It's not exactly Christmas food, but the fact that my evening classes have finished for the holidays means I got the chance to try some apam balik from our weekly pasar malam.

The terminology is confusing because apam balik comes in two versions. The thick one is reminiscent of terang bulan (ahhh..., terang bulan...), and the thinner, crispier version has hopper-like qualities.

With a little peanut, a little sugar, and a little sweetcorn, they're both, however, equally delicious.



Also on offer this week were:

-- The exquisite gingerbread house at Chez Leoniel at the Alliance Francaise. (Where we'd gone to watch Les Heritiers, a film about a struggling class of multicultural students in the Parisian banlieue, whose teacher successfully engages them in a project about young people and the Holocaust. Many critics seem a bit scathing, but I found it quite moving, even while accepting that I could never become such a dedicated and dauntless teacher myself.)

-- Hand-made Christmas decorations from one of my students



-- A Jingle Berry Mango smoothie (with passionfruit and strawberry) from Boost

-- The laugh-out-loud, dance-along-in-your-seat, lump-in-your-throat Sing (what a fabulous movie, and our fellow-cinema-goers threw themselves into it, applauding the characters' performances with gusto)

-- The tallest Christmas tree in Malaysia



-- And the now annual shop at Marks & Spencer for a traditional Christmas treat (this year: Christmas cake with marzipan and icing)

Definitely feeling Christmassy now...