Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas…

We are proud to present the last post of Life for Begin­ners… for 2009.
Show­cas­ing the Amaz­ing DSLR Pho­tog­ra­phy of A Lil Fat Mon­key, Roy­ally Appointed BFF of H.R.H. Queen DSLR, and
Fea­tur­ing the Culi­nary & Bak­ing Gym­nas­tics of Fat­Boy­Bakes, Roy­ally Appointed Tangechi of H.R.H. Queen DSLR.

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It’s almost that time of year. A time for cel­e­bra­tion and cheer. When good friends gather and fam­i­lies flock together, when much deli­cious food is eaten and alco­holic flu­ids of all colours are imbibed and drunk.

There is so much colour every­where. The usual dec­o­ra­tions abound in red, green and white: mistle­toe and a touch of snow, one sus­pects. But the rest of the rain­bow is present too, explod­ing in streams of blind­ing joy. Gifts in small boxes and big, lov­ingly wrapped books and toys. The Christ­mas trees feel smaller this year, per­haps it’s the econ­omy, but no less brightly dressed.

Tis the sea­son, indeed.

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Every­one I know seem to be get­ting time off and not going any­where for the hol­i­days. We are all told by our bosses to clear our annual leave, which turns out to be sub­stan­tial even after car­ry­ing for­ward as many days as we can muster into the next cal­en­dar year. There is no plan for a vaca­tion, too rushed, too lit­tle time.

And maybe it’s bet­ter this way. When we all find our­selves stuck in the big city dur­ing Christ­mas, it makes it easy to call each other up for a drink or a meal, to linger and chat and not have to head off any­where. No dead­lines. No hus­tle or bus­tle. Just room to breathe.

Bonds are renewed. Friends are friends who get to meet and greet, to catch up and connect.

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Christ­mas is for the chil­dren, they say.

When­ever I return to Malacca, I get to take my nephew and nieces out for the movies, for a fast-food lunch their mom, my sis­ter, would frown upon. No mat­ter. Uncles — espe­cially their favourite uncle (their only uncle, true, but still) — are put on earth to spoil their sib­lings’ kids. It’s sorta like revenge for any bul­ly­ing they had to endure when they were kids them­selves. But I don’t ever remem­ber being bul­lied. I guess I was always one of the bul­lies myself. I believe in stand­ing up for what’s right, what I believe in. And I look at my sister’s chil­dren and tell them they ought never allow them­selves be bul­lied. Stand up. Stand up for yourselves.

They say we shouldn’t teach kids to fight, to teach kids that they have to prove them­selves right. Maybe. But maybe there’s a greater bliss in know­ing that you can always stand on your own two feet and that you can always take care of your­self and oth­ers you love. Maybe there’s that too.

And Christ­mas is for ALL kids. That’s us, too. You and me. We are not left out. This ain’t the play­ground. This is Life’s Big Beau­ti­ful Parade. And we are all march­ing in the same band.

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Some­how, ’tis the sea­son for tal­ent. We all weave our own magic. But how often do we get to demon­strate our skills and our sto­ries, con­tained in the wares we make from scratch and share and sell. We offer joy unto the world.

Some­times it’s a per­fect yule log, the mock wood­grain carved from dark choco­late ganache with a gen­er­ous heart and the steady gaze of pro­fes­sional at work.

Some­times it’s a party thrown together effort­lessly, call­ing upon ready hands and con­duct­ing this orches­tra of eager ambi­tion and quick wit into a seam­less con­fec­tion of bal­loons and card tricks, smil­ing skele­tons and minor mys­ter­ies, and a hun­dred and one dif­fer­ent spe­cial scents, all remind­ing us of a favourite happy memory.

And you. You are invited and get to be part of all this magic. Bless.

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It’s almost that time of year. A time for cel­e­bra­tion and cheer. But some­times we are just a lil impa­tient. Why wait till the actual days to com­mence our mer­ri­ment? Why not frolic and feed and fever­ishly fla­menco much, much earlier?

