I love Christmas. As far as I can remember, Christmas has been good for me. I have some of the fondest memories of my life associated Christmas. It is little wonder that I look forward to Christmas every year.

This year, Christmas was different. Different because, for the first time in my life I was not at home for Christmas.

I began Christmas this year by going to Westminster Cathedral for the 6pm mass on 24th. The church was decorated with a huge Christmas tree, but it was also rather cold, since Christmas Eve was cold this side of the world. Met up with a college pal for a quiet dinner. Was home before the clock struck 12.

Pavlos had invited me over for Christmas lunch with his family. Christmas lunch was in the traditional Greek style with caviar, soup, sweets, desert and a full roasted and stuff turkey. I don’t think I need to say that I ate to my fullest

My plans for boxing day went for a toss with the tube strike. However, I plan to finally go out and see London tomorrow, before I report to work on Tuesday.

With that I’ll leave you with this beautiful song.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all my visitors. May you have a great year ahead.

And, here’s a treat to know what the story of Christmas would have been like if we had Facebook 2010+ years back!

If you don’t know why there are 12 Days of Christmas, then you should first read this article. But, this has been one of my favourite Christmas carols forever.

So, in no particular order:

The Indian way

For a few farts more

If you smell…what the Rock is singing

If Shrek was a Christmas carol..

From the penguins of Madagascar

Straight No Chaser

Bob & Doug’s 12 Days of Christmas

Narrated – Here’s what happens when you mix these many gifts together

For the Linux lovers out there

What did your geek club give you this here?

Don’t drink and sing…

When the recession hit…

Finally, two proper versions if you have never heard this song before…

Courtesy Alvin and the Chipmunks

The voice of Bill Ives

Christmas week is always busy and the week this year did not disappoint. Began the week meeting a friend for lunch. Went over to Lil white mouse‘s place the next day to help wrap presents. Sat at home and coded and blogged the day after that.

Sneha came over on Christmas Eve for a while before mass. Mass was relatively short and sweet. The choirs have improved since the past few years, which is a good things. Returned home immediately after mass.

I met Lil white mouse and Ruth for dinner at the 5 Spice in Bandra. Being, Christmas night, we had to wait a while before we were given a table. We definitely ordered a good deal of food and desert, a lot more than our normal capacities

Went over to Lil white mouse’s place on 26th morning to prepare for the engagement. We went over to the church in the morning itself and engaged rings and vows. After a good deal of furniture movements, to accommodate 30 persons, I went over to my ENT for a follow-up.

The party at Lil white mouse’s place was fun-filled like any of our other parties. The only difference was that we had my part of the family there too.

Got a host of presents for Christmas from Lil white mouse and her family. It was like sweeping the Oscars!

Spent the night over at her place. And, the next day we went over to her grandaunt’s place for lunch. After a bit of rest, my weary feet found their way home.

I have uploaded more photographs of the engagement. Check out the engagement album.

Wishing all my readers a Merry Christmas. May the Spirit of Christmas be with you this season, the rest of this year and the year ahead!

Have you sent out greetings this Christmas? There are some free Christmas ecards over at Little Piggy Design.

Christmas is the time of the year I’ve always looked out for. This year has been a very fulfilling year, which I shall write about in a future post. I took my core leave from 18 Dec to 3 Jan, which is the longest duration of leave that I have ever taken till date!

Had booked the tickets in August itself, so it was only the matter of getting to the airport. Unlike last time, where my cab arrived early and the plane was late, I reached the airport at 10am on Friday. They have become a lot stricter at Bangalore airport. I wasn’t allowed to even take my bottle of water past the security!

The flight was on time, but I didn’t get my usual row of seats. Was stuffed somewhere at the back, but the leg room isn’t that bad.

The flight was quick and I was home rather quickly and the first thing as usual was to reactivate my internet connection at home. This time my laptop is out of commission since I don’t have a spare internet connection.

Lil white mouse came over in the evening to spend some time with me.

On Saturday, I met up with Sneha, who had complimentary coupons for the ITC, where we feasted on a really good buffet. I ensured that I sampled all the meats and many of the deserts. (No vegetables for me!)

Went over to see the ENT in the evening. Have been suffering from a bad ear ache in addition to my usual nose trouble, so it was high time I got this checked. Also need to visit an ophthalmologist this time.

Went over to Lil white mouse’s place on Saturday and we watched Avatar on Sunday. Had booked the tickets for the 9.30am show at PVR, since they were a lot more affordable than the normal shows!

Returned home via Bandra. Got a lift from her and her family, who were on their way to Bandra. We took the Bandra Worli sea-link which was my first trip on the new bridge. It has been done well and looking up at the suspended portion at night is beautiful.

Spent the entire day at home today. Had a visit from Swagatika, who I met after nearly two and half years. Have a lot of catching up to do with a lot of friends!

Been tied down all of this week with either gallivanting or working on my technology blog. So, here is a day-by-day summary of the last week or so.

25th December

It’s Christmas day. Because of the Terror Attacks in Mumbai [Photos], almost all places in Mumbai canceled their Christmas dances. Not that I went out a lot, but this time we decided to just have a quiet dinner.

