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What a difference a year makes! A year earlier, we had been navigating the cobblestones streets of Aleppo, Syria, bracing against the cold weather and experiencing an Orthodox Christmas on the same streets where Saul of Tarsus (St. Paul) once tread. This year we celebrated the holiday in the tropical suburbs of Singapore, in Choa Chu Kang. Our holiday revelry began two days before Christmas, with a celebration with our next door neighbors, as Peter Tan and his family came over for a pre-Christmas celebration.
Our
guests arrived shortly
after seven, and observed the
local custom of leaving their shoes at the door. Pretty easy to keep a
clean house with guests like these. From the entryway, everyone
proceeded
to the terrace for the festivities. The Tan clan included about
18
people--brothers,
sisters, nieces and nephews. When Peter realized there was "room for
more," he went out into the driveway with his cell phone and started
calling more friends of theirs -- loved that!
The Tans brought bee hoon (a wonderful noodle dish), as well as a
delicious
chicken curry, and jellies. We barbecued vegetable brochettes on the
grill.
Poniah showcased what she learned living with a Chinese
family
for nine years, whipping up her special noodles and baked fish
(pomfret) in a
lovely
sauce. Tracy rounded off the meal with her stupendous fudge-iced
brownies,
a guaranteed crowd pleaser! No one left hungry. The picture
to the left gives one a sense of the patio at night, while to the
right, Peter's son, Terence (a Singaporean policeman) helped Tracy
serve her killer brownies.
Of
course, what is Christmas without children? To the right
the three younger revelers paused from their game of "choo choo train"
to play with some balloons, while on the right Tracy shares a joke with
Peter's daughter and her cousin; both are experiencing chocolate
ecstasy,
thanks to Tracy's brownies. What a kaleidoscope of colors and sound;
children
and adults, Mandarin and English, all set to the background music of
African
rhythms.
Following our dining and socializing on the terrace, we retired to the
living room, as Terence had asked to hear Tracy's CD. We played
excerpts
from her solo and trio CDs to a most appreciative (she says, "captive"!) audience. After this
impromptu "concert," we opened our Christmas present from the Tans.
(To
see it, you must click on the photo to the right) We also took a group
picture of the Tan family, our gracious guests. They really brought the
Christmas spirit to our house.
