A Hallucinogenic Christmas

It was back in March, on one of the last nights Mike and I were in Canada leaving for Singapore - we were over at our friends Bijan & Heather’s home having a few (and I use that term lightly) “goodbye” glasses of wine, when Bijan asked if we were planning on coming home for Christmas. As we both had upcoming weddings to attend in Canada that summer, the answer was no we would most likely be in Singapore for Christmas.

“Good” Bijan said

“I want you to experience Christmas in Singapore and then tell me all about it”. I asked Bijan to elaborate but all he would do is laugh and replied, “Just trust me”.

Fast Forward to December. Bijan  - I get it.

Christmas in Singapore starts on October 15th - and to be honest I’m really not sure when it ends. You would never guess that you were in a country where more than 75% of the population does not celebrate Christmas. The city is decked out beyond anything you could imagine and looks like a cross between a scene from Dr. Who and the Vegas Strip.

Pretty Yes -  Normal No.

On more than one occasion during the festive season I found myself walking down the street and thinking “my god this would be one hell of an acid trip” - but then again, its Singapore and somehow it all makes sense – I mean this is a city with outdoor air conditioners, bars dedicated to the Beatles Sgt.Pepper album and who’s favorite pass time involves the use of a karaoke machine.

What else can I say but given the chance to explore - Hunter S Thompson would have loved this wacky little country and well I continue to get a kick out of it.

CHRISTMAS

It took some desperate searching but to my sheer delight successfully in the end, we were able to find eggnog in Singapore (granted it was about 7 CAD a liter) but nevertheless it was delicious and thanks to our friend Quentin (the finder of the eggnog) Christmas in the Gorkoff/DeBruijn household was saved.   

Quentin the Christmas Saver!

Mike & I hosted Christmas dinner at our house (we had the biggest table amongst our group of friends and a Christmas tree thanks to my friend Liz).

Please pay special attention to the fireplace. Unlike Mike I’m sure you will all agree that it ties the room together nicely and that such important room-tying elements can’t have a physical value put on them.

The turkey was a whole other story. In Singapore most people don’t really have ovens or at least not ones that are big enough to cook a 16-pound turkey. Also, as it is generally hot here, the idea of cooking turkey or another meal in the oven for a prolonged period of time is not something that really gets people too excited.

Singapore Solution - Pre-cooked turkeys!!

Actually it was pretty good. The deal goes pretty much like this: Over the course of November/December you will find that your mailbox is overloaded with pamphlets advertising basically what I call “Christmas Dinner in a bag”. Basically you can have your whole Christmas meal arrive at your doorstep on Christmas day, all you have to do is be there to pay the delivery guy when he comes knocking at your. Then, once that’s done, you can go back to hanging out at the pool until dinnertime. It’s bloody brilliant!

        

In our case we just opted for the turkey and took care of the fixings/sides ourselves.  I have to say the turkey was pretty damn good. It was up there with most of the decent turkeys I’ve had back in Canada. Well…. with the exception of “Spicy Turkey” of course. 

Chad and our Bird