Dinner was at the usual spot, viz. Dynasty. Lil white mouse‘s sister Ruth joined us for dinner.

26th December

I had planned in advance to dedicate this day to technology shopping, which is exactly what I did. Went over to Lil white mouse’s place in the morning and after lunch we took a trip to my vendor in Lamington Road.

Picked up a DVD Writer and a 500GB WD Elements for Lil white mouse, a 6-cell battery for Akshat‘s laptop and pendrives both Akshat and Aditya.

I also bought a Notebook Cooling pad, which is this cute plastic pad with three fans that has been effectively keeping my laptop cool. I do however, need to open the same and dust it properly.

27th December

My dear cousin Seema is down from the US and she decided to drop in to my place. We then headed over to my Grandma‘s place in Bandra. Picked up lunch at the Subway on Linking Road. The sandwiches sure cost a bomb especially when you are looking at two footlongs but they fill you up well. Spent the entire day at my Grandma’s place.

28th December

Sunday, once again. Began it as usual with mass in the morning. Lil white mouse came over in the afternoon to spend some quiet time at home.

29th December

This day Lil white mouse’s parents celebrated their 26th wedding anniversary and I joined them for dinner. We decided to go to Amrut Punjab, but being a Monday, the place was closed. So, instead we decided to go to Gajalee in Phoenix Mills. I have been to the one in Seepz, Andheri several times, but this was my first at Phoenix. And, I was disappointed by the service.

The food was good as usual, but the waiters were totally disorganized and unresponsive and we had to wait a long long time for food. For the prices they charge!

Desert was jack fruit ice cream at Natural Ice Cream.

30th December

Spent the entire day at home and went over to Lil white mouse’s place to fix the DVD writer. We then went to Maroosh in Phoenix Mills. Dinner was kababs and biryani. The food isn’t as good or maybe it doesn’t fit our taste buds. Desert was once again ice cream at Natural which is the shop next door.

31st December

We decided to spend New Year at home, our respective homes i.e. I was also tired with the activities of the previous week. So, on 31st, I decided to unveil the brand new look of Techtites. I have great plans for that blog. In spite of it being on the web for well over two years, it hasn’t really taken off. I’m trying to get new talent to blog for me, but it is always difficult to find good technical writers.

So, what do you think of the new look?

1st January

A new day in the new year. Lil white mouse came over and we ordered pizza from Smokin’ Joes’. I think they have among the best pizzas. Only problem is that they don’t have great offers which makes regular pizza eating expensive!

2nd January

Today. Decided to finally get down and complete this blog post. Plan on spending the rest of the day blogging. May also work on a plugin or two if I have the energy!

So, what have you been upto this New Year?

The last time I could spend such a prolonged Christmas vacation was two years back, when I was preparing for my MBA.

Spent a quiet day at home on Sunday as well as a good portion of Monday. Painting work in my house began on Sunday and carried on till late Tuesday which meant lots of dust, smell and work.

In spite of that, I went out to meet Lil white mouse on Monday evening. Met up with her in Bandra and we stopped by at a Handloom Expo at Reclamation. However, unlike last time, we did not find anything good.

We then made our way to Shopper’s Stop, where we did a bit of shopping including a Christmas gift for me

Lil white mouse’s sister Ruth joined us for dinner at 5 Spice. This has become one of our regular joints. The quantity was fantastic, as usual, which resulted in “doggy bags” yet again.

Met Lil white mouse yet again on the Eve of Christmas Eve. Picked her up from Dadar and we headed to her place where I helped her with completing some jujubes (where’s my cut Lil white mouse?).

Spent all of yesterday cleaning up the house. First vacuumed all the rooms and my computer (I sometimes think my computer was made to attract dust!) and after a lot of deliberation, I decided to swab the room as well.

Went for mass this morning instead of last night. Having lunch at home. Mom‘s cooking biryani. Lil white mouse comes over later and have dinner plans with her. Will post details then

Considering the “cheery” spirit this year, top financial consultants have composed a new Christmas carol below.

To be sung to the tune of “Santa Claus is coming to Town”

You’d better watch out
You’d better not cry
You’d better keep cash
I’m telling you why:
Recession is coming to town.

It’s hitting you once,
It’s hitting you twice
It doesn’t care if you’ve been careful and wise
Recession is coming to town

It’s worthless if you’ve got shares
It’s worthless if you’ve got bonds
It’s safe when you’ve got cash in hand
So keep cash for goodness sake, HEY

You’d better watch out
You’d better not cry
You’d better keep cash
I’m telling you why:
Recession is coming to town!

Finance products are confusing
Finance products are so vague
The banks make you bear the cost of risk
So keep out for goodness sake, OH

You’d better watch out
You’d better not cry
You’d better keep cash
I’m telling you why:
Recession is coming to town.

Wishing all my readers a Merry Christmas. May the Spirit of Christmas be with you this season, the rest of this year and the year ahead!

Have you sent out greetings this Christmas? There are some free Christmas cards over at I Sent This Christmas Greetings.