Simply Rojak: Christmas 2007

The night before Christmas - not the movie - my family had a simple meal of a mixture of east meets west kind of dishes. It's been a while since we sat down for a family dinner before Christmas, what with my brother and I being overseas for more than a few years.

My time in the UK during Christmas was usually spent with friends at potluck gatherings or dinners at restaurants having a Christmas meal. One would think that I'm a Christian by the way I'm writing about celebrating Christmas and all. Unfortunately - or fortunately, depending on one's beliefs and perspectives - I am a free-thinker. Though my dad is a Methodist and most of my uncles and aunties - on my father's side at least - are Christians. And so when I was young we used to gather at one of my aunt's place and celebrate - though I didn't quite understand what we were celebrating then. There would usually be a big Christmas tree, with lots of presents beneath it and a sumptuous meal. And we even had a family member dressing up as Santa Clause and passing out the presents. Being still a kid then - I truly enjoyed it :D

Anyway, over the years the gatherings became something less frequent. A lot of my cousins have gotten married while some have migrated overseas - I was away studying and working for around six years. Personally, as I grew older, Christmas gatherings became less significant - perhaps it was my deeper entrenchment in the thoughts of free thinking. But in hindsight, gatherings such as those during Christmas can mean quality time with close family members and friends and while it may sound absurd - not so in the modern context however - not necessarily in celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ (if I'm not mistaken it used to be a pagan festival that fell on the 25th of December).

I'm not sure how to put this, but I was certainly glad - more so than I expected, honestly speaking - that we had a nice dinner this year. My nephew is just over a year old and I hope that in the years to come we will continue with the Christmas dinner and all, and perhaps leave him with some fond memories that I had when I was his age. I wonder if he would follow the beliefs of his dad and granddad. Which gets me to thinking...my mum and sis-in-law are Buddhists, while my dad and bro are Christians. And I'm the only odd one out without a specific belief...weird ;p

Anyhow, while it's already past the 25th of December, I would still like to wish anyone reading this a Merry Christmas and most certainly a Happy New Year 2008!

I spent Christmas day itself traveling back to Penang from Kuala Lumpur. Here are some of the pictures I took of my nephew and the dinner at Chef & Brew that night with my bro and his family.

Aidan on his journey back to Penang :)

Aidan says: Where is my meal?

3 White Prawns & Chuka Idako (Japanese Baby Octopus) garnished with Miso Mayo, Lemon Sauce & Fresh Vegetables
There was a soup too - Cream of Asparagus with Scallops - though there wasn't anything special about it. Well at least not on camera ;p

Roast Turkey served with Cranberry & Roast Sauce, Chicken Sausages, Parsley Potatoes and Brocolli & Carrot
This was a simple dish, but with a very tasty sauce. And I think they missed out the pâté on menu, which my bro thought was better than the turkey. Hehe...probably because they served like 4-5 pieces of thick turkey meat, which meant that the last piece is already quite dry - despite the sauce - by the time you get to it.