Christmas is still roughly a month away and the glittering lights are popping up all over the shopping malls in Singapore. There might be a recession going on right now, but the stalls are still going all out to woo consumers to spend during this festive season. What I truly miss though, is something far far away, on the other side of the globe: the Christmas Markets in UK... especially the one in Manchester!
To my horror and dismay, I don't actually have in my possession any proper photos of the markets to speak of. No talking moose head on top of the wooden shed selling mulled wine and eggnog. (They are very friendly too, offering free cinnamon cookies to accompany your beverages as you warm yourself up).
The best start to visiting the market has always been this drinks shed as you pick from various brews like Mulled Wine (yes I am biased towards this, I am an alchie, so what?!), Eggnog, Hot Chocolate with flavourings like hazelnut or almond, Irish Coffee, etc. etc. You then cosy up in a corner with your friends as you warm up from the freezing temperatures and take in the crowd, smells, lights and fantastic atmosphere. From your excellent vantage point you spot an opening in the snaking queue around the Bratwurst Stall commanding the centre of St. Albert's Square and slip right in to claim some of those huge German Sausages before proceeding to browse through the offerings of the other stalls.
The old stalwarts of Danish Cookies and Chocolate coated fruit on sticks aren't to be missed. However, you don't have to rush there either because they will be there for the rest of the month, ready to gratify your sinful cravings (a mid-day or after school snack perhaps? City is sssssssssoooooooo near to Northern Campus after all) so for now, you are satisfied with just strolling amongst the crowd and checking out the newcomers and their wares. Over the past 3 years there have been delightful additions like giant choux buns, the pungent garlic cheese (I think there was once Brian, Clarence and I all bought a wedge of this back home within a day of each other), paellas were the newcomers 2 years back and hugely popular.
I will gladly admit that I am guilty of frequenting the Christmas Markets in St. Albert's and St. Ann's square way too often. I've even managed to find pick out respectable Xmas gifts from the trinkets stalls more than once. Oh yes, I am definitely a sucker for them. Maybe the Markets cast some sort of enchantment on me with their gay spirits and sprinkled Christmas dust onto me. Yes I am rambling, I know. But honestly, Christmas in Singapore just pales in comparison.
