Christmas Bazaar 2011

December is one of the most awaited month of the year for the Christian community. For one, it is the birth month of Jesus and Christmas is celebrated. When you say Christmas everything red, green and shiny can be seen everywhere.

To start off the Advent season, St. Joseph Church of Abu Dhabi had their annual Christmas Bazaar. All nationalities who congregate in this community will have their own booths/stalls selling any goodies and games for a good cause and good price.

The bazaar opened at 10 a.m. on December 9, 2011 at the Church open ground. An entrance fee of AED 10 per head can be bought at the stall outside the gated area. Once inside you can have your money change into coupons with the equivalent value. You will be using this coupon to pay for the goodies you'd like to take from each booth.

First stop - the bookvendor. If I remember it correctly the booth's name is Santa's little helpers. Wide array of books lined up on their table. A mixture of used and new books. So you really need to have a good eye and be the first pick up the good ones. I was lucky enough to get two books. One is brand new and the other one used. Both only cost AED 5 each. Good buys? Definitely.

Next stop - food trip. We went straight to the Filipino stalls where the mouth-watering smell of pork bbq brings tears of joy. This grilled goody costs AED 5 a stick. Haven't eaten this stuff for almost a year already. Then we went booth hopping.

The french booth displayed delicate goodies that I can't honestly prounounce without sounding silly. So I did the most basic thing to do in an unfamilair market trading - point to a thing - "how much?" - if the price is good enoug - sign with my fingers for how much I would be buying. The thing I bought was delectable. A soft biscuit similar as that with cream puff but with a hollow middle. But its pretty good. smack! smack!

Then my favorite - Italian booth. What makes this booth really interesting is the people tending the stall they were wearing this vine like head dress. It looks like a vine twined to look like a crown. Plus the other lady has this fiery red hair with a matching piercing green eyes. She looks like a goddess. I bought this bread that looks like calzone. Using the same dough as that of the pizza and folded with mozarella and basil filling. One serving is enough to give my tummy a heavy thud.

We didn't stay long at the bazaar but it was fun romaing around the area. I hope next year this bazaar would be a 3-day event so we could enjoy the food, the games and the moment 3x more.