a Christmas Story

Since most of us here had to work over Christmas we decided it would be best for us to try and go out for a Christmas Eve Dinner in Ilsan about 20 minutes away and relieve the stress of trying to cook up a feast after work. (this idea works particularly for che well since the only dish she is actually able to make mildy edible are marshmallow carrots.)

So off we rode to Ilsan...

In Ilsan we followed the Bright Lights to Western Dome to try and find a place to eat. We wandered around in the freezing cold at which point Sarah noted that it had become like a real Christmas story:

so sadly we had to split our merry troupe and take the special room at Asia Asia. And so we enjoyed our very traditional Christmas Eve meal of Indian Curry and Nan.

There was a delicious special Christmas set-menu and clearly i thought i was Mary and ate enough for two.

After dinner I introduced the gang to a little Christmas tradition that we have in my family. We call it the "R50-mall- dash"

STEP 1: Put all your names into a hat.

STEP 2: Secretly draw a name from the hat.

STEP 3: You have 20 minutes and only R50 (about $7 or $8) to buy a gift for the person whose name you have drawn. 

STEP 4: Meet at a coffee shop/restaurant/chosen location before the time is up to exchange your secret gifts.

*(Side note: if you want to give yourself more time, then you can extend it to an hour and if you really want to get technical, you can disqualify anyone who does not make it back in time or who spends over the allotted amount...haha)

Everyone got really excited about "R50-mall-dash" that they wanted to try it... So we set a 10 000 won limit and drew names... and then the mad panic begins as you try and decide what to buy and where to get it within 20 minutes and with a strict budget:

in fact, you end up running after people in a mad delirium:

it's really a lot of fun :) try it out next time...

Any Christmas traditions to share?