shang memoirs II
i'm glad i'm part of this big family. close knitted i'd say. perhaps i owe it to my childhood days spent living with my grandparents, uncles and aunties at the 3-room toa payoh flat. till today, i call them my friends. and despite the length and breath of time spent apart from one another, chinese new year has always brought the families together under one roof. that's the essence of new year reunion, isn't it?

what's special and precious to me are my cousins. as i mature with age (a-hem! not that old la..), i realise that i'm beginning to see my cousins as besties much recently. and the more i spend time with them, the more i discover the joys of sharing and building the cousin-bonds. and i realise the importance of such close bonding over the years. i call them soul mates. ain't i glad we are blood related too? :)

okay - i've been getting raised eyebrows about: why shang? not xiang? well, the story goes when long time ago when Singapore just got her independence, there wasn't a standardised system of registering surnames. when little gracie was born, all Singaporean born babies were given han-yu-pin-yin names. that's why, gracie xiang. not sweet-smelling 'xiang' (chinese: 香) but belief 'xiang' (chinese: 相). yes, a very unique surname :)