Christmas on the Island

This Christmas, I was all by myself on the island we know so well by now as P had gone off to Kolkata. Usually, this is the time of the year when indians in singapore take a trip to the old country, but unfortunately, this also the only time when the weather in singapore is anything to write home about. A nice breeze and 22 degrees Celsius, blitzkrieg of lights on orchard road, and even more shoppers crawl in and out of retail stores with bags and bags of junk they dont need...It is an atmosphere all right but a contrasting one to the traditional western concept of christmas, which is all about being indoors before the fire-pace and drinking wine and gorging on all kinds of festive food. Here, I had the fortune of being invited to dinner by a supplier, which was another Chinese meal to die for. Peking duck and Steamed Garoupa were competing for real estate in my stomach, and then ofcourse I washed it all down with scotch. Never had any turkey and didnt miss it much. I always enjoyed bland western food, but now that I have tasted authentic asian cuisine, I can't bring myself to enjoy western food very much anymore. I watched a move , "The Yes Man"..it was a perfect festival movie, light, crisp and feel-good. I wish I could get out of Singapore for 11 months and only be here in December..not really, singapore is quite all right!!