Click below:
classicfilm.about.com/library/sounds/nosanta.wav
That’s what I’m talking about formosa. 
There’s no decorations, no tree and no lights. No special holiday music. No real gifts (hongbaos and boxes of fruit don’t count). No new toys to play with. No snow, no santa, no reindeer. Small children aren’t so excited that they can hardly sleep.
Mother T. As for Chinese Year, there are decorations, holiday music, you can always give new toys to exchange hongbaos as you wish. Though, there is no snow, no santa and no reindeer here, coz. the weather just doesn’t get cold… enough for falling of snow (well, only in mountains).
But there is a place in Shihlin (maybe Beitou) that you can bring your lovely wife and feel the holiday atmosphere. It’s in Ji-chin Li, the intersection of Jhih-yuan 2nd road and Shihjian street, which called Christmas street 
.
I am not sure if they have finished the Christmas decorations already. They do that every year.
Merry Christmas to you all
What’s up with the line 204 and line 518 bus drivers??? They’re all wearing full santa suits and some even have long white beards. It’s completely surreal…
[quote=“Mother Theresa”]
In fact, I’ve felt badly for my wife for the past couple of years that she grew up deprived of all the fun holidays we have in the west. Valentines Day romance. Birthday parties with presents. Easter egg hunts. Haloween with costumes and trick or treating. Fourth of July barbecues and fireworks. Thanksgiving feast with football and all that. Even silly little Aprils Fool Day. But especially Christmas, with real gifts and everything else for almost a month of excitement. And now that I’ve married my wife I feel happy that I will have the opportunity to introduce her at last to all she was missing. But I feel I can’t quite replicate the real event here in Taiwan. . . although I guess I’ll try.[/quote]
That’s not FUN HOLIDAYS! That’s COMMERCIALISM!
Try being an adult with a few kids in the US and a minimum wage job and see how FUN it is!
You might be stealing Free Willy 2 videos too!
Ok, Alien maybe you’ll like this better. My parents have made their own christmas cards every year since I was born. I’m not usually so diligent, but this year I sent my family great cards. I bought some red cardboard, cut out christmas trees out of green paper and glued them on the red background, covered it all with gold and silver sparkles, and under the tree I placed a cut-out photo of my wife’s and my baby, now 3-months pre-birth. These 4d photos are almost as clear as a regular photo. Then I made each photo look like a present under the tree, wrapped with a little red ribbon on it. And I sent these personal home made card to my family. My parents especially will be thrilled to see this first photo of their granddaughter. And the cards came out looking really good adn festive. That’s part of what I’m talking about – about thinking carefully about family members and trying to find something special for each of them. I don’t know about you, but I put a lot of thought into buying presents and wrapping them (no ToysRus crap for our family). So Christmas doesn’t have to be about commercialism – it can be about family and sharing and even homemade contributions.
If that sounds weird forgive me, I’m on my second gimlet. :moo:
Me, I will be spending my week-long Christmas vacation (nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah!) relaxing on the white sands of the beaches in Cebu, Philipines. Due to some unfortunate circumstances (read: ridiculous flight schedules for Taipei-Cebu, Cebu-Taipei), however, I will be flying back on Christmas night and might need a bit of traditional Christmas nostalgia so I won’t be thinking about what’s happening on the other side of the planet that day.
This how Christmas is in our family:
We decorate the tree with all sorts of old ornaments that we have made for my mother over the years or that she’s collected. She still has ones that we made in Girl Scouts back in kindergarten. We watch the classics: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (and quote every line and sing every song), A Charlie Brown Christmas (my mother’s favorite is the way Pig Pen dances to Linus and Lucy), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (“You’re a mean one…Mr. Grinch”), and White Christmas with Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney. On Christmas Eve, we are over at my grandma’s house playing games together, my mother’s siblings and recently, my sister and I have been allowed to play. Everyone makes a big deal to the baby cousins (the oldest of whom is now 15 years old) about going to bed on time because Santa’s coming. After midnight or so we drive back home and go to bed ourselves. On Christmas morning, my mother’s usually up early (or I wake her up like last year) and has made hot chocolate and a pot of coffee. She puts on A Chipmunk Christmas (has gone from being on record to being on CD over the years) or The Jackson 5 Christmas or some jazzy Christmas songs and we try to wake my little sister up. We all go downstairs in our pajamas and sit in the front room where the tree is and either my sister or I get to play “Santa” and pass out presents to everyone. Sometimes Santa sticks something under the tree for us that wasn’t there the night before. After everyone gets her presents, we take turns opening them one by one until they are all finished. My mom starts breakfast, usually scrambled eggs, sausage links, and biscuits (similar to scones for non-North Americans) with orange juice. We move to the living room to eat breakfast, then take what ever new clothes we want to wear, get ready for the day. We pack up the presents for our extended family and what ever we are contributing to the Christmas feast, get in the car, and drive over to the next town to my grandmother’s where my mom’s siblings (and their children) are staying. We open our presents from our extended family and then sit around watching movies or the game while we wait for dinner. Around 3pm or so we sit down and have a family blessing, usually benedicted by my step-grandfather and then chow down. Afterwards we take a break from eating, watch the game as all of my family, especially the women, are big football fans, and nibble on the cooling meats and casseroles. Then there’s desserts and we start up playing games again or pass around pictures from some big family event or vacation.
I am really going to miss having Christmas with my family. 
But I guess not having to freeze my tush off this year kinda makes up for it.
