The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

This was, by all accounts, an exceptionally outstanding Christmas. All the elements came together to create an unforgettable holiday season, from its earliest appearances back at the start of the month, continuing in their crescendo towards the big day itself, and winding down with a lot of casual recovery and relaxation over the rest of the week that followed. Yes, the last Yuletide of the 2010s was surely a success, and I’d like to take some time to put together a quick recap of the festivities.

Of course, once Thanksgiving has come and gone, Christmas is already upon us, at least in terms of decorating. I make it a point to wait to do up my apartment until the first of December, but—needless to say—not everybody is quite so patient. I’ve written many times before that Hong Kong goes crazy with its lighting displays, often festooning the entire façade of an enormous harbor-fronting skyscraper with seasonal embellishments.

These never fail to amaze me, and this season, after ten years of viewing the displays, I was still stopped dead in my tracks at several points to take in the impressive sight and snap a photograph or ten.

The Peninsula, grande dame that she is, also got supremely decked for the season. There's an undeniable grace and beauty this building lends to Salisbury Road any time of the year. But I think I love it most of all when those elegant December snowflakes are added to the mix.

Yes, in spite of all that's gone on here over the past string of months, Hong Kong still got dressed for Christmas in her usual fashion.

And after years of postulating about it, I finally buckled down and bought a real tree for my own apartment! I’d toyed with the idea over the past few Christmases, but one thing or another always got in my way. So it’s an utter delight to be writing this under the lights twinkling on my nearly seven foot tall fir, bedecked with candy canes and those same stalwart ornaments I purchased for my first Hong Kong Christmas back in 2009.

I wish I could say I picked out a prized beauty from the dozens of trees available at Hong Kong’s famed flower market. Alas, while I headed out there one evening many weeks ago—and stocked up on poinsettias, complemented by a bag of fresh roasted chestnuts from a street vendor, during my visit—the trees themselves were outrageously overpriced. Full and tall and proud, I must confess, but costing several times the amount I had hoped to pay.

I love the romantic idea of traipsing over to Prince Edward and selecting the perfect noble evergreen. But the reality of the situation would also then entail lugging the thing back to Happy Valley in a rented van, plus carrying its hefty bulk up the six flights of stairs awaiting you once you’ve arrived in my building. It was just not to be.

Enter trusty (albeit boring, commonplace) Ikea, which not only offered remarkably cost-effective specimens, but also threw in free shipping—including a delivery man willing to scale my steps! Of course, the catch is that you don’t choose a specific tree, sorting through the multitudes to find your ideal. All you decide is whether to go for the small option (between four and five feet) or the large one (between six and seven feet). Mine turned out to be a little barer than I would have liked. But, all things considered, it was a great bargain.

And, I must say, the smell of the pine needles and the, well, the realness of a genuine tree, have injected a great deal of holiday happiness into my life these past weeks. Many nights after work, I’ve voluntarily ensconced myself in my living room, with all the lights plugged in, just to bask in the gloriousness of the scene. (True confession: I deliberately doze off on the couch more frequently this time of year than any other, falling asleep to Christmas music and visions of sugar plums.)

In addition to the apartment, my colleague Cherry and I also took it upon ourselves to decorate the foyer of our office this year. I found a bag of holiday decorations—really just some garlands and a few worn, miniature trees—behind one of the desks, and we lovingly set them up to lend a little festive cheer to the workplace.

I amassed way too many Christmas cards from Saint John’s Cathedral Bookshop back in early December, too. (The same place I procured my chocolate Advent calendar.) I just couldn’t help myself; I fell in love with so many varieties. In the end, I wound up sending out just shy of twenty-five cards, while I bought something more like sixty, so I have ample supply when the holidays roll around again in 2020!

Hong Kong’s Christmas events started well before my trip to Hanoi, including that all around spectacular weekend where SantaCon Saturday meets International Race Day Sunday. With the exception of Rugby Sevens, I’d probably rank it as the greatest event of the annual social calendar. And I immersed myself in it fully this go around.

