I was in Malacca last August for a family gathering. My extended family is huge and it is usually a rare occasion for us to meet up in such a big group. Even then, quite a number of our relatives were unable to be there as they were living and working overseas. To give you an idea of the size of our family, my father has sixteen siblings, some of whom are already grandparents.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a family photo to show here, so I’ll post the closest thing to one.

I kid. Such a shop front brings back memories for me.

This shop front was a common sight for me growing up in Malaysia. The emergence of supermarkets and hypermarkets as one-stop shopping locations, and the proliferation of convenience stores such as 7-Eleven has led to a decline in the number of such shops.

Modern kids would not be familiar with those capsule toys vending machines, also known as gashapons. The good old days where there was no internet or computer games, and anything could become a toy as long as you used your imagination. Such capsule toys were treasures to us back in the days.

I turn red very quickly when I drink alcohol, something my friends enjoy making fun of. It runs in the family. Perhaps the red wine makes me redder.

We can’t be sure so I’ll need to test the redness with different types of drinks. Maybe even different types of red wine alone. I foresee long nights ahead, and even longer mornings after.

Yes, the family gathering took place in a restaurant ballroom because there are just too many of us. We went for a walk in the town the next day, including a casual stroll down the famous Jonker Walk.

Expect more photos to be posted, so check back soon or subscribe to my blog