What should I do for Christmas - ASIA STYLE?

Season greetings, readers!!

I cannot believe that Christmas is but four days away and I am sitting in Siem Reap not needing to worry about buying presents, running through crowds, and definitely brogans in shopping centres!! I'm not worried about keeping receipts for presents in case friends and family don't like them. I'm not watching my shopping budget.  And, most importantly, I'm sure as heck not having to listen to effing Mariah Carey sing "All I want for Christmas" in every effing shop I visit!!!!  I hate, hate, HATE Christmas carols being played everywhere, especially from November!  


Wow, that paragraph made me sound like SUCH a Scrooge!!  I'm not a Scrooge though, I promise. I actually love Christmas day.  Christmas DAY!!!  The lead up and the stress - not so much!  But I have a great family and every Christmas we get together and have a big lunch with fantastic home cooked meals and drink copious amounts of fantastic wine.  We catch up on the year.  We Laugh. We be merry. We give presents. We, perhaps, have an arvo nap, too!  Then, come the evening, we eat leftovers from lunch.  I love my family's cooking too!  My mother always puts on the best Christmas lunches, even if they are small (small for our family being about 12).  My Uncle Mike also does amazing Christmas lunches as well with roasts, hams, minted peas, home made christmas pudding with brandy butter, brandy sauce, and cream with... wait for it... brandy in it!!  It's the best!!  Mum recently started doing chilled eggnog (with liquor in it of course) which I have become addicted too!! I love that stuff!!


But, because I love my family Christmas lunches so much and being with my family over Christmas, it makes it all that much more difficult whenever I spend Christmas abroad!  Have any of you ever spent a Christmas overseas without family?  I actually am looking forward to my Christmas! This year, plans include leaving Siem Reap and Cambodia tomorrow to fly to Phuket, Thailand for a couple of days with my little brother and his fiancé, before dashing back up to Bangkok to spend Christmas day with Tash's big sister and Margaret's daughter Melissa and her friends, before all of us jumping back down to Koh Samui for a week of bliss and pampering!! Sounds not bad huh!!


But, due to the absence of family on Christmas day, I was wondering if anyone had any idea's on what I could do to make Christmas feel more homely.  I found out from www.asiahotels.com that "Bangkok, Thailand - because Buddhism is the official religion of Thailand, Christmas is not a popular event here. Department stores and market places decorate their shops on the onset of the season" * .  So, I am hoping I can find a good hotel which puts on a Christmas feast because I will be heart broken if I end up eaten pad thai and coconut water for my christmas meal!!


So, what are your ideas and tips for having Christmas abroad to make Christmas feel more authentic? What makes Christmas special for you and your family/country? I would love to hear your thoughts and comments! I will mention some of the best idea's in a video post I will do over Christmas!!


Until next time,


Daniel


*  On that note about Santa, I have no idea what the Asians think of us!  They think Christmas is about some fat red guy who flies around the world giving out presents, and that's what we celebrate. That seems a weird concept to me and its from my culture!!


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The five great things about being sick while overseas!!

Oh my gosh!! Yesterday I had the weirdest stomach bug known to man! Henceforth, therefore, I didn't come into Siem Reap to send a message.  I have nothing much to update you on, as I have been sick, but the great news is Tash's mother is arriving in two days, so we will be visiting the temples nearly and I reckon will be giving you some of the best posts yet, with amazing pictures.

What I did notice while I was sick though, is that there are some great advantages to being sick in an Asia country rather than at home.  So I thought, since I have nothing else to share, I may as well share these:

Dan's 5 reasons why being sick overseas is not so bad!

1./ DVD's are much cheaper.  
OK, they are pirated and ok, they rob companies of there rightful income, and ok, its stealing and I wouldn't steal a car, but as the saying goes I would download one if I could.  In the last 36 hours I have watched the first series of V, the first 2 series of the United states of Tara, a full series of Family guy, All of the Young Ones, and Point Break. Good news is all these DVD's cost me about 20 bucks! I'm practically making money!

2./ You make gains on your budgeting!  
While on money, we all know that when you budget money while overseas you usually break it.  Well, a few days with a stomach flu and you're back in the black baby! I have only spent about 30 dollars in 3 days  on water, small meals, and DVD's!

3./  If you have travelling buddies, they can look after you!
This is much more of a novelty that you may imagine!  Once you've moved out of home, unless you are partnered, who looks after you? No one!! But I had DVD's provided for me and all my shopping done! Better yet, I didn't even pay for it!!

4./ Calling in sick is ok!!
If you are volunteering, you need not feel too guilty about not rocking up for work.  Yes, there will be one day without the crazy white guy, but its not as if management can dock your pay and there is no requirement for medical certificates!!

5./  You can have your choice of meals!
I wanted a toasted sandwich for dinner last night,  Ham and Cheese.  Its a great sick snack, because if you are going to throw up, it comes up soft!  Actually, a slight digression on my point, there are a number of foods that are great if you may be throwing up soon be it for stomach bugs, sea sickness, or whatever. You just need to remember that it does in fact need to be able to come up soft, so banana's, Sao's, water crackers, and the like are all good because they don't hurt as much on the up chuck!

Back to my point though, Tash was kind enough to ride into town to get me dinner and the toasted sandwich I got delivered to me was the single best toasted sandwich I think has ever been created, neigh, brought to life, my the hand of man.  In fact, it wasn't technically a sandwich.  It started off as a toasted ham sandwich with, I think, a béchamel sauce (white sauce for lasagne).  Then, they took said toasted sandwich, and rubbed garlic on one side, placed cheese on top, and put it under the grill! It was a mix of a cheese pizza and toasted ham sandwich... AH-MAY-ZING!  And better yet, I didn't throw it up!!

So, tell me, what are your favourite sick moments/foods! Comment below or on Facebook!

Daniel
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