Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Happy Holidays!




It's Christmas Eve!

I'd like to wish my Christian friends, readers, and visitors A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS ... May the light of Christmas bring you all joy and happiness, and the world piece and prosperity.

This week and the next are very special time for everybody here. Christmas is tomorrow, and on Monday (Dec 29), Moslems all over the world will also celebrate the Islamic Hijra (Hegira) New Year. So, here too, I'd like to wish my Moslem brothers and sisters A VERY HAPPY HIJRA NEW YEAR! May the spirit of Hijra (migration) inspire in all of us a continuous effort to make the world a better place for everybody.

Then, only a couple of day later, of course, the world will also celebrate the international New Year: 2009 of C.E. calendar. So, HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you. May next year be a year of healing and of putting the world's economy back in track to prosperity.

Now about the picture today: Why the snowmen?

Of course, we don't have real snowmen. We don't even have winter, let alone snow and snowmen. But the snowmen are here. They are made of styrofoam and are here as one of the icons of Christmas. Other Christmas icons we normally find here (as I'm sure anywhere else in the world) are the Santa Claus (here called "Sinterklas"), his deer and sledge and Christmas trees, garland, and wreath.

I took this photo of these styrofoam snowmen in front of the store room of Ciwalk Shopping Arcade, on Jalan Cihampelas, Bandung. I guess they were meant to be part of the mall's decoration for the holiday season, but somehow they had not been (or would not be) installed this year. (The Santa Claus and his deer and the Chrismast trees and garlands were already put in place.)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

It really is interesting to live in a multi-racial country. I love the festivities during Hari Raya Aidilfitri , Deepavali , Christmas, Chinese New Year and many more in between. ;P

Enjoy your weekend!

Anonymous said...

Selamat Hari Natal dan Selamat Tahun Baru. Excellent post Eki. Whether you are Christian, Moslem, Hindu, Buddhist or whatever religion, we all have this planet in common. In this New Year let us make a true effort to preserve and protect our environment and help those less fortunate throughout our community.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure that everyone have shared happiness this month... Idul Adha, Christmas, Islamic New Year and also the New Year itself in 2009 :)
>>2008 maybe became unforgettable year for everyone who colored their life with love, faith, and dream. And so we face the New Year with our new hopes...;)

Hilda said...

It can be so confusing to greet people during this season when you don't know their personal beliefs — you greeting seems to encompass several, and I think that was very wise of you. I'm a Catholic, and I figured that most of my blogger friends wouldn't mind my greeting them based on my belief. I know I wouldn't mind if a Muslim or Hindu or whatever would wish me blessings and prayers. We all need people wishing us well.

That said, I hope you had and will have a peaceful and joyful holiday season, Eki! Thank you for being a friend and I hope that we will get to meet each other in this lifetime.

Layrayski said...

Wishing you the best in these special holidays Eki!

Jane Hards Photography said...

I hope you had a wonderful day. I miss living in a cosmopolitan place around this time of year.

Anonymous said...

LOL..what cute snowmen who look so happy. Thank you for the good wishes for the holiday. I got to see my daughter and that is all I wanted, so I am happy with that. I want to wish you Eki and your family a very happy and healthy New Year. I wish more of us could celebrate our commonalities....And I am so happy to have met you out here in the blogger world.... Michelle..