Whether drinking Coronas with a view of the skyline, or belting out “All I Want for Christmas is You” on the Star Ferry, or wreaking havoc along the MTR escalators, SantaCon always makes for a grand day from start to finish. And although I rocked up solo, I very quickly found the friends with whom I’d be spending the day. I mean, there were probably around three hundred Santas to choose from, so I guess this isn’t really a big surprise.

Some of these came in the form of new buddies with whom I struck up random conversations; others were from unexpected encounters with people I already knew—some, like my friend Kayla, who I hadn’t seen in years! By the time I headed home that evening, my Christmas spirits were sky high.

The next day I trekked out to Sha Tin for Hong Kong International Race Day—and was absolutely gutted to learn that the Jockey Club decided to forego their traditional HKIR baseball cap, which I have collected almost every year since my first visit to Sha Tin for International Race Day in 2009. Due to the civil unrest, they also opted to nix the traditional fireworks display that sees impressive pyrotechnics shot off into the air after the conclusion of the final race. Still, I can’t say anything else negative about the day. But here’s hoping that by December 2020, things are back to normal again on all fronts.

After spending the first several races in the public area, I then was invited to join my friends Kathy and Lou—and Kathy’s entire family!—in the Owner’s Box, because her dad's horse Glorious Forever, a champion in last year’s two thousand meter Hong Kong Cup, was again running today.

Although he fared much worse this year, it was Kathy’s sister Karan’s birthday, and the whole clan was duly celebrating. It was a great way to cap off yet another wonderful December day at the track.

As I’ve noted before, there are so many pieces of the Yuletide puzzle, that all play their own role in the season, some tiny, some large. For me, this season was chock full of almost everything I require to have myself a merry little Christmas.

Holiday movies and television shows are a must for me, from classics like The Thin Man, Miracle on 34^th Street, It’s a Wonderful Life, and The Shop Around the Corner to Christmas-themed episodes of The Honeymooners, Mary Tyler Moore, The Office, Friends... even What's My Line? Whether watching at home or occasionally on my desktop at work, I love revisiting all my favorites (and, from time to time, discovering a new addition for the list).

I stocked up on the egg nog, of course, courtesy of Taste, an international supermarket in the Hopewell Centre in Wan Chai. I kept one bottle in our office fridge to liven up my morning Nespressos with a little holiday cheer, and another one in my apartment, to create stronger drinks as the Christmas schedule allows.

And I felt just the tiniest bit gluttonous about it, but I bought my marrons glacés from the Maison du Chocolat this year. The past few Noels, I’ve saved a few bucks by procuring less deluxe French candied chestnuts from various places. For me, Christmas just isn’t complete without them, but I decided to splurge on the top of the line morsels to see out the decade.

And, at long last, I tracked down mistletoe in Hong Kong! In Christmases past, I’ve scoured the flower market and countless florists all over town, ranging from the high end to the mom-and-pop varietals. Never fail, I have totally bombed in my endeavor. But, this year, I lucked out!

I was heading back to the office after a client meeting one morning last week, and I decided to pass through ifc en route, to pop into posh CitySuper to scope out their gingerbread houses. As fate would have it, the equally posh Flannel Flowers, located just next door, had several bundles of the holiday weed in stock.

I was on the phone as I passed and did an excited double take, for I’d definitely dropped by in previous years, seeing as this would be the kind of place to sell rare goodies for homesick Americans looking to recreate their traditional Christmas down to the tiniest detail. “This is the first time you guys have sold this, right? You didn't have this last year?” I asked the shop girl.

“No, we haven’t had this before," she replied, "but it’s quite special.” She then proceeded to convince me it was wise to spend HKD 100—or about USD 13—on some. It didn’t take much effort on her part. Now that I’d found it, I probably would have paid a lot more. As they say, Christmas comes but once a year. I've loved pointing it out to people when they've dropped by over the past days.

In the end, I didn’t get my gingerbread house from CitySuper but rather from Great, another ritzy supermarket over in Pacific Place in Admiralty, a few days later. The one I settled on wasn’t your typical variety. Instead, it was a dog gingerbread house, complete with a sugar Fido. And I customized it to suit my own little pooch. Since the house's inevitable post-Christmas destruction, I’ve even been sure to share some of the pieces with him.  

