Season’s greetings from Merry Malaysia!
Holidays abroad always make me a little homesick, but this Christmas turned out to be an absolute banger, even without all the stockings and snow.
It started with the visitors. Lots of them. Five siblings, four spouses, and five children for a total of 20 people spending the weekend in our kampung home.
That’s a lot of mouths to feed, and food prep began early Christmas morning with shellfish and a fruit cocktail.
Lunch was a feast called “shell out”, where we basically dump a bunch of seafood on the floor and go to town.
There’s a little bit of everything in there: prawns, mussels, scallops, crab, and clams, all doused in a garlic pepper sauce. Truly a work of art.
After that it was time for the gift exchange. This was not a normal Christmas custom for my Malaysian family, but everyone had so much fun they will probably make it a new tradition.
It really was a blast. We all got a few surprises while Abang Jai gave play-by-play on the karaoke machine. For a family of tropical Muslims who’d never done it before, they really captured that Christmas morning thrill.
Next we took some time out to celebrate my brother-in-law, Yusuf. His birthday is December 25th, and he’s a big part of what made the day’s festivities so grand.
Then it was a karaoke contest. I placed third with my soulful rendition of Creedence Clearwater Revival. Here’s my brother-in-law Alip singing Frank Sinatra.
Finally we moved on to Christmas dinner: this big barbecued lamb leg slow-cooked on the grill. It was amazing.
Amidst all this we took some time to catch the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, a mind-boggling bit of engineering that’s headed out past the moon to take images 100X more powerful than Hubble.
Seriously, it’s an incredible project that’s worth reading about if you’re into space, science, or just amazing feats of human ambition.
Space.com: NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope launces on epic mission to study early universe
Another cool treat from the day was this drone shot of our neighborhood from a few hundred feet above. That’s our house with all the cars out front.
All in all it was a fantastic celebration. We had food and family and music and gifts. Not sure what else you could ask for.
I’ve spent three years with this family now and I’m always struck by the camaraderie when everyone gets together. I’m grateful to be a part of it and I’m glad my kids can experience it too.
I don’t know what my future holidays will hold. I look forward to reconnecting with American family and starting new traditions for Adam and Leila. My Dad always made Christmas memorable and I hope to do the same for my kids.
One thing is for certain: this kampung Christmas will be hard to top. Thanks to everyone who made it a day I’ll never forget.
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to you and your extended family from Costa Rica!
Eric, what a sweet telling of your Christmas day and brother-in-law’s birthday. And it looks like you might have started a Christmas tradition! I totally enjoyed all the photos and your tour guide through the day. It made me happy and even brought some tears to my eyes. What a great way to celebrate with the entire family. The food looked good too! Thank you for sharing, and you are experiencing a joy for a lifetime.
WOW !!!!!! You definitely showed us your Malaysian Christmas celebration. Su does have a beautiful family. Enjoy it all !!!!!
Thank you for sharing your special day- I love learning of other Country’ holidays.
Have you any idea when you will be bk in the states? Have a blessed New Year and a healthy one. love, Aunt Marlene
I loved reading this and seeing the pictures.
So beautiful.
Hi, Siti!!