Merry Christmas (From Malaysia)

I spent Christmas day of 2009 waking up with a view over the South China Sea, pulling on a sundress, and heading out to the marketplace. Though definitely not the most exciting market I have ever been to, I still walked away with some freshwater pearls and an assortment of photos of strange fruits and vegetables that I had never seen before. After walking up and down the pier in the afternoon sun, we went back to the hotel to take advantage of the pool and the seemingly limitless Moscow Mules. The evening was spent with a huge buffet of Malaysian cuisine, a few more drinks, and a kitschy little band that played lots of 80s pop songs. It was probably after my third glass of Tom Collins and the third tune of Phil Collins that I leaned over to my mother and said, “Merry Christmas”. We couldn’t help but laugh.