The wonderland-concept of Christmas decoration at Permaisuri Imperial City Mall.
MIRI: The jingling sound of bells, well decorated Christmas trees complete with gift-wrapped presents piled under them and the loud renditions of classic ‘Silent Night’ at all the major shopping malls mark the coming of Yuletide to town.
Although unlike the western countries, where the Christmas ambience is very much felt in the air, the festivity here is almost similar, if not the same.
Thus, major shopping malls and hotels here have been spending a substantial amount of time, effort and of course, money, to decorate the best ‘Christmas tree’, attracting members of the public for a couple of ‘selfies’. From the basic traditional decoration of artificial fir tree to fun and colourful purple, blue or the majestic golden trees, and even the modern concept of fairy-lights adorning the festive trees, there is something that everyone would love.
“Even though I am saving up a bit by not getting anything for myself and loved ones, I really enjoy the ambience while window-shopping,” shopper Teresa Lim told The Borneo Post when met yesterday.
Others also shared similar views with Lim, saying that they probably bought a thing or two during their shopping spree as this year’s tight budget held them back from spending more.
“There are many people flocking to the malls here. I’m not sure about others, but I did my best to make the ‘merry’ out of the festival, instead of emptying my pockets like previous years. Still, I am wishing for a great new year,” said a shopper who refused to be named.
The mother-of-one explains that her young child is entering school next year, forcing her to save up for the necessities.
Indeed, in a matter of hours, many families will be busy preparing the very homey ‘Christmas Eve’ dinner meal while others will be making their way to the restaurants to enjoy their much anticipated meal gathering. Nick, a PR officer of a local hotel here, told The Borneo Post that although bookings for Christmas Eve dinner might not be full, they were expecting last minute walk-in guests. He added, though the local community resorted to penny-pinching due to inflation, they would be willing to spend for the sake of their stomach and family-gathering.
“I was even told by many of my friends that they choose to save on gifts and rather spend more on food,”he said.
The ginger bread house at Imperial Palace Hotel.