My past two Christmases were spent on flight with people I hardly knew and while it was enlightening to observe the activities surrounding the season abroad, nothing can really compare to being in the company of family and friends.
It really isn't difficult to get into the spirit of Christmas in a city like Singapore, where the atmosphere around town simply draws you in. This has part to do with the freedom we are given to celebrate the birth of Christ in this country and the recognition that Christmas is an opportune season to attract consumers.
I had the opportunity to be a part of several festive activites that made this Christmas especially memorable for me.
Christmas Cupcakes! Our first Christmas treat for the office arrived on the 14th with a courtesy visit from the agent that found me my current position. We ooh-ed and ahh-ed, whipping out our cameras, happily clicking away for a good 15 minutes before putting them away to resume work. They were just too cute to be eaten!
Subsequently, more seasonal treats arrived and filled up our pantry with sugary delights. I suspect we will be struggling to finish them till CNY!
Festivities in Orchard. If you ever get the chance, take a walk along Orchard Road the weekend before Christmas, preferably from afternoon still sunset just to soak in the festivities. What we saw: Choirs, carollers, quirky talent performances, busy shoppers, product giveaways, floats, Santas, Santarinas, etc. While Orchard Road can look quite cluttered during the day, it lights up beautifully at after sunset.
Candlelight Service. An evangelistic event, Candlelight Service is held annually a week before Christmas as part of City Harvest Church's tradition. One of the highlights of the service is when the lights for the entire hall are switched off and the first lit candle starts to spread the flame to the next. It's amazing to see all the candles gradually light up the pitch dark hall.
English Sherry Trifle. My first exposure to trifile was through watching the espidoe of Friends where Monica allows Rachel to make dessert for a Christmas dinner for the very first time. Rachel decides to make a Traditional English Trifle and follows the recipe to the tee only to find out later that the recipe she followed was half an English Trifle and half a Shepard's Pie because the pages were stuck together! So, there was a layer cake, a layer of jam, a layer of bananas, a layer of beef sauteed with peas and onions, a layer of custard and a layer of cream.
But this time, I had the chance to try an actual trifle (which had no beef sauteed with peas and onions), made specially for the office by my boss. She had made it over the weekend for us to indulge a few days before our Christmas break. It was delicious! Sweet, fruity and sinful.
Office Celebration. As part of our company's tradition, we had a Christmas lunch on 23rd, after opening our gifts from each other. Lunch was a buffet at The Line Shangri-La, similar concept to the KL branch's Lemon Garden.
Loh Family Dinner. Christmas Dinner this year was hosted by Joyce and Michiel. There was a real tree, Christmas poppers and a beautifully set table of wine, pumpkin soup, ham, BBQed pork ribs, roast chicken, baked salmon, baked potatoes, salad and bread & butter pudding. Best of all was the fellowship and we had a great time enjoying each others' company over dinner and around the tree.
We also celebrated Joyce's birthday that night, opened presents and continued the fellowship the next day over dim sum lunch.
Christmas Eve Service. We attended CHC's Christmas service on the 24th at Expo, where we were part of the "book seats team" for our small group. In anticipation of the crowd that evening, we were in line at the entrance two hours ahead of time to ensure our group of friends could sit together.
It was a nice change to be there early. It gave me the opportunity to get to know new friends better. Important to note: Be equipped with a bottle of water and some snacks. If you are like me, you will get peckish at some point during those 4 hours and a simple something to feed the juices will help.
Post-service hangout was at T2's McDonald's. Ernest broke his record and had McDonald's for the first time in ....10 years?
Christmas in KL. Christmas Day started early for us. We were up to catch the first flight out to KL, hoping to reach our home church Metro Tabernacle in time to watch the Christmas production, The Promise. We had to be at the airport at 6.45am, so breakfast was at T1's Wang Cafe after checking-in.
We made it to church just in time and managed to watch the choir perform in all its harmonic glory. As with all our weekend trips back to KL, we look forward to catching up with friends and family. Christmas lunch was spent with two of Ernest's oldest friends and their partners at Sri Ayuthaya in Wangsa Maju. We were treated to a pretty awesome seafood set lunch of baked oysters, soft-shell crab and fish.
Liew Christmas Dinner. It has become somewhat of a tradition to have everyone bring something for dinner at the Liews. Norman and Reen hosted dinner this year and the star dishes were most definitely E's aglio olio and Reen's crispy roast pork *smuck!*. I found it especially meaningful to be able to make it for this dinner, since all the brothers' plus ones were there too.
All in all, there was a lot of eating and talking, which is what I love about Christmas. Whatever their reason for celebration, people do make the effort to get together and connect.
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