Set off early 初三 (Saturday) morning in my sister's car (brother fetched my parents; 小叔 fetch his son and 英姑; plus 月姑 and family on their own car) and custom was pretty clear; reached Malaysia for a short breakfast before we continued the 1 hour journey into Pontian then Kukup. It's been quite a while since I've seen Kukup so crowded (largely because I haven't been going back during the festive period) and we even had to wait for a good half an hour before we got our lunch at 龍皇 (which moved by the way). Not only did the restaurant moved, many of the shops were new and the buildings were all made of cement! To be honest, I was pretty disorientated and felt alien in this pseudo-hometown of mine.
Met 四舅 and 小舅 before 三姨 came along as well to join us for lunch. After we settled our stomach it's time to head for the chalet! Didn't get one of my maternal relative's chalet cos they were all overbooked but they still got us a pretty decent alternative (they're really all the same). First thing first: mahjong! Which is basically what we do (along with Banluck) throughout our "free" time there. 三叔 also came in unplanned in the afternoon and manage to enjoy the chalet without paying! Haha. I must emphasize at this point that some of my maternal relatives and my paternal relatives are pretty good friends because most of my maternal relatives depend on my dad/mum for shelter and assistance when they come Singapore.
Highlight of the trip (yes, even this weekend getaway "back home" has a highlight; in fact, it's always the same highlight), is the fireworks at night! For further description and videos, please visit my Instagram and Facebook. Lol.
放孔明灯！ 4/6 took off and most of them 起死回生: flying off after lying still on the swamp waiting to catch a wind.
Night was spent mahjonging away (came home with more ringgit than I brought in cos of the winnings haha) and the next morning was packing up, and we set off before the others cos we went around my relatives' house to 拜年 (and collect fishes; about 2-3 per house on average, as is always the case whenever we go back Kukup to pay a visit). Fortunately, most of them recognized me despite my absence the past decade!
It was really a fantastic getaway, and despite everything physically changing so much, I still felt like home when I was there... I'll definitely be back very soon I promise!
