Christmas in Siam

When we planned this trip we knew that being a firefighter family meant having to work holidays and high days. He has his schedule a year in advance and if his shift is on for Christmas there is very little we can do to get out of him doing so. He had to fly back over the festive period.

This year it happened to fall during our Seven months in Siam and so we did as all good calendar adjusting fire families do , we celebrated on December 15th before he flew out on the 17th.

Don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned this but I’m pure Scottish , not mixed , just Scottish. I moved to the USA in 1997 to enjoy the sunshine and privilege for 18 months…and I stayed. My father has been in Thailand for 25 years plus , and is also an expatriate Scot. Christmas comes with a few Scottish traditions when we can get them. I tried to incorporate some into our faux Christmas Day. We haven’t had a family Christmas with the parents together for a decade or more.

We took our photos on the beach to capture the essence of our being here. It was windy but the kids were troopers and we made it work, having to weight the little tree down. Bribes of a lovely posh treat at a restaurant by the beach might have helped.

Our elves on the shelf followed us here and have been mischievous all month. It’s kept the kids amused and reminded them that even in this heat, it is December.

Preparations started very early on , sourcing ingredients that would make our dinner into a real treat both for the American Family and the Scots and please a Thai palette also.

The parents arrived in full traditional Thai outfits , they looked amazing. 10/10 for effort.

Justin brought back cranberry sauce , stuffing mix , Talisker Scotch whisky , paper plates and napkins , and chocolates from his trip in October to America. He also carted all of the gifts I had ordered from Amazon.

There are a few stores here in Hua Hin that cater to the foreign residents but wow, are the prices high ! I found Australian leeks at $21 per kilo ! Turkeys were $100 each as were 5lb hams. A real Norwegian Christmas tree can be purchased for $300. Wine starts here at $10 a bottle for cheap plonk and champagne was out of our budget. We did manage a bottle of red , a white and a bottle of sparkling. Not too bad.

I made Christmas crackers out of empty toilet tubes and tissue paper , put a joke and a small gift in each , and instructed the people pulling to shout ‘bang’ as the cracker ripped ! Everyone got the required Christmas crown.

We had Brie en croute and leek and potato soup ( apparently cheaper in local markets as Japanese spring onions), a feast of ham , potatoes ,carrots, roasted Brussels sprouts , stuffing and Bisto gravy (found in the expensive market).

Only one small hiccup when the wok caught fire but I did say we were a fire family. FF/PM Morgan rushes in with the extinguisher as I was about to throw the flaming wok out into the garden and saves Christmas Day !!

Trifle was next , real custard in the layers and very, very delicious cheese and crackers that had to be hidden for days before. Isn’t it funny that the fridge is full for a week and nothing can be eaten as it’s being saved for the big day ?

My big surprise was that I managed to find a box of Quality Street ( mixed , wrapped chocolates from the UK) and opened them up as we undid our top buttons of our jeans.

Lots of laughs and bellies full , it didn’t even occur to us at that moment , that Christmas Day was a full 10 days away. It really is who you are with , not when you are with them. A lovely day was had by all !

The whisky was brought out to fanfare , I believe my dad cried.