Deck the halls, part 2

Deck The Halls - Bella Voce

In the Philippines, my family would usually put up Christmas decorations about a week after All Saints’ Day (November 1). From the storeroom my father would bring out the boxes that held the Christmas tree and the trimmings from the previous season. The plastic tree, which had been washed and dried before being stored in January, would undergo a quick clean-up (dusted off, put under running water then dried). After this the tree would be erected. I was usually in charge of the trimmings. I got final say on the theme/color scheme of the trimmings, the choices of which often baffled my dear mother. Case in point: in 1999 I chose blue and silver. She was doubtful and wasn’t too sold on the concept (and result). Years later the motiff became popular and she realized we used before it became the fad.

Going the unusual path to Christmas decorations is not difficult to do in Manila because there’s a lot of choices in stuff to buy. And if one cannot find it in stores, one can easily make decorations to one’s specifications. Raw materials are also abundant. I often made our own decorations from materials that weren’t commonly associated with Christmas. There was one year when I used the left-over materials from wedding souvenirs; when it ran out I just rushed to Divisoria to get some more and we had some sort of ’springtime in December’ motif.

It is different here in Phnom Penh. Christmas is not a holiday in this Buddhist country so finding Christmas decorations is quite daunting, especially 3 years ago. I remember buying my first Christmas tree in 2005 in a supermarket that catered to French expats. Things are increasingly becoming more available now, either because of the increasing influence of foreigners or more Cambodians are converting to Christianity. Like Valentine’s Day before it, Christmas is fast becoming a popular holiday among Cambodians. Though I doubt if they fully grasp its religious meaning. Heck, this is elusive even for Christians so I’m not one to judge.

This year I wanted to trim my Christmas tree in the company of friends, as I did last year (chronicled HERE). Like the annual Christmas tree trimming parties at HoJ (please see previous post), I did it on a smaller scale last year. However, I realized that many of my guests last year are gone: some have gone back to the old country (Ted & Hav, Wowie, and Nill) while some are no longer my friends (no more names–let’s keep this post happy). There are other people I can invite but I couldn’t seem to find a convenient time to fit our (my friends and I) hectic work schedules.

Last weekend I was chatting with a new friend and we were talking about decorating for Christmas. T was reminiscing about past Christmas in the Philippines (it is his first Christmas here) and I said if he wanted, he can help me with my tree. Prior to this, I asked him to check my tree because I thought it stood crookedly taht I wanted to buy a new one. He actually saved me money by ‘properly’ erecting the tree. I decided an all-white motif this year. Kind of like a winter wonderland without the snow (including pretend-snow), the Ice Queen without the sleet (go figure), with a bit of the White Witch (a la Tilda Swinton in The Chronicles of Narnia) thrown  in for a bit of naughty to go with the nice.

So last Tuesday afternoon we set to work. We had purchased the materials we needed the day before. I was using most of the materials from the previous season as well so we didn’t buy as much as I had anticipated.

We wound the white Christmas lights around the tree. I then strung crystal beads (which were actually buttons) together while T put the balls and other trimmings on the tree. I have a lot of red Christmas lights from last season and I originally didn’t want to use them this year but T had other ideas. He put them on the floor of the foyer. When he lit them, the effect was nice. We joked that the foyer now looked like a bordello. I imagined exclaiming a la Vincent Price, ‘Welcome to Hell!’ to our future visitors. Against the brightness of the Christmas tree in the living room, the red lights in the foyer made it seem like going through hell to reach heaven. But I think I overinterpreted this (no surprise there).

T and I finished around dusk. We lit up the tree while drinking coffee and like last year, I think I achieved the effect I wanted. The effect became more wonderful at night, because the tree was simply aglow. The white Christmas lights were marvelous but the silver balls, disco mirror balls, and crystal beads bounced the white lights beautifully. In close-up, the details of the tree were so pretty (it gave of an almost-alien landscape vibe) I made it the wallpaper in my desktop computer.

Yesterday, T and I completed the decor by hanging garlands in the doorframes. We decorated the garlands with the same decorations in the tree. I also placed a few pieces around the house to tie the theme together. So there, I’ve decked my halls. I just hope my room-mate approves when he sees this upon his return to Phnom Penh this December.