We spent our first Christmas together – also my first Christmas outside of Singapore – eating way too much for our own good.

It began on the evening of Christmas eve when we met with Fabio, Inga, Connie and Juan Carlo at the residence of Mauro and Ira for dinner. The menu for the night included tartine (canapes with ham, egg, salmon and carviar by Mauro); tortellini (pasta stuffed with minced meat and nutmeg); beef satay (my creation); stir-fried aubergines plus fresh garden and avocado salad (by Inga); pasta (which we never got around to); home-baked bread (from Inga); es buah (dessert of mixed fruit and ice in syrup made by Ira); pandoro (traditional Italian Christmas cake that Mauro brought back from a recent trip to Italy); Ferrero Rocher chocolates (from Inga and Fabio), and loads of red and sparkling white wine.

There were plenty of laughs and delightful smiles as we unwrapped the Christmas presents that we exchanged, where each present did not cost more than Rp10,000 (S$1.70/ €0.85/ US$1.10). The night ended at 1am and we left with promises of meeting up again soon.

Christmas day was spent quietly with our favourite octogenarian and children’s book author, Maggie. We had previously called and discovered that all the adults that Maggie is close to were not in Bali for the holidays and that they would only return on January 1.

Thus we drove up to Ubud and accompanied Maggie while she cooked an untraditional traditional Christmas meal for some of the neighbourhood children. There was roast chicken, mashed potato, garden salad, green peas and some of the bread that Inga gaved us to take home sitting alongside chicken satay, mixed local vegetables and fruit campur, which was a mixture of fruit and sago in coconut milk and syrup.

The thoughtful lady that she is, Maggie even provided the children with soap bubbles for some fun. It was interesting to note that the children’s initial hesitation over food they had not seen before, such as mashed potato and green peas, was quickly replaced with curiosity and a furtive taste. There was some encouragement from one of the mothers present as well as Maggie’s maid, who is a young lady of 22 years, for everyone to eat more.

By 3pm, there was only the S.O. and myself with Maggie and we continued our conversation. We spoke about cats, children, life and anything that interests us. The S.O. and I left at 7pm with some pumpkin pie baked by the avid cook and promises of visiting her for the new year.

In some ways, Christmas 2006 is a departure from the Christmases that I know. Yet in it retains several elements that I am familiar and comfortable with, such as good company, delicious food and the knowledge that I am surrounded by people that loves me.

I hope everyone had as eventful a Christmas as I did and that the remaining days of 2006 provides some last minute determined resolution making for 2007.

The air was filled with ‘music’ last night – more precisely, a chorus of frogs and toads sang from 6pm until past midnight. The final time I checked my watch when I heard the calls while still in a half awake state was 1.30am. The next time I woke at 5.30am, the amphibian tune had stopped and all was quiet. Perhaps these creatures needed their sleep too!

This is the first time we have had the symphony of frog and toad calls. It happened only after the heavy rain we experienced in the afternoon, throughout various parts of Bali.

We were out running errands and were caught in the middle of the rain while in Seminyak. When we returned to Jimbaran in the evening, we were greeted with a huge puddle of water on the grounds of our house! Our half-completed garden and empty pond were filled with water, which was seeping out too slowly through the not-so-porous soil of the hill that our house was built on.

That was not the worse of matters as we immediately discovered with the first toad call that greeted us. “You know this will continue into the night,” I said to the S.O. at some point in the evening. Throwing rocks at random spots of the pond only helped silence the noise momentarily – the creatures resumed their normal activity within a minute, oblivious to the disturbance they were causing to us humans.

Despite the noise, there was only one consolation I could offer to my sleep-deprived self: at least the frogs will reduce the numbers of mosquitoes considerably. I will wait for tonight to see if they have been any help. If not, I will begin Operation Frogs Legs Soup. Stay tuned for this one!

It is 10 days to Christmas but you could hardly feel it here in Bali. There are some shops that announce that there is a sale for December but they do not declare that it is a ‘Christmas sale’. In fact, many people here wonder what is the fuss is about Christmas.

For the Balinese, Christmas is a foreign holiday and is not as important as their Hindu festivals. So as compared to Singapore, there are no competitions for best dressed buildings or shopping centres; there is no blatant Christmas season advertising; there is no pressure or rush for purchasing Christmas presents; there is no need for sending Christmas cards, and there is no neccesity for erecting a plastic Christmas tree in the house.

