Christmas has its routines. You consume what feels like 5 log cakes and 2 turkeys. You watch the exact same movies. Home Alone, Home Alone 2, The Nightmare Before Christmas and some version of A Christmas Carol. You shop, if you dare. And you open presents, if you get any.
My favourite part of Christmas though is when my Pa would us drive down Orchard Road, admiring.
If you remember this, thank you. If you don’t, you need to ask your Ah Pa, Ah Ma, Ah Jie or Ah Gong. Because it was a truly magical ride.
Every year, Orchard Road Shopping Malls would be placed in the biggest competition of the year. They would compete for the title of “Best Dressed” Christmas display on the front of their building. And they took it REALLY seriously. Really. Almost to the point of obsession and you’re wondering how much it takes to build and maintain it but nevermind, we should just focus on the most magnificent Christmas decoration ever.
It would get quite extreme as the years went on. It started out as huge sculptures of famous Christmas figures. The rosy-cheeked Santa Claus. The cute and happy Rudolph. The Tree.
Then, they wanted to be different from each other. Themes came into play. There was a Simpsons theme one year for Centrepoint I think. Or fairy tales. Or Snoopy.
But they felt it wasn’t enough. Things had to move.
Large happy cartoons would wave into the distance. Trains would run around a track. Princesses twirled. Couples danced. It was like being in a moving pop-up book of a strange and wonderful Christmas.
And lights. Ho boy. There were LIGHTS. It was thrown over you like a blanket, it was on every wall surface, ceiling surface and if they could, floor surface. There would be so many lights that you couldn’t tell the time of day any more.
But that wasn’t enough! Oh no, no, no, no. Some buildings started to hire actors to dress up and stay up there for HOURS, waving, smiling and interacting with the hypnotized passerbys that would also bump into you because they wouldn’t be looking straight but looking up at the bizarre Cinderella that just gave them wink.
It was beyond grand. It was impossibly stunning.
Unfortunately, hard times hit Singapore and the malls could no longer afford such extravagances. The competition stopped and all the glitz and celebrity glamour of the malls were stripped bare. It became Orchard Road again and Christmas felt a little empty since then.
Although, I finally visited Christmas on Orchard Road today. It has been 4 years since I last saw Christmas here and it doesn’t seem too empty. Centrepoint always had a way with their decorations, they were always my favourite.
Regardless, I’m sure the movies will be a good enough filler for Christmas this year. Joe Pesci always gets me. He’s the short bandit from Home Alone. 🙂
Happy Christmas Shopping Everybody.