Let us set our own timetable. Christ­mas Eve can start at noon. We can sing car­ols by four in the after­noon. And just before night­fall, it’d be almost the New Year. Time to belt out Auld Lang Syne

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Cher­ish true love. Our part­ners, our girl­friends and boyfriends and hus­bands and wives. Our mis­tresses and our mas­ters. Our spouses and our sweet lit­tle secrets. Our cause for romance and the causes of our regrets. Our lusts and our desires, our pas­sions spent or unrec­i­p­ro­cated, denied.

Christ­mas is a time of love, but it’s a time for lovin’, too.

Make love. As much as you can. As well as you can. Like your life depended on it. Fero­ciously, like ani­mals, like beasts in heat. Fight and scrape, bel­low and blow. Softly, gen­tly, like princes and their pretty peas, like their princesses and their pil­lows pil­ing one on top of the other, bil­low­ing and blow­ing, huff and puff, till the roof comes down.

Make love like you are a vir­gin again. Make love like this is your last night together. Make love cos it’s Christ­mas. It only comes once a year. (But you don’t have to.)

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A ray of hope flick­ers in the sky,
A tiny star lights up way up high,
All across the land dawns a brand new morn -
This comes to pass when a child is born.

A silent wish sails the seven seas,
The winds of change whis­per in the trees
And the walls of doubt crum­ble tossed and torn -
This comes to pass, when a child is born.

A rosy hue set­tles all around,
You got the feel you’re on solid ground,
For a spell or two no one seems for­lorn -
This comes to pass when a child is born.

[And the Fourth Wise Man, a.k.a. the Fab­u­lous Fat­Boy­Bakes proclaims:]

And all of this hap­pens because the world is wait­ing,
Wait­ing for one child. Black, white, yel­low? No one knows.
But a child that will grow up and turn tears to laugh­ter,
Hate to love, war to peace and every­one to everyone’s neigh­bor,
And mis­ery and suf­fer­ing will be words to be for­got­ten forever.

It’s all a dream, an illu­sion now.
It must come true some­time soon some­how.
All across the land dawns a brand new morn -
This comes to pass when a child is born.

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And some­how, always, in the midst of all the mad­ness and fun and laugh­ter and noise level so high you can’t hear your­self think, we always find a spot, a moment of soli­tude, find­ing solace in reflec­tion and grat­i­tude for our many, many blessings.

Good health, a roof over our heads. Food on our table, a job we enjoy that pays the bills as well. Some­one to go home to at night, to rest head against head, warm, slow­ing breath against a smil­ing face that will drift hap­pily to slumber.

And all around us: All these beau­ti­ful faces, these beau­ti­ful peo­ple. When the bless­ing is bliss as well, you know for­tune has smiled high upon you this pretty good year.

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The bell tolls.

We grab each other and embrace tightly, kiss­ing and hug­ging and wish­ing each other a happy new year. This is a rehearsal for a fresh start, another 365 days to live well and live fully, to break bread with our dear­est friends and fam­ily, to always have this — love for one another and peace in our hearts.

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Dear Read­ers, have your­self A Merry Lit­tle Christ­mas and a Very Happy New Year! :D

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Words & design copy­right © 2010 Kenny Mah Ying Fye.

Addi­tional song lyrics from When a Child is Born.

Pho­tographs by A Lil Fat Mon­key. Food & all man­ner of deli­cious things by FatBoyBakes.

96 Comments

  • Merry Xmas n a Happy New Year to you too Kenny :D
    Hope you have a joy­ous cel­e­bra­tion with your loved ones… so nice and vibrant the pho­tos… See ya on the other side mate… ;)

  • Have a very blessed Christ­mas Kenny!

  • merry merry christ­mas :)

  • and you wrote ALL that today? come on.….….btw, i love the hug­ging picture!!

  • life’s def­i­nitely more fun with booze. *burp*

    ok lah, a bit inap­pro­pri­ate for such a sweet post. haha.

    Merry Xmas and Happy New Year, bro!

  • What a Christ­mas Bonanza post! You’ve just made my Christ­mas, Kenny. Thanks!

    You have your­self a Merry Christ­mas and a very happy new year too!

  • Awwww my pic­tures look per­fect in your mon­tage! I knew I could count on you to do em justice!

    Have a Merry Christ­mas your­self and to all a good year ahead!