Anyone know where to buy Egg Nog? I already brought back a fruit cake from Collin Street Bakery yum in November. Can’t exactly stick Egg Nog in the old suitcase.
Thanks for that lecture - I always enjoy those.
Christmas spirit comes from within and I seem unable this year to manage this year without a little external cheer to bring out that ho ho ho feeling. I could have gone home this year of course but instead have decided to attend a lecture in the morning, come home in the afternoon to bake “some kind of bird”, listen to some holiday music courtesy of the Boss Brass, watch the little one stare at the tree lights, and drink until I have a red nose. Sounds like a far better than normal Thursday to me.
[quote=“Mother Theresa”]formosa, I don’t think you understand what kelake was saying. I don’t think his post was meant as criticism of Taiwanese/Chinese culture so much as saying that he missed one of the nice things about western culture – the Christmas holiday season. …
And as Christmas rolls around, I don’t see anything wrong with missing the holiday season. … It just means that I, and Kelake, enjoy the way we celebrate the holidays in the west and may feel a little wistful in the absence of that Christmas spirit. Nor did he say that Taiwan should be like the west. And neither did I.[/quote]
Mother T and Kelake, I guess I misunderstood the earlier posts and didn’t mean to lecture anyone. I hate lectures, too. so in the spirit of the season, let me apologize for my misunderstandings, and Mother T, what you say above is right on. We’re all in this together, and you and kelake made some very good points.
A huge berry berry Xmas to all, and in the spirit of the season, peace and happiness to all. Kelake, NOW, i understand better and sorry. Best whishes to you and your family.
I would never trust eggnog mfg. to anybody west of Juneau, much less a Chinese cook in Taiwan. Why not just make it yourself? It’s easy. From Irma Rombauer’s “Joy of Cooking”:
In a small bowl, beat until light:
1 egg yolk
Beat in slowly:
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup cream
1/8 to 1/4 cup rum, brandy or whisky*
A few grains salt
Whip separately until stiff:
1 egg white
Fold white lightly into other ingredients. Transfer mixture to punch glass. Suck that bad boy down quick (ok, I added that last line).
Or, if you prefer a larger quantity (approx. 120 oz. if max. quantities are used):
Beat separately until light in color:
12 egg yolks
Add very slowly, beating constantly:
2 cups dark rum, brandy, bourbon or rye*
These liquors may each form the basic ingredient of the nog or may be combined to taste. Let mixture stand covered for 1 hour to dispel the “eggy” taste. Add, beating constantly:
2 to 4 cups, more or less, of the liquor chosen
2 quarts whipping cream
Refrigerate covered for 3 hours. Beat until stiff but not dry:
8 to 12 egg whites
Fold them lightly into the other ingredients. Serve the eggnog sprinkled with:
Freshly grated nutmeg
Merry Christmas!
*- “Too much of anything is bad, but too much whisky is just enough.” –Mark Twain
Nook Cafe Theatre is providing Christmas dinner at 6.30 p.m. on Wednesday 24 December - NT$520 for one person or NT$999 for two.
Menu:
Fruit cocktail
Golden Christmas tree (no idea what that is)
Turkey salad
Cream of mushroom soup
Garlic seafood pasta au vin OR Baked yoghurt chicken rice
Caffe latte OR Tea
Flaming Christmas pudding
Plus music (accordion and drums)
I’ll believe they have real Christmas pudding when I see it. Sorry, no vegetarian menu on this occasion.
Call 2599 1508 to book. You can try your luck booking in English, but you are more likely to succeed speaking in Chinese.
They are also selling giant cookies shaped like Christmas bells or stockings for NT$99 and gingerbread houses for NT$199.
Nook Cafe Theatre provides vocational training to disabled young people (mostly mentally challenged) - so you will have the satisfaction of doing a good deed for Christmas.
Location:
No. 12, Section 3, Chengde Road, Datong District, Taibei 103
(Near Minquan West Road MRT on the Danshui line)
Spot the Juba
WTF is a turkey salad? Compressed turkey bits covered in Taiwanese salad dressing?
What’s Christmassy about that dinner ? No roast bird !?
Juba spotted.
We ordered a big turkey with all the fixings including cranberry sauce for about $2,500 (I think) from the Orange Market here in Hsinchu. Quite expensive and too much for just 2 people but what the heck. Should be a good dinner.
// Actually I was corrected. It was only $1,500 and we ordered a pumpkin pie as well. Yum.
I have always loved how kids see Xmas. Here’s one: “I always thought that Jesus must really be special because he grew to be a man
in only 5 months (Christmas to Easter).”
Liz H., older and wiser now, at age 29
And this is cute too: "I used to believe that Christmas happened every once in a while because people
decided to put up lights.I never connected it with years or anything.:
Erica, age 30 now
MERRY XMAS, everyone who celebrates it, and Merry Chrismukka to our half-Jewish coposters, and Merry Christmas to our religious friends who celebrate the miracle that God gave his only Son so the Earth could know peace, and Merry Kawabana to our African friends who follow a Black Jesus and Merry Everything to Everyone else. It really is a special time of year … the next few days are magical, in my book!
See, even atheists have fun!
Christmas is one of the best holiday… beside Halloween…
[quote=“MiakaW”]Christmas is one of the best holiday… beside Halloween…[/quote]It’s the same thing, as any programmer knows OCT(31)=DEC(25)
(Octal 31 = decimal 25)