Celebrations (Losing My Ethnicity?)

This year Chinese New Year came and went, just like that. It is my fave holiday when I was a kid - the new clothes, the firecrackers, the kuih kapit, the reunion dinners, meeting up with old friends, meeting relatives which just mysteriously appear once a year and the wonderful smell of freshly minted cash. However this year, it was just another day for me. Just a call to my family to wish them Gong Xi Fa Cai and that was it. Probably there was no festivities here and not many fellow Malaysians here to yum seng with. And there goes my CNY 2006.

Valentine's Day however marks the 2nd year anniversary of my proposal to Lila. Can't believe how time flies and 2 years had passed. I for one think that V's Day is too commercialized where restaurants are packed and roses are expensive. I for one was running out of ideas on what to do and what to get. A friend told me that Jim Brickman (a pianist) is in town and so I got tickets for the night. Of course Lila do not know who he is and I haven't been to a piano concert since I was a kid. It turned out to be a wonderful romantic evening with self-declared Mr Romance. I had liked his music a few years ago but his tunes got kinda same, that is his signature I guess. He had a few interesting guest artist - an electric violinist who could make his instrument sound like an electric guitar and also a male and female vocalist. Jim played a lot of his hits and it is funny seeing him playing quite intensely on the piano. His left leg was moving a bit weird while playing. All in all, he had an encore and ended the night with no surpise, his love song Valentine: ... I will give you my heart, Until the end of time, You're all I need, my love, my Valentine.