Another 4-day weekend!

One of the things about living in Malaysia that I really do like (though I think a lot of employers may not feel the same way) is the number of public holidays we have in a year! And in the last two months we have had several, one after the other! Let's see now.... if we restrict ourselves so that we dont go back beyond Xmas, we started with:

Sun 25th Dec, Xmas Day
Mon 26th Dec - since Xmas was Sunday, we get Monday off too.
Sun 1st Jan, New Years Day
Mon 2nd Jan - off day, since NY day was Sunday
Mon 23rd and Tuesday 24th Jan - Chinese New Year
Wed 1st Feb - Federal Territory Day
Sun 5th Feb - Prophet Muhammad's Birthday
Mon 6th Feb - off day, since the Prophet's birthday was Sunday
Tue 7th Feb - Thaipusam

Well there you have it in just the space of LESS than 2 months (ie, 25th Dec to 7th Feb) there are already 6 public holidays, which gave a total of 7 WORKING days holiday, not including weekends. So, as an employee working in KL, I could have taken 7 working days holiday (25, 26, 27, 30, 31 Jan and 02, 03 Feb) and had a stretch of 17 days break from work. Amazing!

And then we have nothing till May 1st - so for all working folks out there... hope you enjoyed your long break and that it is sufficient to 'hold' you till 1st May.

Tomorrow my beloved #1 niece (my brothers daughter - they live in Melaka) heads back to Moscow to continue her medical studies, after having had a nice long 2 months (almost) break. From the heat of Malaysia (usually at 30degC or higher!!) to the COLD of Moscow - currently running between -10degC to -20degC! As you can imagine, whenever she comes back to Malaysia her first comments (after greeting her family!) always run something in the lines of "IT'S SO HOT!!" :-D

Anyway, I digress! So, tomorrow we are heading to Melaka, to spend the day with my brother and his family, to spend time with #1 before she heads off. Our cousins, L&R will be joining us there and it will be good to catch up. Lunch, tea (for which I am currently making an Opera cake), then to the airport to see her off, and then home... and the next 3 days after that will be very very quiet and peaceful.

In just a few days time, I will mark the 2nd year since Ken said his final words to me and peacefully passed away. And, on the same day, we also mark my mothers 75th birthday. The challenge for me is to stop mysel from being despondent on that day - Ken would have hated for me to be depressed, and it is not fair to my mum either if I am depressed! I will manage - over the last two years, despite the hole in the heart not getting any smaller, I have gotten very good at appearing to be A-OK. I reserve the times of sadness to when I am on my own so that I do not upset anyone else.

That's it for now folks. Till next time, have a good day, every day!