Christmas

Christmas to many Christians signifies the birth of our Christ Jesus. A time of gathering, a time of fellowship and thanksgiving. In Malaysia, Christmas is celebrated a little differently. Most Malaysians go shopping crazy during this period. They parade the malls as though everything is free! Trust me on this as I'm a true Malaysian. The weekend before Christmas, I stepped in Mid Valley Megamall and also 1 Utama. Seas of shopaholics gathered at the main entrance. Car parks were full. You'll consider yourself lucky if you spot an empty parking lot. 

The reason I went to 1 Utama: To collect my new Ixus digital camera. They gave me A PINK camera! Come on, for goodness sake...they should at least choose a non gender biased colour to be given away.

 

I got used to the oddly pinkish hue of the camera and started fiddling with it's features. The camera itself is very compact and lightweight. The design is sleek and easy to use. It's basically a point and shoot camera for noobs. Boosting a 14.1 megapixel count, this camera is capable of shooting high resolution images. This means better clarity in image.

Image quality is good. The camera does pretty well in low light conditions thanks to it's new Digic 4 imaging processor. The macro shots of decent quality, an improvement from my previous Powershot model. The powershot still is in use by the way.

 New mode that only leaves certain colours untouched, no need to waste time phoyoshopping

 Good depth of field achieved with macro function

I live in a part of Melaka called Ujong Pasir. Ujong Pasir which is also where the Portuguese Settlement is located. The Portuguese have been living here ever since their great grandfathers conquered Malacca. Most of them settled down here and built villages by the sea. The modern day Portuguese from Melaka look very different compared to Portuguese from Portugal. They have been Malaysianized! We call them Eurasians. The Portuguese community usually decorate their dwellings with Christmas lights and home made decorations. Visitors from neighbouring states drive all the way to witness this spectacle. Since I live so near, I might else well go check it out.

I arrived at the settlement around 11pm, just in time for the fireworks at midnight. It was like a war zone out there but instead of guns, poeple had foam sprays. I had to dodge the sprays by slipping my self through the crowd. Plenty of Ah Bengs and Ah Lians all over. Bumped into some of my secondary schoolmates too.

It snowed a little. Snow produced by the spray.

No one bothered to throw their used aerosol cans in bins provided.

Retro bus parked near the square

The artificial Christmas tree, nothing special though.

 Some houses got sponsored by certain companies.

Ingenious prop! Santa wouldn't stop here, why would he?

 When I went back, I inspected the aerosol can. The foam is said to be highly flammable. I should have brought along a lighter to light those foam sprayers up!

On Christmas day as usual I attended service in Church, first time I'm celebrating Christmas in Covenant Baptist Church. Sang some Christmas hymns and meet a few new people.

 Rich tasting cake prepared by auntie Su Yin, looked like a mud pie!

My grandparents and aunts came to Melaka for a visit. They wanted to see my elder brother who came back for his winter break just recently. Mom cooked some delicious pork trotters and ponteh chicken. My grandparents da-powed roast pork.

 Group photo. Yes, I was the camera man

After that, my brothers and I visited our Alma mater. It was brother Mike's Christmas Open House. Brother Michael thought me English since from 2. Sadly this year, very few classmates from my year attended the open house. It was a short 30 minutes. Yet, we managed to catch up on a lot of things.

Oh yea, my grandfather was the one who recruited brother Mike into the St. Johns Ambulance

 It's been a good Christmas this year, I've managed to enjoy myself. I would like wish all my family and friends out there a very merry Christmas and may all of you have a great year ahead! Cheers...

Gonna gain a few more kilos from this festive season.