So this is Christmas...in Hong Kong

Christmas to me is never just Christmas. How can it be with a birthday just 2 days before? It becomes a beautifully intense time, with much to look forward to and many things to think about...I always used to wish as a child, that my birthday was in the summer, so that I could have an outdoor party and more importantly at a young age, have something to look forward to at a more convenient interval rather than it all happening within 2 days! As the years have gone by, I no longer wish for such a thing, clearly that's a waste of time as it can never be...instead I relish the intensity and do my best to pack all the excitement into a very small box of time!

This year was no exception on that score. I spent my birthday in Macau. We had a relatively leisurely morning although it did involve a quick "inspection" by the management company here, in anticipation of our move in the next few weeks...making sure we had not trashed the place. Thankfully they acknowledged that we've been well behaved and our list of things to "fix" is minimal. Phew. So with that out of the way, we headed for the ferry terminal and swiftly boarded and departed HK Island. One hour later we arrived in Macau - the sun was still shining there and the temperature was pleasantly cool. Perfect. We checked into our hotel right next door to the show venue for that evening, all very convenient and before we knew it, it was time for our pre-show dinner at a wonderful little place called Antonios, a tiny Portuguese restaurant in the heart of Taipa Village. If you are ever there, it comes highly recommended by us and several of our friends, which is why we ended up there in the first place. The show followed dinner and quite simply...Wow! What a show. I've never been to Vegas, but this felt very "Vegas" to me, for all the right reasons. It was colourful, exciting, beautiful, awe-inspiring, edge-of-your-seat-gripping, with some acrobatics that I would have believed impossible in a theatre. Amazing. We rounded off the evening with a first for me...a visit to the casino. Quite eye-opening really. And surprising...as I decided to see what all the fuss is about and found a Roulette Table to try my luck on. And Lucky I was...put it down to beginners luck or detachment...whatever it was, it worked and I walked away with enough cash to pay for our hotel room that night! ;-)

On Christmas Day itself, we were lucky enough to be invited by some of our best friends here in HK, to their home, for pre-dinner drinks where we enjoyed a glass of champagne or two and some festive spirit before heading back to our place to cook our own fairly traditional Christmas Dinner. It was nice to part of a larger "family" for a few hours, when ours are all so far away.

I wonder where we will be next Christmas.