usual... I think it's not easy to accomplish full strength when the family gets around to this size... But majority turned up for the occasion... All my aunts, uncle and their families... Four missing in action included Aunt Karen's husband and eldest son, Yuanzhi, who couldn't make it due to expired passports (they're Malaysians), and Aunt Mary's sons, Alvin, who had to work and Derrick who was still in Tekong for BMT...

'Warming up' the camera~ It was also first meet-the-parent session for Milky~ He appeared nervous, as expected, haha... Almost like the day I first went to his house... Talking very little and appearing to have a lot on his mind as we killed time before heading over to Marina... How come I'm always the undisturbed one? LoL...

We were the first to arrive (almost wanted to say at the crime scene... ><) Luckily, it didn't take too long for the others to either... very quickly, we met up with everyone... I ended up bringing him to everyone and introducing him... Haha... Well, didn't want anyone to say that we were being rude... My family isn't exactly gigantic (I've seen and heard bigger ones), but to meet everyone still required a reasonable amount of effort... I could see that he was pretty confused and stressed, but he was making an effort to stay sharp and focused... I guess he was pretty worried about the age issue like I used to be (despite him always assuring me not to fuss over it), and was trying hard to look more mature and steady... As we finally sat down to eat, he told me nervously 'I still can't remember everyone'... ^^ No hurry my dear, I know it's not easy...

Dinner was a rowdy affair as usual... There were 4 tables in total... But still, it didn't prevent anyone from catching up with everyone else... 'Why does everyone sit all jumbled up? Don't you guys stick with your own immediate family at gatherings like that?' Milky asked... That was when I realised... all around us... no one was quite stuck with their own family... Neither are we seated according to age group like most at family gatherings... Aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, grandma, we were all healthily mixed up... For me, my parents were seated at our next table while we sat with granny, my brother, Uncle Jeffrey and his wife... My sis was busy cooking at the other table.... And everyone could still manage to catch up, even across tables, between bites... It never did occur to me, but hey, it's actually quite cool! (Picture: Aunt Mary, Karen, Grace and Cousin Vivien... Look at the act cute 'aunties' behind... hahaha)

So, as all the cooking and chatting dulled, small chat groups could be seen scattered all over the place... As usual, the little punks were darting about... A quick stroll around the perimeter with the camera to catch some of the small gossip parties...

The chattiest of all... The 'diamond' sisters... Haha... 4 mums definitely make a market~ From the left: Grace, Rebecca, Karen (behind) and Eileen... Guess who's the youngest?




Family potraits...
The latest addition to the family... Little Kevin... First child of Uncle Eric and his lovely Myanmar wife~ The little rocker is just starting to make conversation... It's lotsa fun talking to him... Walks hyper fast too though... kinda reminds me of Dash in The Incredibles... haha...



Uncle Andy, wife and the bespectacled duo... Ivan and Justin... Seriously hyperactive tweets, this two... Can't even stay still for a photo...




And... The still '二人世界' couple... Uncle Jeffrey and wife... As usual, they made sure that there was no dull moment (and also no wasted good food) at our table~





While we '二人世界' with granny... hahaha... Actually, not really heh... Look at all those cooking behind... This was taken much earlier... Heehee...


And so... The evening concluded at around 11pm... After which everyone took off in 4 cars... All in all, a fine spread... Only regret is, Grandpa would have loved to see us gathering like this... But then again... maybe he was watching? Miss ya, ah goong...