Eyes Towards Home This Festive Season

The smell of "Bakua" fills my nostrils with heavenly aromas.
The smell of incense along the street sides fueled by offerings for a Prosperous and Fortune-filled year ahead.
The noisy streets filled with shopping-crazed people waiting for a bargain.
The mad rush to buy snacks and biscuits from the street vendors immediately after the clock strikes 12 on Chinese New Year.
Televisions blasting all over the neighborhood with variety shows celebrating and welcoming the lunar new year.
The clamoring of mahjong tiles deep into the night.
All things that I will miss this year again while I am away from home in a different and foreign land.

This is another year when I am not home during this Festive season. When everyone is getting ready for the new year. Getting haircuts, buying new clothes, cleaning out the house and preparing for a "feast" with family on the eve of the new year.
Another year when we (the ones without family here) have to make our own plans to gather with the 'family' of friends that depend on one another here to get that sense of 'closeness' that we get back home.

I miss being back home. How many of you feel the same?
It's never about the amount of time you spend there during your breaks or holidays, but it's about being there. It's about being part of it all.
Over here...it just feels different somehow.
Even amongst the Lion Dance and Firecrackers you can experience in Chinatown or eating the same food you can get back home, I still look fondly towards home this season...hoping I was there.