So This is Christmas

Because I'm removed from everyone I know and love, Christmas wasn't a big deal. Which is fine. I was exempt from purchasing presents for the most part. Definitely good on the wallet. And since I only had one day off from work, I just really wanted to sleep.

I worked a full day Christmas eve, and booked it go get home and get ready for a party. I was so so tired that day I was pretty much useless. The late nights are catching up on me. I'm trying my best to get to bed at a decent hour but it never works.

Did my best to refresh myself before the party, and then took a cab up and around to Pok Fu Lam. My new Aussie friend Natalie just moved in there with her sister, brother-in-law, their 3 children ages 4 and under, and the two helpers. Their building was a little bit removed from the action, but a nice place to be if you have a family. I think the building is full of families, and this one lives on the 22nd floor. The cozy gathering of people consisted of all couples, and I think they all that live in the building. Nat and I munched on canapes and drank wine and gabbed about the latest.

Slept a good 8 hours and then went to Church. I didn't go to the one that is closest to me because the mass was too early, so I ended up at this other church, very confused.



There's a service going on in the parking lot and kinda under the building. I was so confused. People were walking around and talking and sitting on plastic chairs.


It was a sea of Filipinas.

Eventually I figured out that the service I planned on going to was actually inside and upstairs. It was crowded and it made me feel very uneasy as I stood in the sea of people, but I didn't get woozy as I am known to do. The priest was from Brooklyn and he told lots of stories of paper airplanes and toy cameras. He also said "pooping" during his homily, which made me very happy.

It was a mess of people exiting and entering, and it felt like it took forever just to walk a couple of blocks. I made my way to a mall in Kowloon to meet a new friend for lunch and a movie. I didn't know what to expect because it was a holiday, but the mall was jam packed full of people, and as far as I noticed nothing in town was closed.



Amy is my new movie buddy and we'd never met before yesterday. She's Chinese and a translator in the media industry. She's pretty international for a Chinese gal, and I say that because the locals I have met tend to be pretty traditional, old school, conservative, and no fun. We had lunch at Spaghetti House and we really got along. I couldn't bring myself to telling her I didn't want to see National Treasure. I didn't see the first one and I'm not sure how they got away with the second. Well, it wasn't too bad for what it was and the bottom line is I didn't want to kill myself while watching it. But Amy's pretty well rounded when it comes to movies so I think we're going to see something more artsy on Sunday.

I stopped at home for a quick minute, and ran to the escalator to meet another new friend. Sebastien is kind of from all over the US and was born in Paris. We ate Mexican food and gabbed over beer and sangria. We talked about bad movies and good tv, and we have similar taste in music. He was very impressed that I am good friends with the beautiful bassist of Film School, and now we are scheming to get them out here. We both crave falafal, so that will be the next plan of attack.

I was pretty skeptical about how my Christmas would turn out, but I was just happy to have the day off. I was so thrilled though to meet two people that were not creepy and are actually pretty cool.

Last year I spent the holidays alone with Pepper in KS, and it was magic. This one was just as memorable.