Christmas in the UK

The once thriving and busy Market Square suddenly became lifeless

I came back from Europe on 23rd because I just wanted to be in the UK for Christmas eventhough everything is closed on the 25th and 26th. Cambridge turned into a ghost town; could hardly see anyone on the streets. It is cold and empty.

Alo! Alo! Anyoneeeee??!!!

So you may be asking what have I been doing in such a lonely Christmas. Remember I have 3 assignments. The 2-week break is also the best time for students to catch up with some work and friends. The rest of the students in my course went home. For me, there was a little bit of travelling and blogging; as you may have noticed from the myriad of articles that I put up in these few days.



Winson drove us down to London on Christmas Eve to meet up with his other Malaysian friends. Most of them were former Cantab students and now working in London. So, they invited him for a pow-wow and dinner and I tagged along. Perhaps we were some of the Malaysians who are "stranded" in the UK for Christmas and it was a great opportunity to meet up then. There was no congestion charge in London and parking was free. So what better time to drive into London than Christmas! London was also very quiet but not as dead as Cambridge.


We had stuffed roast duck instead of turkey because Marks & Spencers ran out of turkey! Hahaha! Then we had roast salmon, wine, Jamie Oliver's style courgette, roast potatos with rosemary leaves, carrots, brownies, beer, and Christmas pudding with ice-cream. We were so stuffed that night! My goodness, my buffet king title was put to the test but I was okay.

We continued the night with a game of mahjong. So it looked more like a CNY gathering than a Christmas Eve party. I didn't play cause I am mahjong illiterate. But I did catch up with a Christmas movie from the satellite TV. They were showing Van Helsing that night. Before that was the Christmas carol from King's College, Cambridge, broadcasted live over BBC. Ironically I watched it in London.

London's transport system is down and there are no services on Christmas. So, anyone of you in Malaysia who are thinking of Christmas in the UK, it's better to do it back home. At least you have family and friends around. If I happen to be still here next year, I'd definitely book a flight home for Christmas. Now I know why so many Malaysians go back around this time.

I went to church early in the morning of Christmas Day. I was surprised that the church was packed! I didn't go to Fisher House because they only had the Christmas Eve vigil mass. So, I went to the Church of Our Lady and English Martyrs, the main Roman Catholic Church/ Cathedral of Cambridge which was just a few roads away from Wolfson College.

After that I proceeded for a traditional Christmas lunch at the St Andrew The Great Church, in the heart of Cambridge. Got to know about it few weeks back from the Christian Society here. The Church offers the traditional lunch for Cantab students who are "stranded" in the university. Therefore, most of us who attended were foreign students and a great majority were from China.

Traditional Christmas lunch means that there was turkey, pudding, courgette, potatos, mince pies, minced meat, and lots of other stuff which I have never tried before.

Sat with two other Singaporeans and a Chinese student. I guess I was the only Malaysian around...hahahaha...

Would also like to take this opportunity to wish Jesus a Happy Birthday and thank You for a fantastic and great year! Without Him, all things that happened to me this year would have been impossible to say the least....

And to everyone reading this, Merry Christmas and a Happy, Happy, Happy New Year! I miss all of you and may we meet again....soon, I hope!