Bong Natal!

I was brought up by my grandparents and Christmas is a big thing for Eurasians. BIG.

Preparation for Christmas starts about 6months in advance. My grandmother would start buying things for the house like artificial flowers, Christmas napkins, Christmas table linen, new curtains, new bedsheets and pillowcases, new clothes for everybody and that includes our panties/bras for the ladies and underwear for the men living in the house and new towels. She starts posting Christmas cards/friends to all her close family and friends in Singapore and Malacca in early November. For those who lived in Malacca, she'd send small little presents. Her present hunting starts as early as 3months in advance. We would then receive Christmas cards from families and friends too and I'd get sooo excited when I see the postman and run to the mailbox to get a card! And I'd scream, Aunty Joan sent us a card or Look, grandma, a present!

She then starts making the Eurasian fruit cake a month earlier and sprinkles brandy each week. She doesn't make the Sugee cake but we buy it from Cona's. Cona used to be near Holy Family Church in Katong but I hear that they operate from home now. Then there is the traditional Bolu Cocoo aka Coconut Sponge cake. She also makes the archar which she bottles them up (i love love them!). Then there is the Christmas pie, the famous Curry Devil and Feng, Saybak, Curry Pineapple Prawns and if that's not enough food for you, we would buy Fish Head Curry from Muthu's!!!! Apart from food, I would put the Christmas tree up and I'd get sooo excited from doing so! They allowed me to do whatever I wanted with the tree and I would get really excited about the presents under it! :(

Well, my grandparents are no longer around and unfortunately, nobody really did learn how to cook as well as my grandmother. I thought about keeping up with some of the traditions I was brought up with. Every year, I'd send out Christmas cards to close family and friends and some new friends whom I think are nice people. However, I think most of my friends do not practise Christmas card exchange. I stopped sending to some friends as some didn't even thank me for sending them a card. When I'd ask them if they had received my card, they'd apologise and say yes, and that they had forgotten about it. I feel that while I am equally busy and that I had taken an effort to send you a card and I do not expect you to send me one, a thank you would be nice. Call me old fashioned but that was how I was brought up by my grandmother. So this year, I received cards from my family members and again like every year none from friends.I also set up the Christmas tree. T and I went Christmas tree ornament hunting. He chose the ornaments and he hung them up. I love a colourful tree and we chose so many different ones this year like a train ornament, a shoe ornament, a kangaroo ornament, a cupcake ornament..and everyday, we'd talk about about ornaments, just like what I used to do with my grandmother. I placed the presents under the tree with T, though he doesn't really understand the concept of gifts yet. :) Food wise, well, I have to say, that's hard to do. The food preparation will kill me. I don't think i can do the food preparation as early as a month earlier than Christmas and then to stay in the kitchen whole day for at least a week or so, just cutting up the ingredients and what's not. Plus, there's just three of yes with one very picky eater. So, we made a Christmas pie for Christmas dinner and a roast on boxing day. And then that's when the homesickness hit me with a bang! I really missed the Christmas spread back home. :(

But this Christmas, I have a lot of things to be grateful for. We are renovating our house a bit. Dealing with traders and landscapers have been a pain. :( I am pregnant again and will be on homestretch in 2 weeks time (I am sooo thankful for making it to the 3rd trimester!), I tell my number son 2 that I am so grateful to have him in my life because if I hadn't lost my baby earlier this year (though I am still saddened by the loss), I wouldn't have had him as we had only wanted 2 kids. I have been very busy for the past few months and needless to say, lack of sleep as T doesn't nap anymore. T sleeps around 9-ish and then I have to clean the house, prepare his homeschooling materials and prepare his food for the next day and by the time I'm done, it's almost 1am. Babes has been off from work since last Monday and I have taken this opportunity to clear the other room to make way for the cot and man, it took me almost 2 weeks to clear everything, well, almost. I am also preparing T's birthday party as his birthday will be very close to bub number 2's delivery date, erm, like 11 days later, so I'm hoping that he will be good and come after T's birthday. I am almost done with washing all bub number 2's clothes. Don't really trust Melbourne's weather. Last summer, we had rain. :( Babes has been waking up every morning at 5.30am to paint the house as it's almost impossible to do anything around with T awake. And most importantly, I am grateful for my husband and my son. They mean the world to me.

So, there you have it. Not sure what I was trying to say in this post but the gist of it, is that I am grateful and feel very blessed this Christmas.

Belated Bong Natal everyone! I hope everyone had a good one!

ps Bong Natal means Merry Christmas in the Kristang language, mainly spoken by Eurasians.