Expat Life: First Christmas in Malaysia (Christmas Trees & Holiday Shopping Tips)
It’s 6 days before Christmas! And while I think I’ve sort of outgrown Christmas (unlike my husband who is so adorably excited for this season), I must admit that it still brings a lot of happy memories from my childhood.
But come to think of it, it’s actually pretty weird to be in a country where not every corner is lit up with Christmas lights. Not hearing Christmas songs from your neighbours’ place is also a bit disconcerting. I find myself even forgetting that it’s just a few days till Christmas. 😛
So being the Catholic Filipinos that we are, we got ourselves a plastic tree as soon as Halloween was over. No, we’re not cuckoo. In the Philippines, Christmas trees are up as early as September – I kid you not. And when people go and live abroad, we do try to make sure we settle in just fine. One of the ways to adapt to a new country is to make your new home actually feel like ‘home’. Not really a replica of your home country but you just bring in traditions and little things that remind you of where you really are from.
Where to get your Christmas Tree
At that time, my husband was sort of frantic – asking people where we can get a tree. He was so determined to bring Christmas cheer into our new home, he was asking people from the embassy who have been here in Kuala Lumpur longer where we can get our own Christmas tree as early as October. So just in case people haven’t gotten their trees until now, and for future reference to those who will be looking, these were the answers that we got:
