It is the season of holiday parties and decorations but there is something off with seeing a plastic Santa under a palm tree in 90 degree heat being pelted by a tropical rain.
Still, Singapore is in the full Christmas spirit with the downtown covered in lights. It certainly is a lot more festive than what we saw in San Francisco a few weeks ago. There, Macy’s did not bother to decorate its windows beyond using red.
Last week we went to a Navy holiday party held downtown and today was a party at the XO’s house. There seems to be only one requirement to have a party in Singapore: you must have a Lucky Draw with a variety of prizes. Giving out prizes is ingrained here that I would not be surprised if Elysia came home one day and told me they had a drawing while standing watch. Even the bowling league stops mid-game each week.
As far as office parties go, these are pretty good. No long-winded speeches reinforcing annual operational goals so that the costs can be expensed or people looking creeped-out by the idea of dancing at a work-related event. After all, we all live together, judge or enter chili cook-offs and bake sales, take our kids to the same swimming lessons, receive the same newsletters, and shop at the same small grocery store. When there were group games and contests today, everyone got up to play. And had fun.
The music is usually DJ’d by someone in the community although the downtown parties seem to rely on a Singaporean with a very random mix of guitar rock, country, and hip-hop. A strong emphasis on the early ’80s plus the chicken dance. Standing in line for the buffet I had a fortuitous opportunity to ask the Chaplain if he had ever blessed the rains in Africa. (He had not.)
We came home today the winners of an oil painting of trees in Vietnam. It is quite colorful and looks nice in the hallway. Besides, we already have a flat screen television and a Wii.
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Those lights are cool! I think you guys were here just a tad on the early side or weren’t in the right neighborhoods, though – I’ve seen some crazy Christmas light action in some parts of the Bay…