Continuing the tradition of “Up on the Housetop,” my annual Christmastime rooftop bash, I had a group of friends over on Tuesday evening the week before the actual holiday. I had to squeeze it in early because many Hong Kong-based friends fly back home or head off on Christmas vacations. The nature of a mid-week party kept the alcohol intake lower than that of my usual weekend gatherings, but it was still a noteworthy addition to the memorable litany.

We had mulled wine a-plenty, Santa hats galore and a seemingly unending string of Christmas tunes emanating from my laptop. And it was wonderful to ensure ample time to celebrate with some of my best friends.

Starting Tuesday, it turned into a pretty busy week, because after my party, I wound up at the track with Matt and Ana on Wednesday for the last of the pre-Christmas race meetings. Of course, Santa Claus was there, but he didn’t bring me any extra luck. None of my bets hit. 

But Thursday might have been the high point of it all! Saint-Germain, the wonderful French brasserie around the corner from my place, organized a raclette dinner with “all you can eat” melted Swiss cheese and charcuterie. I booked a table and invited friends to join along, and I am already looking forward to the January installment, since Saint-Germain plans to continue putting these feasts together once a month between now and the time the mercury rises with the coming of spring.

I also hesitantly bought a ticket of the Nutcracker again, put on by Hong Kong Ballet. Perhaps my greatest Christmas surprise this season is how utterly phenomenal it was. For me, Tchaikovsky’s spirited ballet is an integral part of the holiday. And I must admit, I’m pretty spoilt. I grew up outside New York City, and trips up to Lincoln Center to see Balanchine’s legendary production were a common Yuletide occurrence for the Parisi family.

My first attendance at the Hong Kong version was in 2011, when I went with Amy and Chiara. I remember the three of us wincing as the Cavalier visibly struggled to catch the Sugar Plum Fairy during their Grand Pas de Deux. Now, don’t get me wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed the show that year. It certainly helped get me in the Christmas mood. And I'm not trying to say that it was laughably bad or amateurish. But it was nowhere near as impressive as New York City’s.

Five years later, in 2016, I again made my way to the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui to see the show, and, again, my verdict was that the quality of the dancing was certainly capable but somewhat basic. Still, just being in the Grand Theatre listening to the spellbinding music is enough to warrant the price of a ticket. But I longed for a more eye-catching production.

The following year, my friend Sophie and I came up with a novel solution, since she shared my assessment of the local Nutcracker. Instead of exchanging the highest quality of dancing for the novelty of three dimensional dancers, we opted to book seats at a screening of the Bolshoi’s Nutcracker in a TST cinema. Obviously, the Bolshoi is one of the few dance companies that can give New York City Ballet a good run for its money. And it was surely a treat to see such a storied production.

But this year, the day before Christmas Eve, I was toying with the idea of going to the Cultural Centre a third time. And I’m so glad I followed through. I must say, the Hong Kong Ballet has gotten markedly stronger since 2016, and if this is the new normal, then I’ll be a regular attendee from now on. Yes, I’m proud to report that we finally have a fabulous Nutcracker in the SAR.

To complete the illusion of being in New York City, I prefaced the show with an amazing dinner at the nearby Langham Hotel’s Main Street Deli. Feasting on an enormous Reuben and fries (plus a ginger ale) in a spot-on recreation of a Manhattan diner really did the trick. I think I have a new holiday tradition on my hands for those years when I'm unable to return home for the holidays!

A few noteworthy anniversaries have also come and gone during the Yuletide reveries. My blog just hit the tenth anniversary of its initial post, written all the way back on 22 December 2009. And on Christmas Eve itself, I celebrated the tenth anniversary of my inaugural visit to what I now lovingly treasure as my Hong Kong home, my Happy Valley apartment. Yes, it was a Christmas Eve barbecue hosted by dear old Sonia, two and a half years before I’d move in to the place myself. I’d been in Hong Kong a mere six weeks, marking my first Christmas away from my family, doing my best to make new friends under the circumstances.

