A (Totally) Different Christmas

This is the first time I am spending Christmas away from Singapore, what more in winter.  It is both exciting, because I am finding new ways to celebrate Christmas with a whole new bunch of people but also a little sad because of the break from the traditional activities.  In Singapore, my mind, spirit and body start celebrations in the beginning of December, when the lights on Orchard Road are up and every meet-up revolves around Christmassy stuff.  I miss my family (Wons & Foos), the girls (Dawn, Sanny & Sin Yee) and the office folks (frigging list is too long but you-know-who-you-are).  I miss the perpetual playing of Christmas songs in office (All I Want For Christmas on loop is not half as annoying as Gangnam Style once a day).  I even miss the panic-shopping (actually, who am I kidding?  It is NEVER a pain to shop, ha ha) and the wrapping of pressies and writing of cards. I miss going for never-ending dinners and brunches where we ooh and ahh over thoughtful gifts and I actually miss midnight Mass (seriously siah) and the supper that follows at 2am on Christmas eve.  But like I said, a new chapter means a new tradition and while Christmas isn't a public holiday in Shanghai, the city still embraces the season with fervour, albeit with a totally different emphasis.  In Singapore, we see the nativity scene quite often and most of the shopping centres' decors/taglines focus on giving (ok, giving $$ to the shops while shopping also counts la).  Shanghai's celebrations are a lot more secular, about just having fun and buying stuff. Well, I guess it doesn't matter right? Because Christmas is where the heart is (*cue* awwww).  In case you think I am being boo-hoo here, I am NOT ok.  This post is as usual, about the fun I've had with the great people around me. Ha ha...

We started celebrations with a...quick guess (!!) CYCLING trip on 15 Dec.  Grace, Vic, Chen Ann and I were mad enough to go on a Santa cycling excursion organised by a bike shop, Factory 5.  The ride promised Santa hats, drinks and a defined route that will end off at a new bar, Archie's.  But it was freezing (5 deg I think) and post-excursion, I had to declare it the last cycle of the season for me, especially since I had to go retrace my steps to look for my fingers that dropped off along the way.

 

Cider-drinking & riding. No wonder the drivers on the roads seemed especially friendly that day.
The publicity email wrote: "Join us, and always sip, and ride, responsibly." The irony... 

The guys showing the positive effects of drink-riding.

At a junction, a lady in a Santa hat bounced up to the bunch of cyclists in Santa hats and asked, "Are you guys here for Santacon?" Turns out another bunch of Santas were out doing their business! Santacon (up to you to interpret - could be a bunch of Santa conmen, or a Santa convention) was a flashmob, Santa-themed, mass transit afternoon of spreading cheer, raising money, dressing up, and having fun.  One similar theme though, it also promised bar stops.  I am beginning to think that Santas have drinking problems.

The rival Santa gang leaving our 'hood.

We didn't know "stops for drinks" meant stops at convenience stores. So tak glam!

After the cycling group paused to hang out at Lawson, we decided we were too cool for them and we left to find our own cool cafe to chill, or rather "warm" in. 

At our office party, a much friendlier Santa turned up.  By the way, we heard he later split his pants and shoes shimmying down the chimney to the next floor. Ho ho ho indeed.  Back to the office party. It was a riot!  Screamed our faces off, ate to death and cam-whored to bits. Did I mention it was mega fun?

He's a charmer, our Santa.

Mings and me super coordinated. Xmas-pathy!

What's an office party without games? The game masters, Chen Ann and Victor, presided over Office Olympics, starting with basketball, aka wastepaper-basket tossing.

The tosser

The catcher. You did not want to be the loser who let the paper land in the precious hokkien mee.

Second challenge was shortput, aka shove your lightest team member on a cheap chair and make sure the chair (preferably with her still on it) glides as far across the carpet as possible. Oh, and it would be great if she doesn't fall splat on her face.   

The pusher and the pushed. Ming is sobbing uncontrollably in happiness
that she is the lightest on our team.

Is it just me or is it disturbing that your colleagues are cheering on your imminent demise?

Final challenge was 5X blur relay, or pass the cheem Chinese idiom message using actions only.

Nope, the answer is not "Home Alone".

Finally, cam-whoring time! 

   

Clearly, not all of us got the memo on the theme of the photo.

But this group got it together. Go girls and Zhang-dong! "Chio-ness" is a natural theme for us.

And that's all of us! Err... including Mr Merlion.

Beyond the fun and shiny decorations, Christmas is really a time for giving - Singapore's shopping centres actually got it right.  We took time out to participate in a charity champagne brunch that aimed at raising funds for North Korean children.  

The organisers shared that the founder previously visited DPRK and saw homeless children under a bridge, warming themselves by a fire.  Because the DPRK tour guides strictly disallow tourists from veering off the approved itinerary, he did not approach the children to help them. The next day, he passed by the same bridge and saw the bodies of the cold children. He resolved to never stand by and do nothing again, starting the "Love North Korean children" charity.  The premise is simple - the charity provides one bun a day to school-going children in North Korea.  Each bun is less than 1 RMB (S$0.20) but provides the children with the much-needed nutrition. 

A postcard drawn by one of the children who benefitted from the charity.

