Moon Haze

Man... Sumatra's pissing me off sometimes.. okay..
only the times when the winds are blowing tonnes of smoke in our way.

I spent my mooncake festival at my grandfather's cousin's son's son's home.. Ah, makes that even more complicated eh? It was nice of them to invite us over to their humble abode (with a long driveway, a courtyard, a guesthouse 6x the size of my living room, a really big swimming pool, a 2 story garden...etc...) and that's just the exterior.

At first I was rather hesitant because I could've celebrated it with my friends, but I told myself that I should at least respect my elders to which they have put in their time and effort in wanting to bring the Ho clan together on a festive occasion. Food was okay, company was okay too... I just felt a little bored when I was there because there was the awkardness of not knowing what to say or talk to your distant relatives, when they have so many experiences to talk about knowing that they have been to Sweden (or are going to), own the Banyan Tree resort in the Maldives, their son in the States working.. bla bla bla...

You never know when not to feel uneasy when somehow you know that you're related to the Very Important People in the small, but rather powerful tiny island of Singapore.
There I go, mumbling again...

But you know, I was being very cynical for the first few hours, but after sitting amongst the elders and hearing their stories of the good old days (like 40 something years ago), my heart got warmed by the lives they've led and the closeness they have felt with every sibling and cousin.

And when we were sitting quietly within the last few minutes before we separated in our ways, we just stared at the moon, knowing that it was indeed a moment to cherish.
Perhaps the haze may have caused minimal discomfort, but the moon was there for us to see (although partially obscured by the haze). Somehow, during yesterday night, the moon was a symbol of unity and nostalgia for the Ho clan, and that was a pleasant feeling to think about.