Although I had very much enjoyed a quiet Advent, I must admit I was beginning to wonder, when I finished work at 6.15 pm on Christmas Eve, whether our festive season wasn't all going to turn out to be a little TOO low-key...

I needn't have worried. We had a really great Christmas Day. One of our best, even. Here are the highlights:

-- Going to church. The Catholic one up the road. Loved it. The crib, the Christmas tree, the Santa-hatted children's choir (the "Little Candles") singing Jingle Bells (complete with loud "hey") during the Communion... The old familiar liturgy, scriptures, and carols sounding beautifully new in Indonesian. Incomprehensible sermon, but never mind... Lots of local satpam to keep everything safe.

-- Opening the presents kindly given by friends, and taking photos, as promised.

-- Preventing our Monggo white chocolate snowmen (with coffee filling) from melting. By eating them. Like you have to.

-- Having lunch at d'Omah. It's a little more expensive than our norm, this place, and thus visited rarely. But the food is very, very good. Succulent fish for Nigel, with acar vegetables and rice. Beef rendang for me, with perfectly cooked greens, rice, and green sambal. Accompanied by their delicious ginger, lime, tamarind, and soda water drinks. And topped off by coffee. Other people were there, having a more traditional Christmas lunch, so the atmosphere was nice. And Santa was nobly doing duty, exuding conviviality and photo opportunities. Because we hadn't already been totally Santaed out, this was fun and nice.

-- Getting lots of Christmas messages from my Muslim friends. Doubly precious. This is the world I want to live in.

-- Talking at length to Nigel's parents.

-- Enjoying a brightly coloured and yummy Christmas tea, supplied by the indefatigable jajanan shop by the market, and watching The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (for the third time -- but, hey, Christmas has been about movie re-runs for as long as I can remember).

When it was time to go to bed, and -- as my Grandma used to say -- Christmas Day was "as far away as it'll ever be", I felt a genuine regret.