Number 300
(The Tan Family at Spring Festival: Singapore)
I cannot really comprehend that this one marks the 300th post I have produced on ‘china meets rosie’, so just for fun, here is a fair proportion of Ying’s family (plus extras). This picture was taken during one of several visits to different branches of Ying’s family over Chinese New Year when I was lucky enough to be in Singapore. In the centre are seated the elders, Ying’s paternal grandparents with two sons either side – the one on the right being Ying’s father. Apart from Ying’s sister, the back row is made up of parents, uncles and aunts and the front row is Ying, his cousins and brother in law.
On this occasion, as on others, we were all shuffled together in numerous manifestations for photographs. It was fun to watch the rearranging of people around the central pair and to listen to the jovial haranguing and complaints about allocated space and poor positioning. Later in the evening we were connected by video link to a cousin living in Beijing.
It was quite daunting to be the newcomer at such a family oriented occasion, though it was made easier by the generosity of each person I met. I imagine it’s very much like a first Christmas with the partner’s family or going to a family wedding. Suddenly, even though I have met Ying’s immediate family on many occasions, there were a host of new names to remember and faces to recall. I recollect the time in Singapore with great fondness and I remember laughing a lot. The Tan family seem generally jolly, perhaps their mood was also bolstered by the festive timing of my visit.
For those of you that recognise either yourselves or any of us, I am on the far right, resplendent in pastiness with Ying seated just in front of me. His sister is behind me in turquoise and her husband is sat in the bottom left hand corner. Ying’s parents are to the left of Ying’s sister and I.
Many thanks to Dennis (bottom left) for supplying the photo; almost everyone is smiling.
I have to say, everybody looks very Tan, except Ms Cunningham who looks…erm…quite Rosie. Arf arf!
*sigh*
Well, Ms Cunningham is not only Rosie, she has got a Tan too, and it is a fairly good Tan!
No, Rosie can never get a real tan, what she can get is only a hue,
that is why she is still rosy.
But look at me, I have got a real tan.