I'm not sad I'm not home. Had I not missed one year of CNY, I would not have known what the value of CNY is. Sure, there are things which creates the atmosphere of CNY. But nothing beats having your family around. When the clock struck midnight in Singapore time, I was frantically trying to get to my mother. Finally, when I got hold of her almost two hours later, I was overjoyed to hear her voice and the phone was passed onto countless relatives wishing me a prosperous new year. 'Twas great to know she wasn't alone in this festive season!

Part of me contemplated taking leave to celebrate, but gave up the thought sooner than I entertained it. I figured I would mope around the house and get all depressed that I'm not back home, hence I decided to be around work where I would be in the company of colleagues. Not such a bad decision after all.

Saturday I headed to Koblenz with 9 other people and visited a quaint castle. Initially, I was none too impressed with Koblenz... until I climbed up to visit the castle called St. Marksburg, the only castle in the Rhine area which has not been destroyed. The steps up the hill was situated in the midst of some houses of the locals, and one gradually walks up into the hill surrounded by trees (which turned into some sort of a trek). The journey was amazing... I will post the pics up next week!!! :)