Not in me to be preachy but if there is a good time to start thinking of others besides ourselves, I guess Christmas is the time. When showing appreciation to our family and friends with pressies, and giving ourselves a well-deserved treat for a year well-lived, let's also not forget those who are really less blessed than us.  

Xoxo, 

Tracy 

 

Mings: Tadah!
Trace: Eh, why is one of my ears on your head?!



Mings: Seriously? You only noticed now?
You thought you were just hard of hearing in your left ear?

 

Trace: Ok, whatever whatever. Christmas is a time for giving
and I will loan you one ear. Peekture time! But I need to bend down so our ears are
on the same level to hear better.















Mings: No need! I am tall enough!
Trace: No, you ain't.












 

Mings: I totally am tall enough.
Trace: You are frigging crushing my shoulder.



 

Trace: Where are you going??
Mings: Gonna find a better ear that's
at the same height as me!

Explore #4: Chongming Island

It isn't that easy finding a fresh and green spot in Shanghai that is unpolluted, has blue skies all the time, is free from the honking of the cars and far from the maddening crowds.  So when we heard about this little paradise called Chongming Island (崇明岛), just an hour bus ride away from Shanghai city, we were intrigued.   Chongming Island covers an area of 1,267 sq km and has a population of 635,000. The island has a history of 1,300 years and has an active farming community because of its abundant resources.  We actually first found out about Chongming Island from one of our colleagues whose hometown is a village on this very island.  Mings asked if she could go farming at his village but quickly dropped the idea after he mentioned "leeches + water + stuck to skin" in this order.  Imagine our excitement when we later uncovered an organic farm, Mahota Farm, that's located on Chongming Island.    

Crossing the bridge to a small bit of paradise, just an hour away from the city.

Mahota Farm is opened by a Singaporean who is keen to promote organic sustainable farming in China.  They offer a day tour where visitors get to have a great meal cooked with veges from the farm, try their hand at farming, feed some cute animals and generally have a day of fun learning and being in the sun.

And we arrive at Mahota!

We kicked the day off with a fabs personal steamboat, with veges on tap. But there were some disturbing parts of the meal though - first off, were the pork and chicken slices from the animals reared in the farm?? If yes, eeew!  And if we were gonna be feeding the animals later, wouldn't they have smelled their deceased brother/sister/extended family on our breaths?? (Btw, a strange but true fact about me - I cannot look at live animals just before I eat them. So no picking of the "freshest" fish/crabs/prawns/chicken/whatever. How can we decide that a fish should be steaming on our plate cos he looks like he's swimming the hardest and has the shiniest scales?? But I am still a meat-eater. Just a whiny one.) 

Shioknesss

After the very fulfilling meal (don't think about where the meat came from, Tracy!), we went on a cycle around the farm. First stop, a pond where geese and ducks hang out in two distinct groups. Birds of a feather really flock together.  The two species of birds never mixed, meaning we never saw a duck in the middle of the flock of geese and vice versa.  We actually spent quite some time here because we had a bet about how many geese there were - and they never stood still long enough for us to have a proper count.

Ark ark ark ark...

And next stop, piggies! Oh soooo cute. And clean. And pink.  I experienced the same after-thoughts and post-visit consciousness as when I watched the movie Babe.  With the movie, I stopped eating pork for a long while and I am now not a fan of pork unless its fried pork lard, sweet & sour pork, bak chor (ok ok.. not helping my cause here, I know).  But seriously, after seeing these cuties, who can bear to eat them? 

Little piglets all zonked out from drinking milk

Hello you!

We then went on to the main event - some actual farming!  Passed by a few lagoons that the farm created to hold and clean waste water. 

Our very genial Taiwanese teacher teaching us the basics of soil and planting.
He was so passionate about his work, he got us excited about getting our hands dirty.

Everything starts with a seedling. Treat with care and gentleness.

Prep the ground for new life. Pat down with determination and vitality.

Shower with lots of love but don't drown!

Give them space and freedom to grow in whichever way and shape they wish.

And they will grow up yummy!

I actually ate a small piece of coriander from the ground. Thought it was fine and tasted delish until Chen Ann reminded me the plants are sprayed with wastewater, aka water from the animal's sai. OMG. SPIT SPIT SPIT!!!

A little green from the encounter (no pun intended), we moved on to feeding goats. They were such darlings. Very mild and friendly, all ready to eat the grass from our hands.  We approached them with such trepidation, at first putting the grass in the trough, then slowly let them eat from our hands directly.

Ok no more mutton too I guess....

For our final activity, we did something very entertaining that required zero electricty - kite-flying.  We tried and tried and tried but never got the kites up to floating by themselves. We did the run and throw, stand and raise above heads, run with kite behind us - all the methods only sent the kites up maybe 3 metres into the air.  My kite got tangled up within 15 mins and when I tried to help the others, I tangled theirs up as well. The Mahota guide was very amused by our never-ending efforts.  But well, it was a good workout.



And with that final activity, we headed back home, tired but satiated. 

"We know that the urban lifestyle is convenient but ultimately not sustainable, both for our health and the environment. We rigorously question the way we have produced and consumed our food, and the way we manage our health." - Mahota Farm. 

I think this is an important message we could all try to abide by - to live, eat and play responsibly, if not for the environment, then at least for our own healths and happiness.

Xoxo,

Tracy

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