Jingle Bells

The streets are jammed, the trains are packed, people are walking around with large shopping bags, and sales persons are the most industrious lot. Yes, X'mas is upon us again. If there's one Holiday that brings out the best and worst of us, it's Christmas.

We are a fortunate lot here on this sunny(with occasional showers) island. We 'celebrate' every donkey festival/holiday there is, even though we may not have any affiliation to it. I say 'celebrate' cuz it only means another few days off work for us. Save for a few people I know, not many celebrate their respective festivals with much fevour.

The trend now is to escape away during the long breaks that the holidays bring, pretty much throwing the meaning of celebration with friends and family outta the window, really. And you really wonder whether they checked their festive spirit away into the cargo hold when they board. Some of us work through the holidays and really don't catch a break when some, in their bid to enjoy more value for their flight, become a mini monster and ask for everything except the pilot seat in the plane.

I will be around this X'mas. Is it a blessing or not I dunno. I hope to spend some quality time with friends; away from the hustle and bustle of town, without paying exhorbitant prices for that same jug of beer, and having to rub against sweaty strangers in a club that I paid a ga-zillion bucks to get in after queuing for up to an hour, sometimes in the rain. Ahh, to be young again... ...

Just about the only gift I got was for my Sis. She's an Apple fan, and I must admit that I'm quite taken by their line of products. A look at the price tag promptly reminds me that I will only be window shopping at their ipods, iBook, iMac and i-everything else for some time to come. I haven't got down to buying anything else yet and it seems I'll have to make very select choices when the time comes to open up my wallet and swipe that credit card.