Man-made Christmas

'Santa Claus is coming to town...'. Wait, I see a flaw in this: Christmas is not about Santa Claus!

What do the first 6 letters of Christmas spell? Christ. Christmas is not 'Santa Clausmas'.

Although some children believe that Santa Claus is real and gives them presents (well actually, I wish that he is real too), he doesn't exist. But, those children are not wholly wrong; he did exist,
once at least...

Santa Claus is popularly linked to St. Nicholas. Nicholas was born during the third century in the village of Patara which is now on the southern coast of Turkey. He is well known for his generosity to those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships. He died on December 6, AD 343.

Well, I guess some children believe in Santa Claus because their parents say so. Those parents want to make Christmas more exciting for their kids or they want their children to behave well as 'Santa will give presents only to good children'.

However, getting back to the point: Christmas is not about Santa Claus. It's about Christ. Jesus Christ who came to earth as a baby. He lived a life of sacrifice and finally was crucified and died for our sins. From that, he showed us the way to go to heaven.

Merry Christmas!

Delicious Pre-Christmas Dinner

Last Friday, my family and I went for a pre-Christmas dinner and get-together for relatives. The dinner was great, and the best dish was the Roast Lamb. It was so tender, juicy and tasty! Not one morsel was tough! Not surprisingly, the whole roast lamb was eaten up. It was the best roast lamb I've ever eaten! The lamb was imported from New Zealand and the woman who roasted it is in great demand for this dish especially during festivals. Of course, these things always have a downside... it costs RM 700 for 1 roast lamb.

The woman said that during Hari Raya, she gets huge orders for her roast lamb. In just 1 day, she could be roasting 10 lambs at a private party while her husband would be roasting another 10 lambs at another private party. Wow! 20 lambs in a day which works out to be RM 14,000 worth of lamb!

Just thinking of roast lamb makes my saliva run!

Painful Hula Hooping

Last Sunday, in my church, during free time, I played with a toy/equipment called the hula hoop.

My brother had previously taught me how to hula hoop the correct way after seeing a young orang asli boy doing it like a professional.

In my opinion, it is not effective to move your hips in a circle because the hula hoop being lightweight turns/spins faster than your lower body (waist down). One should instead move forward and backward to synchronise with the turning of the hula hoop. When the hula hoop is turning towards your back, you should move your lower body to the front and when the hula hoop comes around to your front, your lower body should be moved backwards. It's a really fun 'sport'.

I'm still far from being a professional at hula hooping. I get too excited and thrust my stomach forward and backward too vigorously. I did so much of that last Sunday... that till today, my stomach muscles still hurt. I wonder... when will the pain go away? It really hurts when I laugh, cough or sneeze and my brother keeps trying to get me to laugh! When he runs out of good jokes, he tells me really, REALLY slapstick ones.