dreaming of a wet christmas

Despite the fact that it’s the rainy season here, Christmas seems to be very popular in Singapore. It makes sense. Singapore revolves around shopping. Christmas revolves around shopping. It’s a perfect marriage.

Here at Fraser Suites, Christmas music has been piped into the hallways and public areas for the last few weeks. My bathroom window faces the pool, and the shape of the building carries the music up into my apartment. Along the way, it gathers a considerable amount of reverb, which is extra creepy when applied to an Anne Murray rendition of Silent Night.

Orchard Road, the main drag of shopping, is decked out on practically a Times Square scale, and it’s nearly impossible to move around there – on foot or on wheels.

On Sunday, I walked by a church while services were in progress. The congregation was singing “O Come All Ye Faithful”, which sent me into a kind of Twilight Zone flashback trip. All the Christmas songs were a big part of my childhood. The songs are practically in my bones. I could sing the melody, the bass or the tenor part of “O Come All Ye Faithful”. I could sing all verses and not miss a word.

The Twilight Zone factor has mostly to do with the fact that all this is occurring on a hot, humid tropical island full of asian culture.