Of course, I couldn’t resist the temptation to host a second rooftop party this season, on Christmas Eve itself to commemorate the anniversary. And I actually co-hosted the event with my fourth-floor neighbor Ines, from Poland. You see, over the past year, Ines and I have become pretty good friends, so much so that I invited her to our rooftop Thanksgiving back in November.

When I mentioned that evening that I also planned to have people over on Christmas Eve, she excitedly asked if she could join and bring along some pals of her own. She then informed me she desired to make it a true Polish Christmas—where the major celebration takes place on the 24^th—by cooking traditional foods like golabki (cabbage-wrapped minced beef) and a delectable beetroot soup called barszcz with homemade dumplings known as uszka.

We had a good crowd, and everybody seemed to have a wonderful time. And don’t worry, although we partied until the early hours, I made sure the milk and cookies were left out for Saint Nick. Perhaps I should have left him some mince pies instead, as I still have half a dozen left over that I’ll need to finish in the coming days!

I somehow still made it to Saint John’s for 9am service on Christmas Day, one of my favorite church events of the year. As Washington Irving wrote in his beautiful Old Christmas stories, “I do not know a grander effect of music on the moral feelings than to hear the full choir and the pealing organ performing a Christmas anthem in a cathedral and filling every part of the vast pile with triumphant harmony.”

When they burst into the sanctuary singing O Come, All Ye Faithful, chills ran up and down my spine. And departing to Hark, the Herald Angels Sing provided an equally memorable finish.

Then I met Kevin, his wife Lynn, their children Harry and Isla, and a group of their mates, for an unbelievably upscale Christmas lunch at the Mandarin Oriental in Central. I’ve had Christmases in restaurants before, but never anywhere like this! From oysters and caviar, to prime rib, to literally incessant Champagne, it was top class all the way.

Mercifully, Hong Kong’s British heritage means that we are grandfathered into commemorating Boxing Day—the day after Christmas—as well, which couldn’t have been more welcome this year in the wake of those ceaseless bubbles.

I did make it a point to wake up early, so that I could place my traditional call to my family celebrating at my cousin Victoria’s house in Brooklyn. Whenever the Parisis gather to celebrate major events and I am unable to join in person, I almost always pre-arrange to call either my father or sister so that their phone can be passed around the table for me have a quick chat with everybody.

Instead of doing anything big afterwards, however, I opted to spend most of that next day curled up on the couch with Fredric, sipping egg nog, watching Christmas movies and tv shows, and generally enjoying the strange allure of relishing doing very little indeed.

The morning started with egg nog. And eventually I worked up the energy to mull the remains of several half- and quarter-full wine bottles that had gone unconsumed during the Christmas Eve gathering two nights before. Shockingly, the results were utterly delicious.

Friday, we were back to work, but the return was short and sweet. By mid-afternoon I was at Sarah and Joel’s house in Big Wave Bay to close out the season in a most memorable fashion. They convinced me to stay for the night in their guest room, within sound of the surf, allowing us to spend some quality time together this morning, which was as early as expected, considering they have a five month old baby and a delightful four year old daughter... not to mention their rambunctious golden doodle Sandy!

So this morning included home cooked bacon rolls and a glorious beach stroll-cum-play session. Oh, what a Christmas!

Since moving here in November 2009, I’ve stuck around Hong Kong six times for the holidays and gone back to the States four. (Once, in 2012, I had just moved to Singapore to open a new office for my former company and spent the season in what I thought would be my new home.) I must say, people often think it must be depressing for me to be here during this time, that I’m effectively stuck far away, friendless and alone.

In actuality, while nothing beats a good, old fashioned American Christmas—and I surely miss my family more than ever come 25 December—celebrating the holidays in Hong Kong with an international set of friends and traditions is yet another reason why I feel so fortunate I’ve been able to call this place home for the last ten years!

So, yes, I know I’m a little late, but I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and I wish you a very happy, healthy and successful 2020!