Karaoke Christmas

The Leaman family and I decided to spend Christmas at the same mountain resort we visited last year. It was another wonderfully relaxing opportunity to get out of the city to take in fresh air, some quiet and cooler temperatures.

Christmas Eve turned out to be quite festive, Thai style, in an outdoor common area of the resort. Our Thai friends and neighbors at the resort invited us to dinner presenting us with a number of favorite Thai dishes. I don't think our hosts thought much about the fact that it was Christmas Eve because it's a Buddhist country, but it was sure nice to get together.

The dinner was fantastic and I took an immediate liking to a new dish I've never had before called Khai Jeow Cha-Om, made of stripped Acacia tree leaves, baked in an egg mixture and topped with a typical spicy Thai fish sauce. Of course the neighborhood dogs and cats also attended, remaining under the table looking for anything that might 'just happen' to fall to the ground.

So what did I end up doing on Christmas Eve with our Thai neighbors after dinner? Karaoke. For those of you who know me, know that I am not exactly a big fan of karaoke (choosing a song then singing to prerecorded background accompaniment) but the Thais love it so it's usually available wherever we go.

Strangely enough, this evening of singing on stage turned out to be quite meaningful. One of the workers at the resort owns and operates a karaoke system (complete with computerized selection of hundreds of songs, stage, lights, microphones, etc) and was able to provide us with a fairly wide selection of carols and Christmas songs. It was great to be able to enjoy Christmas in the tropics, even in this non-traditional karaoke-way.

We ended our evening walking back to the house we were renting, observing the stars we don't get to see in the city. Dean pointed out a familiar galaxy which, according to science, is one of over 170 billion in the universe. What a great reminder how the wise men were directed to Christ via the night sky thousands of years ago -- maybe even seeing some of the same stars we see today?

At one point during the evening it hit me how unique this Christmas Eve turned out. I'm sure I'll remember this one for a long time to come.