It was the first day of the Chinese New Year. When I reached home from my morning walk, she was sitting in the living room reading the papers. She asked why I did not take her call and I just mumbled that I was already on the way and felt no need to take the call. And then the little one woke up. She ran out of the bed room and ran towards me. She called out to the little one but she uttered "pa pa pa pa .." as she continued to run towards me, ignoring my wife. I gave her a hug and she kissed me. My wife called out to her again but she did not move. However, she did call out "ma ma" and she sat on my lap. The feeling was good, heart-warming. At least I knew that nights of sleeping with her and patting her to go to bed has built a bond between us - something stronger than the mother/daughter bond! Then the second daughter S woke up as well. She greeted both of us. And only F the eldest daugther was still sleeping. My wife attempted to get her up but to no avail. I knew that I had to do my part as a father. I went over to her bed - she was already awake but refused to get down from the bed. I coaxed her softly and she agreed to get down from bed to wash up. We all changed into our New Year's best. And she looked stunning in the black matching tops and pants - with Chinese-looking pink flower with gold fishes motif. I had never seen her this beautiful before - maybe yes - when we got married, but it has been a long while that she had spent time to make-up properly and with matching dressing to complement. She tried to take pictures of herself using the mobile phone but it was not too successful. I immediately took out my digital camera and started to snap pictures. I took so many pictures that she started to get annoyed. Then I stopped. Our first destination was to visit my parents-in-law. It was a 15 minutes drive and when we reached there were surprised that no one was round other than my mother-in-law. As usual we filled up our stomachs and in time to come, more and more visitors arrived until the whole place was really crowded. The children got their red packets and I went around snapping pictures of all the children. We did not stay long as we needed to be at home to receive guests - my brothers and sisters will be visiting me in the afternoon. So, we made our way home. And not long after that, visitors started to arrive. F and hiding in the bed room watching TV and she was there lying on the bed - at times fiddling with the notebook computer and at other times messing around with her mobile. Although there was a certain air of familiarity with the visitors - being brothers/sisters and their spouses - I felt a certain unease as my wife was not her usual self as she was hiding in the bed room. Once a while she would come out, exchange some plesantries and then took refuge in the bed room again. And it was the same for F, my eldest daughter. As for me, shifting in and out of the bed room seemed meaningless to me. The visitors had have their stomachs filled and I knew then that they would not stay long. I went into the bed room and laid on the bed - attempting to take a rest. I thought I was in dreamland but she woke me up - asking if she could ask her friends over for mahjong in the evening. I nodded my head and I woke up. I asked the maid to make some coffee for the visitors and after coffee it was time for them to get going. And they were gone very quickly. The children were getting restless and my wife wanted to go 7-11 to buy mahjong paper. So, we took a drive out - she got her mahjong papers and then we went to Coffee Beans and Tea Leaves for a drink. It was a boring and hot afternoon and we just sat there - making idle conversations. After that, we went home. I was so tired that I fell asleep the moment I plonked onto the bed. S was tired too as she slept beside me. When I woke up it was already 9pm. F was in the living room playing PS2 game. She was standing behind F, watching F playing the computer game. I looked at her - she was all dressed up. Then she told me that the mahjong session will not be at home, she will be going out soon for the mahjong session. And then she was gone. And F was still playing. I sat on the sofa staring at empty spaces again. It will be a long night. It was almost midnight and at long last F was tired and retired to her bed. As I was switching on the computer, I heard the little one crying. I rushed into the bed room and she was already sitting on the bed - crying out loudly. I took a tissue to clean her nostrils and carried her to rest on my shoulders and patted her softly. When the crying stopped, I put her on the bed and coaxed her to sleep. And she slept. I went into the living room and continued to clear my email and trying to blog. I had almost completed my blog and I reckoned it was almost 1am and I heard the little one crying again. This time round, she went back to sleep much quicker but I knew it would be a long night - packed up my computers, took out my contact lenses and went to rest beside the little one. And surprising, she did not cry again. I was awaken again and when I checked the clock, it was 4.30am. I went out to check and her car was not there. She was not back yet. I sent her a SMS asking if she was still playing. And she replied yes, and will be playing till the morning. I went back to sleep again.