1) Today was a lovely day for me! I stayed up late yesterday Skype-ing with my parents, so overslept a little bit. Had some breakfast, before walking to the library, only to meet my friends along the way. I decided to abandon my studying (hey, friends come first XD) and help out. The PMC Student Association was hosting a Chinese New Year Celebration at RCSI. It would be my first CNY away from home and I wasn't about to miss out, was I? So Lyana and I helped out with the CNY decorations, before I went to carry the boxes of oranges. By around noon, most of the guests had arrived, and so the event began.
2) Melvin and Jason, acting as the superb MC's of the day, welcomed everyone with the charm and wit that they are famous for. Among some of the events that transpired were the "mandarin oranges eating contest", music performances by the PMCSA members, a Tai Chi demonstration by my good friend Zi Yan, as well as two Lucky Draws. During intermission, everyone was ushered to have lunch in the adjacent Board Room. Chicken rice, accompanied with a smorgasbord of cookies and cakes, and topped off with boxes upon boxes of mandarin oranges, completed our line up of food for the today.
3) The event finished two hours earlier than usual. This may sound a little surprising to some, but I think it's due to the superb planning by our event coordinator this time around - Aisha. We took another hour to clean up, and to pack home some leftovers for the homeless, before keeping the rest for ourselves. Most of my friends left by then, and I came over to the library to put everything down and take a breather. Continued with some studying for the rest of the evening (believe me, when you go to uni you forget the concept of day and time - everyday is a good day to study haha). Had a late dinner since I was proper full from all those oranges, before packing up and returning home.
4) All in all, the CNY celebration was nothing less than an absolute success. Many of the guests thanked us for the effort and a job well done, which made all the hard work worth it. For me, it was about reflecting on how I spent my CNY back at home - going to temples to pray and then visiting our relatives, and contrasting this with spending CNY abroad with my friends, and being reminded that my friends are the pillars of strength that keep me motivated throughout my tenure in Dublin. It has been a long day for me, and I won't lie when I say that I'm sleep deprived, but it has all been worth it. That's the end of my day, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Thanks as always, and have a great day. Cheers!
1Malaysia as can be ^^
My morning toast, with a dash of CNY magic :)
The decorations that we put up
Chicken rice with sambal
And the non-halal counterpart
A delicious assortment of tarts, cookies and pastries <3
The Lion Dance!
The turnout was larger than expected, and a lot better than the previous years :)
The ensemble of performers which belted out a famous Wang Lee Hom classic
- ai yin wei zai xin zhong (爱因为在心中)
Chicken rice, with veggies and sambal
Mandarin orange XD
My fellow partners in crime:
(l-r: Me, Khee Heng, Stephanie, Nee Kee, Esther and Jason)
