First off, happy New Year! May the Year of the Earth Rat bring you the usual yadda yadda. Well, good yadda yadda, of course.

Speaking of the Year of the Earth Rat, I have by chance come across three different fortune predictions for this coming year. One of the common themes for those born Rabbits: romance is good this year. Damn, didn't see that coming, did you?

This site, for example, says in particular about those born in 1975: "If you are single, you would have good romances. If you are married, be careful of extra-marital affairs. You may not favor partnership business. Do not lend or borrow money."

So, People, you can always come to me for advice on relationship, but not for money. Just this year, a'ight?

But I'm not gonna talk about horoscope stuff. I don't believe in it, anyway.

A number of SMSes arrived in my inbox with a "Happy New Year" or its variants. People in our team shook my hand on Wednesday, saying likewise. Then, as an afterthought, they would say, "Er, you do celebrate Chinese New Year, right?" And I would be like, but of course; I celebrate every public holiday.

Which is true.

Sure enough, they would stare at me and go, "Er, seriously, do you celebrate Chinese New Year?" And I would concede, OK, not really.

The next question would be, "So, what do you celebrate, then?"

Which isn't easy to answer. Not if you discount "I told you, every public holiday" as a valid answer.

In my family, we don't really have any tradition of celebrating anything other than birthdays. No 'big' days are really special to us. We spent the majority of our Christmases being apart from one another. Our New Year's Days, likewise. Ditto any other major holidays.

The only times of the year that would bring greetings from me to my parents -- other than their birthdays -- are Christmas and Easter. But do we really celebrate them? Not really.

Most of the times, it is a good thing. Because then I won't have to crack my head annually, trying to find a way to be back home on a specific day. Because I won't have to worry what present to get for everyone. Because I won't have to play dress-up to meet other families.

Other times, it is a sad thing, no doubt. For obvious reasons.

A while ago, I made up my mind that when I -- if I ever -- have my own family, I would make it a point for us to have something to celebrate annually. A day or two that everyone looks forward to. It doesn't matter what. Could be one of the major holidays. Could be the last day of football season. Could be our dog's anniversary. Anything.

(Actually, unless your team won something, you don't celebrate the end of football season; you mourn it.)

Until then, I will keep celebrating every public holiday for the simple fact that it is a holiday. Heck, if they made us vacate our offices on Valentine's Day, I would celebrate that, too.

Happy holidays, you guys! Remember, if you drink and drive, stay away from any of my family members, thank you.

Current music: Foxy Brown and Jay-Z - I'll Be
Current mood: happy