If you were to ask me if Christmas still brings in a touch of melancholy in the crisp wintry air, it still does. This year the snow came three weeks early in Sheffield, so we didn’t have a white one. But the temperature still froze my butt off. Nasib baik the boiler was replaced over the summer!

The melancholy for this Christmas, however, did not occur as I had some mates over, two of whom from the bunch of usual suspects that did this and this. Circumstances have changed in the past five years, and it would be difficult to gather the entire bunch in South Yorkshire (although if I lived down in London, the chances would be so much greater).

This time, there wasn’t much trundling about. For one, it was freezing out there. And secondly, nothing is open on Chrimbo itself, although we were right pleased that some of the takeaways on London Road were doing deliveries on the day itself. If we were still in the old cramped attic flat I was living in three years ago, we could’ve treated ourselves to some Christmas-ish fare for dinner before struggling to find space on the floor to sleep in (those of you who remembered the Sheffield Gig in ’06 could attest to this). Three years on, with my kitchen still not being sorted fully, I still don’t have a working oven. But we is[sic] Malay, so sod it we had laksa.

Boxing Day was way low-key. A potential trip to Bicester Village was on the cards but it was minus 12 celsius at half eight in Oxfordshire. We traipsed over to York which was the more sensible alternative. Shop much? Nope. We actually spent half the time enjoying a late lunch of Romana-based pizzas and dough balls. I do my major shopping twice a year – post-Christmas and the summer. However, over the years meant the stuff keeps piling up and they still look good. How many work bags (for example) mau bawak pegi office daa? The one I got from Selfridges two Christmases ago is still in pristine condition! My purchase of the day was merely two items. Yawn.

It was great to catch up. Although, I must say if they were here longer, we could have time to do some real shopping – getting the finishing touch to the media room (hence, a more fulfilling experience of Inception sans the cold). I’ll keep ya up to date on that soon.