Oh Christmas, such a
wonderful time of the year. Since I was a baby my parents always followed the
tradition of gifting me with presents every year. But the funny thing is
they never encouraged me to believe in the red suited man and his flying sleigh.
So, as you can imagine, I grew up knowing exactly who was gifting my lol,
however they used to give me awesome surprise gifts and we used to amazing xmas
parties at all the Air force stations my dad was transferred. Well, be as it
may, I never grew up knowing the full history of xmas, not until I came to UK.
That was the first time I had the full experience of a real xmas celebration,
and little by little I came to more about christmas such as the church services
on xmas eve all the way till midnight, the whole traditional xmas feast
(british of course!) with roast turkey with stuffings and gravy, the little
delicious pigs in blankets, the vegie goodness, the delectable minced pies and
the flavourful mulled wine, and the assize family gatherings, of the don't
forget the presents lol…
Then there is the history
of Santa Clause himself that always intrigues me. Santa was based on St.
Nicholas, the Greek bishop of Myra, and the original pagan Father
Christmas, the green man, who is still celebrated in certain parts of UK as the
real Father Christmas. Although history has never been my strong subject it
still never ceased to amaze me how much there is to know about little things in
life… Xmas pleasantries being one of them.
Well, things have been very
tensed in my Indian hometown with the extremists and the aborigines locked
in a brutal fight. Lives have been lost in both sides and blood is being
spilled in the name of revolution or whatever they want to call it these
days. It has been so heart rendering and upsetting that not many have the heart
or the zeal to celebrate christmas this year. I just hope people come to their
senses and put an end to such brutality, and eventually things
get better…
Tips on presents:
1. Consumables! Food is always an excellent and useful gift to give no
matter who, and you can never go wrong with them, provided you know their
taste of course. A bottle of wine, a nice box of chocolate, a cool set of
cheese with crackers and wine, some amazing spices, or authentic (curry, hot,
etc.) sauces are always a winner.
2. For ladies it's quite
easy really, cosmetics and spa items always work. But be wary when getting
perfumes cause not everyone likes the same kind of
smell… Ask them for their choice if they'd actually like on. The same applies for men too, a nice quality grooming kit will ALWAYS come handy.
3. For the loved ones, cool
useful gadgets that they have been eyeing on such as
those amazing wireless head phones, ebook kindle or bluetooth
speakers go a long way.
4. For a
friend, especially some into books, comics and films (quite like me)
a nice piece of literature, flashy comic or a DVD from their fav. genre
would make a brilliant addition. I for one don't need anything else ;)
5. Lastly, for someone
artsy or crafty in the creative sense of terms, it is always best to
give them something that they can use or incorporate in
their studio work, such as my beloved friends have so
thoughtfully given to me this year. These gifts can NEVER be wrong!
Well, I hope that kind of
helped if you were ever in the same quest as me on what to and what not to buy
for christmas. Hope you have a great holiday…
Here's Southampton during Xmas:
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| Xmas tree at the Uni |
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| Southampton Xmas market |
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| Southampton Xmas market sweet shop |
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| Southampton Xmas market sweet shop |
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| Southampton Xmas market above Bargate |
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| Colours and textures |
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| Round and round |
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| Santa and Olaf from frozen |
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