  • Gor­geous words, beau­ti­ful pics & a warm– in– the– heart feel­ing readin this post.
    Thks Kenny, for makin Xmas feel­ing one for me! ( a non believer of Xmas ;p)

  • wow! ok, so now i’ve read it.. and no won­der you didn’t wanna be dis­turbed.. so thought­fully lovely this post ! wish­ing you and CK all the best for 2010.. and a blessed christ­mas.. see you soon;)

  • Merry X’mas and Happy N’Year !!! :)

  • awwww, what a sweeeet post. almost brought a tear to mah ah. wish­ing you a great 2010. since u not dont really cel­e­brate xmas in the “real” sense of word, like theno­mad­gour­mant, who pro­claimed she does not believe in xmas (ie, not chris­t­ian la), i wont friv­o­lously dish out that greet­ing or it’ll become meaningless.

  • Oh hello, kenny. Munky was pimp­ing your post. :)

    What a lovely, lovely post. I espe­cially love the mon­tages, each with a main fea­ture of a friend. Beau­ti­ful. :)

    I wish you and your loved ones a very Blessed Christ­mas filled with love, good­will and hope for a bet­ter year ahead.

  • hoho­ho­hoho merry christ­mas =p i just went to the christ­mas mar­ket in nurn­berg =p

  • msiagirl wrote:

    Dar­ling for some­one com­plain­ing of zilch words you expressed your­self and the love you have for your friends beau­ti­fully. Peace on Earth to you and yours. All You folk are the Best thing that ever hap­pened to me in the land of Malaysia ;) Love to you all.

  • Merry merry Xmas my dear friend : ) wanted to write some­thing more, but feel­ing very sleepy at 3am, so wait for me to get my sleep first. hee

  • Michelle wrote:

    Here’s wish­ing you great friends, great food, and a great time altogether.

    Big hug for you dur­ing this fes­tive season.

  • …Let your heart be light
    From now on,
    our trou­bles will be out of sight…

    …Faith­ful friends who are dear to us
    Gather near to us once more…

    And have your­self A merry lit­tle Christ­mas now… *HUGS*

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxxwy_8OSA8

  • Merry, merry Christ­mas!!! What a blessed thing, friend­ship, and what bet­ter way to spend Christ­mas than with those who matter.

    Wish­ing you and CK a gor­geously bliss­ful year ahead!

  • seowyin wrote:

    Every­thing is about love & appre­ci­a­tion, you go it so right :) Merry Christ­mas & Happy New Year Kenny!!

  • Merry christ­mas to you and the devil!! :)

    gotta go now…going for avatar in 3D…hehehe

  • Merry Christ­mas Kenny! See you next year!

  • Lovely pho­tos Kenny!

    Merry Xmas!! *hugs* =)

  • Merry Christ­mas N a HappyX2 New Year my ol fren. ;)

  • Have a pro­duc­tive and blessed 2010. I enjoyed my Christ­mas and I am sure you had too!

  • Merry Christ­mas and Happy Hol­i­days Kenny! Hope you got lots of presents under­neath the Christ­mas tree this year and hope­fully you got more sto­ries to share next year! ;)

  • Happy Hol­i­days, Kenny! I love your pho­tog­ra­phy — and how you lay out your pics: faboulous!

  • Our mis­tresses and our masters.

    Hee hee. Whips. Chains. hee hee.

  • Lovely post that really cap­tures the Christ­mas spirit! Merry xmas and happy new year to the both of you! xox

  • Happy 2010!!!

  • Hol­i­day greet­ings to both you & CK and a won­der­ful brand new year!

  • Made me miss 2009 oledi.

  • Happy 2010! And may all dreams come true.

    P.S. Yes, pre­served plums are used, typ­i­cally in Teochew-style steamed fish. But i try to avoid pre­served food for some time now.

  • very mean­ing­ful post…
    hv your­selves a happy new year too!

  • Hey you, the cheeky one on the blog­sphere! Have a great year ahead yeah and hope am not too late to wish you … Merry Christmas!

