Christmas in Bali

When Hengky and I first got married, we negotiated holidays. I said birthdays were a must. He vetoed Christmas. I argued in favor of Valentine’s Day, anniversaries and Mother’s Day. He was happy to skip them all.

Despite our initial agreements, we find ourselves back to the original dilemma each time a holiday comes around. I’m now happy to skip Christmas, but for Gregor’s sake, I still think it’s important that Santa Claus pay a visit- though not as extravagant a visit as an American would expect.

So we thought and we thought and finally agreed that Santa should bring a tricycle. Christmas Day arrived and Gregor went with his Grandma to her land in the hills of Tabanan, which we always refer to as “the mountain”. After Hengky and I got some lunch, we went in search of the perfect tricycle. We found it in Denpasar. Hideously bright green, made of metal with wheels that can’t go flat, this was the one.

We brought it home and decided that no amount of wrapping paper would do the trick, so hid it under a pile of blankets and pillows. When Gregor got home we told him that Santa Claus had paid a visit to Bali and decided Gregor was indeed a good boy. Throwing off the pillows and blanket, Gregor beamed when he uncovered his new trike.

Out it went and off Gregor went. While our garden is large, few areas can be negotiated by trike. Still, Gregor was happy to peddle back and forth on the flagstones. Success was ours… I mean Santa’s.

That night we went out for a big Christmas dinner at Arena. Submariners and friends and family all gathering together. There were more than 20 of us, and the table stretched on and on. As we finally finished our food, we moved around, catching up on all the holiday gossip. Gregor was excited to see Chris and Yeni’s son, Arvin, proudly telling everyone that he was going to be a big brother, affirming this by pointing at my stomach.

Good food, good friends, family… a perfect Christmas.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 26th, 2005 at 16:26 and is filed under Bali. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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3 Responses to “Christmas in Bali”

  1. Mia Says:
    January 11th, 2006 at 11:04

    I remember how social Gregor was that day, he was so busy networking and bragging about mommy’s tummy! I think the chocolates that Tom gave him made him a bit hyperactive.. or maybe he’s just happy :-) Anyways that was a nice Xmas dinner with dear friends.

  2. Hengky Dotulong Says:
    January 11th, 2006 at 12:00

    It’s pitty that Arena restaurant did not serve Schwein Haxe at that night, that food is RICHTIGE SAU !!! Koday’s vodka was cheer up the night, with a new flaovour of Vodka ” Abolute Peach Vodka “

  3. Brinton Says:
    January 11th, 2006 at 13:54

    sounds like a fun day however, your correct as an american I would expect an extravagant gift to be given…. like a tricycle with spinning rims and a TV mounted on the handel bars…..

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