How I miss visiting my aunt in Ipoh, Malaysia during Chinese New Year, an annual trip that goes without fail for as long as I can remember.
How I miss being woken up in the wee hour of the morning, just as I was about to kiss the beautiful Princess, to be the chauffeur to my family on Chinese New Year's Eve for the drive to Ipoh.
How I miss driving hundreds of kilometres to Ipoh when I'm actually looking forward to warming the passenger seat.
How I miss squirming in the driving seat with my dam about to burst and the next toilet is tens of kilometres away.
How I miss being flag down by the Malaysian police for travelling at 90km/hr for speeding on the highway while every Malaysian drivers go past me like Michael Schumacher in a Formula One race with a heavy bladder.
How I miss being flag down by the Malaysian police for speeding on a stretch of road I had never travelled past and just after I crossed a junction which the light turned green not a second before.
How I miss giving the Malaysian police ang baos because I was feeling generous and had collected too many ang baos.
How I miss sitting almost like a statue in the driving seat with my only actions being minute movements of my wrists to steer the car, occasional flicks of my fingers to indicate changing of lanes and the stepping of clutch and changing of gear that only occur during the start and end of the journey.
How I miss the non stop blaring of Chinese New Year music my father always play in the car every Chinese New Year until my head really went tok tok qiang.
How I miss stepping out of the car stiff like Robocop after being on the road for so long.
How I miss collecting my ang baos with Malaysian Ringgit in them instead of Singapore Dollar.
How I miss being bored to tears with no TV programs to watch, no computer, no shopping centres within close proximity and no pretty girls next door to watch.
How I miss the things I truly miss; the pet dogs my aunt kept until 7 years ago, the totally sumptuous and delicious vegetarian food my aunt serve every first day of the Chinese New Year and of course my aunt.
Why do I miss these things? Because for once, I'm not going to Malaysia for Chinese New Year. Because, I'm working the next 12 days with only one day off.