  • Hi Ken… I’m really embar­rassed that I missed so many of your posts.. shame on me!! I lurv…the pho­tos, you all are hav­ing a BLAST. Happy Christ­mas!!! I hope you New Years is even more fabulous.

    We should exchanged cards… I feel like we are friends.. = )

  • Hope this didn’t come to late. Happy New Year to you and CK bro! *hugs*

  • A very happy new year!! (soon)

  • carrot wrote:

    happy new year kenny!!! sorry i’ve been MIA! >.<

  • Poh Chu wrote:

    Merry (belated) Xmas and a Happy New Year 2010, Kenny! More sto­ries next year! =D

  • kewl blog .. have a happy new year .. cheers mate…

  • happy new year kenny!!!

    this year will be great for every­body! i just know it! :)

  • a happy new year :D all the best for the one & only

    life4moversnshakers

  • Wish­ing you a won­der­ful year ahead. Happy new year!

  • Happy New Year. What a sweet post. How true, it felt almost too good to be tak­ing the whole damn week off, though some of those days were wasted on noth­ing but sit­ting idly at home. :)

  • happy 2010… why no update huuh? any­way all the best.… take care :) i had a blast in munich… love munich… but still couldnt go to the bmw museum >< damn!! i gotta go back again

  • This is such a beau­ti­ful post. You made me wish its christ­mas and new years all over again. BUT, gawd…the pic of me with our DSLR queen…all my dou­ble chin can be seen lah…:p

  • Er, by the other side, you mean 2010, right? Not, uhm, the other other side… :P

  • Blessed with friends like you, it’s the best Christ­mas ever! :)

  • The mer­ri­est! :D

  • Dur­ing my 2nd break­fast and while I was sup­posed to be set­ting up the elec­tric­ity meter at our new place and mak­ing me almost late for lunch with the Flog­gers… uhm, yeah? :P

  • Hehe, so you read the cap­tion for your pic/collage? Obser­vant fella, you are. See you tomor­row for our Christ­mas lunch with Snow White!

  • Nah, it’s friends and read­ers like you that makes my Christ­mas. Thank you, and have your­self the mer­ri­est Christ­mas ever! (Till next Christ­mas, that is…)

  • One only does won­ders with superb source mate­r­ial, mate. You da man! A (DSLR) star is truly born! ;)

  • The Xmas Feel­ing… Oh yes… :)

  • Haha, I wasn’t so much dis­turbed as unable to help dis­tract­ing myself… Chat­ting online and what not… The Inter­net is addic­tive! *groans*

    Wish­ing you and Cumi a fab­u­lous road trip to the Land of a Thou­sand Smiles. Santa-wadeekrup! ;)

  • And to you, dear! Hope your 2010 is even bet­ter than all the years before! :)

  • Haha, it’s only sweet cos it’s filled with the sweet­est folks ever, inc. you, sir! So no hid­ing behind your rather flimsy gruff exte­rior! :P

    And the greet­ing never becomes mean­ing­less, so long every­one is in the sin­cere spirit of wish­ing Joy to the World! :)

  • Munky’s da man, er, da Pimp! :P

    And thanks for giv­ing a much bet­ter word than the oft-used (mostly by me, but still) “col­lage”, cos I think “mon­tage” says it so much better.

    Of course at this point, I need to high­light that a cou­ple of the fea­tured pics aren’t friends but a lil girl at the Kiehl’s event (so won­der­fully con­ducted by Munky) and some of the good peo­ple there who made it so amaz­ing. Not friends yet, but maybe one day.

    I totally laughed today over lunch with the gang when another Munky (this one more fem­i­nine lah, hint hint) exclaimed in mock shock — “How can you include some unknowns over us??”

    I love these guys. :D

    Merry Christ­mas to you too, dear!

  • Oh, I miss all those Christ­mas mar­kets in Ger­many… they bring out the spirit of the sea­son like none other. Plus, the snow sure helps. :P

  • *BIG HUG back to you, dear*

    Miss ya around… blog more in 2010, ok? :)

  • Whatcha doing up at 3am? Go to bed! Sleep, sleep! :P

    Merry Xmas to you when you wake up, bro…

  • Hehe, well… I did have zilch words before I man­aged to break through my “writer’s block” and the words came pour­ing out. At one point, Devil told me over MSN sim­ply to post the pics and a line of Christ­mas greet­ing, will do.

