So This Is My Christmas

I've never celebrated Christmas, at least not in the traditional way. When I was young, all my knowledge of Christmas came from books, TV shows and movies. Because I watched a lot of American TV, for a long time, I thought Thanksgiving was related to Christmas! Of course I know better now. To the young me, Christmas meant snow, Christmas trees, presents and turkey. Of course there was Santa Claus.

I knew Santa Claus wasn't real because in Singapore most homes did not have chimneys and no chimneys - no Santa. Also, I did not receive any presents when I was a kid. I hoped for a very, very long time that snow would fall in Singapore. Of course I know now cold can be unbearable. Plus Singapore is too close to the equator.

I received my first Christmas present when I worked for an American company. Christmas was BIG in this company, almost compulsory. When I turned up for work on Christmas eve, there were presents on my desk! I received a t-shirt and something ornamental. I gave the givers nothing in return because I had no idea! There was a Christmas party everyone had to attend at night. A new guy asked me to attend it with him. I said yes and waited for him to pick me up in the evening. He called later to say he had to skip the party as he had a conference call. I did not attend the party after all as I was too embarrassed to attend it alone.

When I got married, me hubs and I did not observe any traditions for Christmas until we had kids. My kids knew Christmas from kindy. Christmas is BIG in kindy. So I bought a tiny ornamental Christmas tree and bought the kids presents because they expected it. We did this until they outgrew kindy.

This was 2004

Christmas morning, 2004

1 year me mom was living with me during the Christmas period and she got a present too!

Her present? Tea bags. I snagged the container!

What I like to do during the Christmas period is go to Orchard Road to look at the Christmas decorations, trees and light-up. We used to go every year at night because the effect is different. But I noticed that as my kids grew older, they really showed a lack of enthusiasm and I fear it's just me that's excited by the light-up.

This week I took a break from sewing because I wanted to take a break from sewing. We went to Orchard Road during the day and the decorations were pretty impressive. Here are some nativity scenes.

The decorations were pretty inpressive too.

Santa Cow?

Big balls

Of course, the malls went crazy with the trees.

A street tree - wish I could see it at night!

This tree is really tall - almost 3 storeys high.

I have to show you The Most Pathetic Christmas Tree In Singapore. It's at a shopping place near my home.

What is Christmas without cakes and cookies? My kids did the work. I watched and washed up!

The kids did not enjoy getting their hands dirty.

The cookies tasted delicious even though some came out darker than the rest. We ate everything within 2 days.

Choc chips cookies, can you tell?

Choc chips cup cakes, can you tell?

The kids made cup cakes and since they liked choc chips on everything..... These disappeared into our tummies within 2 days as well.

Star cake?

No, we didn't bake this one. Me hubs brought it home from work. I have to say it is way too sweet. I ate everything but the icing. My kids are afraid of fancy cakes. Couldn't get them to eat it. One reason I prefer to bake my own cup cakes is I can put less sugar.

 Happy holidays everyone!