1. Staying up too late
It always happens. You got carried away with thinking, ‘oh it’s a holiday the next day, it’s no biggie’ and stayed up ’til the wee hours of the night, playing mahjong and mindlessly watching reruns on TV. Then boom, Monday happened. You barely managed to crawl out of bed, and the trains were even more jam-packed than usual because everybody and his mum also woke up late for work. Nice.
2. Not skipping town
Preparing for the festivities – and the oxytocin from all that bak kwa – got the better of you. ‘Maybe it’s a good idea to catch up with the relatives, have a proper reunion,’ you thought. Turns out, that was a bad decision. Because sitting through dinner while trying to damp down murderous thoughts about your dad’s gossipy sister was t-o-r-t-u-r-e.
3. Not shelling out for that flattering dress
Because the first sentence your tactless slob of an uncle blurted out was, ‘Wah! So prosperous already ah?’
4. Pigging out
See point above.
5. But also, not buying more of your favourite snacks
A box of hae bee hiam love letters for $21 seemed like a ridiculous amount to pay for half a container of air. Scratch that, it is bloody expensive, no questions about that. So you bought only one, promising to savour them slowly. But your annoying relatives made off with the whole darn box 15 minutes into the reunion, and there’s no way in hell you can buy more for yourself – it’s a limited edition CNY product and the shop’s completely sold out for the year.