Day 28 - Wan tan mee, my brother's love and old friends

These few days have been insanely chaotic and packed to the brim with activities - and not in a good way. Without going into too much detail, it's been one thing after another.. I don't know what it is, but there seems to be a string of unfortunate events that the new lunar year has brought on. There's a Chinese belief that you are 'destined' to be faced with particular challenges in the new lunar year, but sometimes they appear early on in the year in a relatively minor form (eg. falling ill instead of being diagnosed with cancer) and once you overcome them, that challenge for the year will be over and done with, and you'll be fine for the rest of it. I'm hoping that's the case.

Amidst everything that's going on, I managed to find joy through a few things today:

1. Wan tan mee (dry wonton noodles) for lunch. It's such a simple dish, but incredibly mouth-watering and delicious.



2. In the afternoon, my brother and I had a teary goodbye as he left for the airport to fly interstate. As I'm returning to Melbourne tomorrow, I won't be seeing him till the next time he visits. We're a pretty tight-knit duo, having lived together for so long and knowing that we'll be in different countries tore me. So imagine my surprise when he reappeared 2 hours after we said our farewells! He had decided to take a later flight at night to spend a bit more time with me! What a sweetie :)



3. Lik Chuen dropped by unexpectedly at midnight to see me off, and we ended up chatting for a good couple of hours while I packed. There's something undeniably beautiful and special about being able to catch up with an old friend to share laughs and stories, with never ending free flowing conversation.

As I lie beneath my star filled ceiling (I stuck them up when I was 15) on my last night in Penang tonight, I'm recollecting my week here. It's been hectic, it's been unpredictable, it's been exhausting, it's been filled with soo much food, and it's also been a lot of fun. It's been amazing to be with all of my family.

I can't help but think - it's all going to be okay.