The Christmas Lion

Today’s Christmas Eve. My day more or less ‘started’ when I went to watch the movie - 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe' with Joanne, Rebecca, Amos, Daniel & Daryl at Plaza Singapura.

It was a great show with a great ending, though a bit slow moving in the beginning. It’s like a make-believe fairy tale of entering into another world, after walking through a cupboard full of clothes & coming back into the world, just a moment after you had stepped out of it.

The part that really made an impression is about Aslan the lion. This lion symbolizes Jesus Christ, who made the boldest sacrifice of giving up His life to ransom the lives of others, in this case, a young boy's life. I love the lion's roar... thundering, yet so composed & courageous! He's my Hero!

My heart gripped at the scene where the lion walked right to the evil queen of Narnia to take the place of that young boy & be killed on the stone table. It really reminded me of the mood & scene from the ‘Passion of Christ’, just that this time; it’s in the form of a cartoon.

To me, that’s best part about Walt Disney films! It plainly showed that you don’t definitely need blood & gore to bring across a point or emotion. Even a cartoon with the right impressionable background sounds & music can give that same impact. Well, at least to me.

The war part between good & evil was thrilling too… with of course, the return of the lion & the final victory of good over evil. The truth is – good does eventually triumph over evil. It’s just a matter of how & when (i.e. God’s plan & timing).

I titled this Blog – The Christmas Lion because Jesus was born on Christmas Day & He is also referred to as the Lion in some parts of the Bible. Though I’m a fan of tigers, lions are quite fascinating & powerful animals too. Unlike Rebecca, who fancies penguins & after watching this movie, started to like beavers too. Hmm… I wonder if our differences in likings towards different animals have anything to do with the meaning of our Chinese names. Somehow, perhaps…

Anyway, we celebrated Joanne’s 23rd birthday at Gelare, after the movie. We treated her to a large waffle with single scoop ice-cream, as well as a surprise chocolate mud-pie! Thank God, we managed to obtain a candle from the counter staff & borrowed a lighter from a group of guys. *Phew!*

The last part of the day was going to a relatives’ gathering at Aunty’s Joyce’s house, near Feng Shan Primary School, where Rebecca teaches at. Aunty Joyce is Rebecca’s Mum’s sister, along with 3 other sisters & 1 brother. It was a relatively alright gathering; though I didn’t really get to talk much with her relatives, coz I’m still not very familiar with them. But I did get a chance to talk more with Uncle Yih Chiang, whom I shared a bit more about how I lost my previous job at StarHub & how I’m struggling to find another job right now.

I discovered today that Rebecca’s family & relatives take a very, very strong emphasis on buying, wrapping & giving presents during Christmas. It’s just completely unlike my relatives, who don’t really make it a point to buy, wrap & give presents to the children. In fact, I haven’t received a Christmas present from my relatives in years! Perhaps it’s because quite a number of us cousins have already grown up, so we are not longer kids who receive Christmas gifts.

It’s also very shocking & scary to see the bags after bags of potluck food, change of clothes, Christmas presents, etc that Rebecca’s family would tug along to the house for Christmas gathering. And carrying most of them back, since it’s a gift exchange & probably some unfinished food.

For my side, if it’s a pot-luck, each family just buys something over to the house, e.g. roast duck, stingray, dessert, agar jelly, etc. Simple – just one plastic bag, that’s all. We don’t a lot, so there usually isn’t much leftover, so just bring home the empty pot or container. All in all, it was quite a shock & surprise. Witnessing all these really gave me second thoughts as to whether I’m able to go along with such practices. It’s scary… I’m not used to it at all… Hmm…