    Sounded rea­son­able, really.

    Thank­fully, I’m not known to lis­ten to the Devil much, haha. Obe­di­ence was never my strong suit. :P

    Merry Xmas to you and your fam­ily, dear!

    *muacks muacks*

  • *hugs*

    You do know this is my very favouritest Xmas song ever, right? :)

  • “What a blessed thing, friend­ship, and what bet­ter way to spend Christ­mas than with those who matter.”

    I couldn’t have said it bet­ter myself! Merry Xmas to you, your dar­ling hubby and your girls! :)

  • Haven’t heard from you in ages, dear. Hope you’re hav­ing a great Xmas in Penang! :)

  • Avatar 3D rocks!!! I’m totally watch­ing it again… ;)

  • Ooh, you’re com­ing back to KL? Let us know when and let’s meet up! :D

  • The credit for them pho­tos go solely to the über-talented Munky… I only did the post-production, or “montage-ing” as one of my read­ers would put it, hehe. Merry Xmas!!

  • Cals? Calvin Loi? Wow… haven’t heard from you in ages, mate. Merry Xmas and a Great 2010 to you too, bro! :D

  • I had the best Christ­mas yes­ter­day with good friends — old and new. Now cel­e­brat­ing Box­ing Day with the sounds of mahjong being played in the back­ground, Susan Boyle in the fore­ground… lol

  • Yes, Kenny, indeed mate its gonna be a great year for all of us.
    You keep it rollin it for us yea :D

  • Haha, will do, mate. Will do. Cheers!

  • Merry Xmas and Happy Hols to you too, Eudora! Here’s to all of us shar­ing more sto­ries in 2010! :)

  • Ah, the Devil and I were just chat­ting about you the other day, dear… We really do miss our time in Lon­don and that won­der­ful (and woe­fully too brief) chat over tea at Brown’s. Happy holidays!

  • And hand­cuffs too, no less, maybe, for some. Hee hee.

  • Merry Xmas to you, dear and your Bunny Hubby, and a very happy new year too! :D

  • Eh, still got a few more days lah. LOL

  • Hehe, from Penang CK to KL/JB CK? :D

  • Rel­ish the last few days… I know I will! ;)

  • Good one on avoid­ing the pre­served foods — I should make that one of my 2010 res­o­lu­tions. :)

  • Hey, thanks for drop­ping by, EW! Happy new year to you too!

  • Cheeky: Who, me? :P

    Happy New Year and Merry Xmas to you! ;)

  • Ah, there is plenty of time to catch up on my posts, dear… but not-post NYE hang­over, mehopes! :P

    We will exchange cards next year, my friend…

  • It’s never too late, bro — Happy New Year to you and your loved ones too! :)

  • opps…is my turn to thank you for drop­ping by my blog…hope it won’t make you fall sleep..hahahaha hahaha..

    btw ..likes your blog ..i really enjoy it…

    keep in touch..:)

  • Nah, nowhere near that — I’m a couch enthu­si­ast of I.D. myself, love read­ing the design mags and all that. Will be in touch, fersure!

  • Soon being the oper­a­tive word. 2009: Don’t leave me! :P

  • A very happy new year to you too, dear. And don’t worry, I’ve been totally M.I.A.-ing as well… :P

  • More sto­ries in 2010, promise! :)

  • Thanks for drop­ping by — do come back more often in 2010!

  • I like that spirit! 2010 will be great for every­body! Woo hoo!

  • Oooh, I like the sound of that. Maybe I should rename my blog to Life for Movers and Shak­ers… Some­how I sound like a fruit punch bar… :P

  • Have a won­der­ful, won­der­ful new year too!

  • Haha, I hear you. Who knew so much time off could be so… bor­ing? :P

  • I knew you’d love Munich. It’s one of the best cities in the world! :D

    P.S. Finally updated here.

  • Where got dou­ble chin la? You look so beau­ti­ful, dear… an angel for last Christ­mas, when I gave you my heart, but the very next day, you gave it away… :P

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