This is something that is new for me but it is a pleasant sensation. I can visit the malls on a weekend without fear of the holiday-shopping crowd. There is no pressure to budget for additional presents, cards or decorations when working out the monthly expenses for the month.

No pressure, no stress. What bliss. We only need to think about having something different for dinner on Christmas day. It can be having beef kebabs for main course or a cake for dessert. It can also be sharing a bottle of sparkling apple or grape juice. Just something slightly different.

Yet, in a little way, I will miss having Christmas dinner with my mother and brother. This will be the first year that I will not be sharing a Christmas meal with them. I do not recall a year without spending Christmas at home, even during the time when I was staying on campus as an undergraduate and later when I rented my own place away from home.

Christmas time with my mother and brother was always about just spending some time together at my mother’s place. We did not do anything special like play board games or sing karaoke, and the only ’special’ item we had on the dining table was some turkey, just for the occasion. Sometimes we just end up talking about inconsequential things or watching whatever is on the television. Most times we just enjoyed the comfort of each other’s company.

This year, I have the S.O. for company instead. It is our first Christmas together. We had plans for a mini get-away within Bali perhaps to Amed or Candidasa. However, I will be equally happy if all we did was go out for a meal and have a walk by the beach.

Just like Bill Nighy’s character Billy Mack said in Love Actually, Christmas is about spending time with the ones you love. It should not be about the presents, the snow, the carols or the cards. It is simply about spending time with your loved ones.

Have a really merry and love-filled Christmas time!

It has been three weeks since my last update and I find myself typing this entry offline (4.45pm at time of entry) at the same Dunkin’ Donuts outlet in Denpasar while the S.O. is interviewing new personnel for his fast expanding company.

The moment we walked in he immediately noticed that the outlet had put back the sign that reads: “TANPA STRUK BELANJA GRATIS.” By now we all know what that means. We are happy to report that they gave him a receipt on his first purchase by tried not to give him a receipt for the second purchase.

Other than this little visit to DD, December 9 is also Kuningan in Bali. This means that our landlord and his family were at our place to perform blessings, after they had completed obligations in their village of Klungkung.

To know more about Galungan and Kuningan, check this out for what Galungan is and this for what Kuningan is. Both holidays are celebrated twice annually in Bali and the latter happens 10 days after the former.

Most Balinese homes will have a penjor placed outside their homes to mark the occasion. A penjor is usually made entirely from a bamboo pole and coconut leaves. Sometimes there may be an offering of crackers or sweet stuff attached to the end of the penjor.

Although it is only one penjor for each house, when they are lined up together on the streets of Bali, they make pretty roadside decorations. As you travel down the street, the natural arch of the penjor< on both sides of the street seem to form an informal coat of arms for you to pass under.

While the penjors look different from afar, families will personalise their own penjor>. These can be in the form of different designs or embellishments. We spotted one that had blinking ‘fairy’ lights strung through the entire pole while another had blue-dyed feathers attached. They were such a sight!

Personally, we would have enjoyed having our own penjor outside our abode. However, we had no idea how to make one. However, we found a little piece made out of coconut leaves hanging on our gate, made by our maid.

That brings us to Kuningan because when our landlord’s wife performed the blessing around the house, several of these little items were hung in various places: on the main door frame; on the motorbike; on the stove; on the main water inlet to the house; in the maid’s room, and definitely at the temple of the house. The way how these items are made entirely from natural materials still amazes both the S.O. and me.

Kuningan seems like an apt full-stop for the past two weeks, which has been filled with daily activities.

First, we have been hanging out more often with two other couples that I previously mentioned.

Next, we have been busy settling details of our upcoming nuptials and the fact that it is two months away has not entirely sunk in, yet.

Third, work has been on the upswing for both of us: more new clients and a more centralised office location for him; a well-paying freelance gig stretching over the next three weeks for me. Both are good news: his company plans to expand regionally in the next year and internationally in the next two years; I earn as much in two weeks now than I did for one month’s labour in Singapore.

Fourth, my mother visited us over the weekend and by the looks of the visit, she may consider moving to Bali if not for the language barrier!

Overall, time has flown so fast and it is difficult to believe that I have spent almost five months in Bali. I will leave this island in the middle of January 2007 as a single lady and return in mid March as the wife of someone.

I guess that is what life is about: unexpected surprises and pleasant outcomes.