Christmas Day Ponderings

My first Christmas day in a tropical climate was an experience, a good one at that. It was spent with good friends, good food and good copious amounts of alcohol. What more can a fellow ask?

It's a funny place to be for the festivities though, perhaps I'll get more used to it, I don't know. The heat and the mix of Christmas atmosphere are the strange things. It's almost two AM as I type this and I can't sleep but it must be twenty something degrees, possibly a factor in the whole can't sleep issue, though I'd hardly call it an issue, even though I just did.

I sort of have to pinch myself to remember that it is Christmas. My point of reference is the UK and how the weather is there at this time of year. I mooch, stroll and float around here, Christmas lights, decorations, trees and songs coming at me from every angle and it's hard to take in until I think of the cold greyness and miserable weather that for sure will be happening in London. Then it hits me that it really is Christmas time.

I spoke to the girls earlier today and I was as pleased as a village idiot who's just come last in the village idiot of the year competition to find out that they were genuinely chuffed with my choice of presents. I should probably get some sort of medal for my carefully selected gifts and might tell you more about them in another post.

The other thing I'm taking in here is the way that many shops, businesses and restaurants are open and carrying on as normal. Cabs are scooting around as commonly as ever, the eating houses are all open and the twenty four hour bakery that I'm so fond of was doing brisk business at about 10 PM this (last) evening. I suppose it's because of the mixture of cultures, religions and nationalities here.

In the UK Christmas is everywhere, particularly at this time of year. The country more or less shuts down for it. It's one of the few times in the year when it happens but it certainly does. Here things are different and I could have taken a walk down Orchard Rd and done some shopping earlier had I been that way inclined.

I'll try sleeping again now. I must tell you about the new book I'm reading. It's got over twelve hundred pages and I've only read about seventy five but am already engrossed. I don't think I've ever read a novel with so many pages and the words aren't even written in a massive font.

I hope your day was a good one. It it was half as good as mine then I'm sure mine was twice as good as yours.